4/29/12 A trip on the Mt. Baldy trail up the front side of Mt. Baldy. Though it's maybe not quite as difficult as the backside route, it's unquestionably the second hardest way to summit Baldy. 6000' of gain in 13 miles averaging almost exactly 1000' per mile the whole way to the top.
1 Heading out from the trailhead up a nice little canyon where there are some amazingly rugged houses. It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but you basically have to scramble up the rocks to get to the front door.
2 The creek flowing through West Fork Bear Canyon.
3 Starting to climb out of the canyon with a view of the valley below.
4 Some fantastic single track.
5 Great sub-alpine views with quite a bit of snow still left on the opposite ridge.
6 Our first snow sighting.
7 A look down at the East Fork San Gabriel Canyon. The deepest canyon in Southern CA, roughly 6000' deep. Deeper than the Grand Canyon, though not quite as grand.
8 Dad still going strong.
9 The trail winds along the ridge similar to many of the other trails in the Baldy area.
10 Dad's picture of me making a long traverse below the ridge.
11 A good look at a couple distant hikers coming up the trail along the ridge.
12 There was a late snow this year and we weren't sure what conditions would be like up here. We started to hit some heavier snow, but nothing that slowed us down much.
13 The heaviest snow crossing of the day.
14 A look back at the snowy area we just climbed through.
15 Almost to the top!
16 An odd combination of snow and moonscape.
17 In the saddle between the Baldy peaks. Almost there!
18 Made it. Dad successfully completes the San Jacinto, Gorgonio, Baldy trifecta!
19 Family picture on the summit.
20 Dad hanging out on the summit eating lunch. There's a good view of the West Baldy summit behind him.
21 View from the summit.
22 Another summit view.
23 360 summit video.
24 Of the several times I've summitted Baldy, I've never been over to the West Baldy peak. It's not far, but usually I'm feeling way too tired to head over there. This time, the trail went right by the peak, so I decided to add West Baldy to my bagged peak list.
25 Made it. Here's the view looking back towards the main Baldy peak.
26 Summit video from West Baldy.
27 Time to head down.
28 Dad heading back down the ridge.
29 The late afternoon misty mountains make for a spectacular view.
30 Heading back down through Bear Flats.
31 Made it! A surprisingly tough trail, but rewarding like usual.
32 Terrain map and elevation profile from my new Suunto Ambit. The altitude calibration was a bit off, but otherwise the watch performed great.