EISPIRATEN

You should be fine Brotha. I use my UK Army Issue bivy bag all the time. You could go cheap and get a USGI poncho and some bungee cords, and make a hooch/shelter with a trekking pole or axe or whatnot. There is one excellent shelter on West Baldy that I've used in said style, and no tent is require...

I :roll: at the BPA scare. And traditional HDPE Nalgene bottles are BPA free as well. I have watched friends grapple with all of the problems Rob mentions (with the typical result that they either lost precious water on the trail or were unable to drink the water they had), which has confirmed in m...

I had every intention of it - got the gear in the car Friday night, clothes laid out, food packed, etc. But my inner underachiever snoozed right through the 4AM alarm :evil:. Whoops! Well, at least I ventured into the San Gorgonio Wilderness for the first time in ten years: http://www.mtsanjacinto....

Lance wrote:

The real way to do the hike is to descend from Baldy to the Notch and then do the 3Ts.

Would love to Baldy and the 3Ts. Let me know if you ever plan.

Weren't you up there this last weekend? How about a trip report?

https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/img/albums/v101/He219/photobucket/current/80412%20Dawson%20Peak/DSC07715.jpg Spotter plane buzzing a fire in the distance .. Dude! I think I saw that fire from the San Gorgonio Wilderness: https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm4.static.flickr....

http://guntards.net/forum/img/smilies/postpics.gif We hit the top around 1400/2pm, and "got our drink on"/ate. There were hundreds of ladybird beetles (ladybugs) on the summit. Another strange thing was the BILLIONS of aphids in the snow the whole way up. WTF? Ah, springtime in SoCal afte...

hvydrt wrote:awesome pictures.

Indeed, but the pelvic thrust was too much for this here family forum.

Just to confuse matters, the guy on the left got to the summit without crampons about three weeks ago (blue and purple route, while the rest of us went up the yellow route): But then, he's from Massachusetts. The week before that, Lance and I were alone at the summit when I turned around and there w...

AlanK wrote: I assume that you just put that thing under your tongue as you walk.

It puts a spring in my step!

I have never thought of myself as an ultralight hiker, but I guess compared to some people, in some aspects, I am.

Here's my tea set-up:

I don't like tents even for backpacking, and only use them if it is raining. For car camping, life has gotten so much better since I bought my Yukon, since I can sleep in the back, whatever the weather. We seem to be following each other around. I was at Amboy Crater on Saturday: http://www.mtsanjac...

My god, that paper could really use an editor.

There's a similar tone to all these stories. I wonder if the rescued people would even be on the trails at all if they didn't have cell phones or a 911 number to call?

I don't know who these people are, aside from the fact that we met them on the summit and they helped us with our official summit photo, but they posted some pics on the OCHBC website . Lance and Bill and I are visible as the three dots near the top in the first photo . Always kind of cool to see yo...

Maybe it's just me but I've never understood how you're suppose to use those bungee ice axe thingies. It seems like they only work if you can slide the shaft through the bungee loop and then tighten the plastic keeper. The Osprey bungee loops actually have little nylon hooks, so to use them with an...

Yeah, I'm kind of down on stretchy anything from pockets to bungies. Stretchy means, "I'll be the first part of your pack to fail." I hope not. The Stratos has two stretchy side pockets that hold my one-liter Nalgene bottles. I was concerned they wouldn't hold them well enough to keep the...

What kind of an Osprey did you get? I just got a Talon 33, and I love it. Stratos 24: http://www.ospreypacks.com/images_products/Stratos24_tangerine_lg.jpg Seems to be a well-designed and well-made pack. It's not that big, but perfect for winter climbs, which means more than enough for long summer ...

I guess Lance got all the conditions down. We left Manker Flat about 6:30am and Bill and I summited at about 11:00. Lance was well ahead of me and Bill going up the face of the Bowl, and when he got to the top he was met by my buddy Frank, who climbed the southwest ridge without crampons (he's from ...

These guys will come in handy when Bush decides to invade Iran as his last hurrah:

TacoDelRio wrote:Actually, I don't have any Muslim friends.

She's threatening to go as far as the ski hut on Saturday. Without the AR.

Here are 100 photos of a Switzer Falls hike from Saturday, FYI.

While fooling around on Flickr I found this photoset of a Baldy climb from Sunday . I don't know who these guys are, maybe forum members, but the photos give a pretty good idea of what conditions were like up there right after Saturday's snow. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm3.static.flic...

To answer TDR's question, aside from Mallory's "Because it's there," for me at my age and skill level I consider the Baldy Bowl excellent exercise that is also fun. It's as much for conditioning as anything else. Maybe if I was younger I would be more interested in exploring, but right now...

TacoDelRio wrote:Nice Monaro, Mitch!

Thanks, but I'd rather have one of these:



400 HP 6.0 liter LS2 V8, rear independent suspension, etc, etc. Swine at GM won't import them.

simonov, remember that story I told you about my friends on that same hairpin-curve section 10 years ago on black ice waving off and trying to stop people but only getting blank stares as car after car accumilated in a huge pile-up? Your post makes me think of it .. It would have been that again ex...

What yo car is? 2004 GTO, made in Australia: https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm1.static.flickr.com/124/376986006_b31d576864.jpg It really was terrible driving that thing on the snow. I thought keeping it in a low gear would do the trick, but that would make it slide. Coasting slowly and ri...

It was great meeting you, and those are wonderful photos. I'm pissed about my camera's dead battery.

I guess you missed the snowfall on your way out? It was really coming down on us before we made the San Antonio Falls Road.

As promised, I summited Baldy again today. A climber I met in November on Mt Santiago, Lance, contacted me this month about making a winter climb, and I suggested this weekend might be one of our last chances as the snow was melting so fast (Lance also lurks here; hi Lance!). I eyeballed the weather...

I intended to bring a set of ski goggles with me tomorrow, but I have looked everywhere and can't find them.

It's supposed to be windy with cloud cover on Baldy tomorrow. Does anyone think it's worth a trip to Sport Chalet in Friday PM traffic to go fetch a set of goggles?

Here are some pics from an ascent during last weekend. Looks like there is still some snow below the hut.

A friend and I will be conquering Baldy again via the Ski Hut Trail on Saturday, 15 March. We will meet at Manker Flats around 6:00am and probably hit the trail at 6:30. We want to practice self-arrests and stuff on the way up, probably near the ski hut. It looks like it will be cool on Saturday, wi...