EISPIRATEN

Now we're talkin'! Hydration-enabled! Seriously though... I've done some internet searches and come across a few articles and lots of S&R reports. It may be my search terms but most of the head injuries reported are not from rocks hitting the head, rather the head hitting hard things after falls...

Do these rocks ever approach head level? I've seen lots of rocks go whizzing by but on snow (up to about 40 degrees) they're always more of an ankle risk than head.

This was a poll. These haven't been imported. Sorry.

One down, two to go. Climbed Baldy for the first time last Friday. This Friday, if I end up going solo I'm planning to start from Manker at 5:30 with a goal of being back before 1:00.

Anyone care to join me?

Jim

I've been meaning to climb Baldy for a couple of months- but three times either weather or schedules got in the way of even starting. Yesterday was almost a repeat. A planned partner had to cancel, then yesterday morning I got up but hadn't packed and was almost ready to go back to bed when I saw an...

Nice report and photos.

I'm going to give Baldy a try tomorrow.

Jim

If Ted Nugent said it, must be so.

I have only two comments on this subject:
1. I'd rather have people carrying openly than concealed.
2. Good reason to get a couple miles up the trail with due haste.

Since recently getting a GPS receiver I'm amazed just how fast I move, when I'm moving. It's also amazing how much time I spend standing around. I haven't recorded enough hikes to come up with meaningful analysis. Clearly though I move much slower than you guys. Pre-GPS my simple formula for route p...

Are your vertical values exagerated or are you really hiking on 60% grades?

Edit: is there possible exageration due to imprecision of GPS vertical?

We have a family trip planned to Yosemite the week after Easter. Hopefully conditions will be good for plenty of snowshoeing and some skiing at Badger Pass. My 7 & 9 year olds are becoming quite competent snowshoers but they really want to ski.

Here's a photo of the kids in Sequoia last week:

I have the first three Fridays of next month off work. Anyone interested in company on Baldy or other local icy peaks?

Thanks,
Jim

Great pictures. Good job on back-tracking when you hit instability.

Regarding the snow removal on Falls Rd. I wonder if the guy with the red Dodge pickup truck is paying for it to get his truck out?

Thanks! Bob Burd's list is exactly what I was looking for.

I must say though- Even though I've lived in California my whole life and thought I knew the state- there are a lot of ranges I don't recognize by name!

Jim

The Sierra Club Hundred Peaks section has all sorts of lists, but not what I'm looking for. I would like to see the highest in each range. Seems like a fun checklist.

Anybody have one?

Thanks.
Jim

I got the Stainless Contacts. Very light (28 ounces including anti-botts), go on easily, stayed on. They seemed to do the job. I walked up to the ski hut in Baldy Bowl and back without tripping, slipping, tearing my pants or impaling my feet. I would like to use them with a variety of footwear inclu...

That would be me who was coming down at 6:00 AM. I had planned to spend all day Saturday and Sunday on Baldy, but plans fell apart. In the end I left Long Beach at 1:20 PM on Saturday and needed to be back by 9:00 AM Sunday.

And when you get back to the Manker Flats parking area if you find one black liner glove and one grey Windbloc fleece glove, let me know. (About 100' below Falls Road junction, left side of the downhill direction of Baldy Road) Otherwise I have a nice pair of liner and outer gloves for a one-armed m...

It looks like I have the good luck to have wife and kids all away Saturday night and am hoping to either A: stay at the hut (email sent), or B: camp on the mountain. Summiting Baldy would be nice, but isn't critical. I'll be traveling with snowshoes and crampons. Questions: Access: Unfortunately I p...

TacoDelRio wrote:I'd go with the BD Stainless Steel Contact Strap crampons.

Thanks. REI has them in stock locally and I'll take some boots down to try them on. Like I said, ideally the same pair will work on a variety of footwear.

It looks like I have to bite the bullet and buy some crampons. I grew up backcountry skiing in the Sierra where I never felt the need- but clearly down here it's a different ball game. I don't feel any need for front pointing up waterfall ice. I want something that will work for icy snow and peak ba...

Chalet trailer is a study in compromise. It usually comes out ahead as long as we remember it's a lot bigger than a backpack tent and a lot easier to tow than a mega RV. On to the snow. 9 year old daughter and I set out from Manker Flat yesterday at about 10:00. We only made it a mile up Falls Rd. t...

Presuming we get a bit more snow tomorrow with a 6500' floor- Based on your experience yesterday do you think Baldy would be more of a snowshoe or crampon climb? I'm considering either Thursday or Saturday. I ask because my crampons are 20+ years old and wouldn't work well on any of my current boots...

MVE, I think I saw you on Falls Rd. Luckily I saw the comments after yours and we left Long Beach at 7:00. That got us up the hill in a reasonable time with plenty of parking near the trailhead. We did get to enjoy watching people stopped in THE VERY MIDDLE OF THE ROAD TO PUT THEIR CHAINS ON! Like t...

Hi all,

My daughter and I are going to snowshoe from Manker Flat tomorrow morning. How early should we plan exiting the 210 to get a good parking spot and avoid the deluge of crazy drivers?

Thanks,
Jim
Long Beach

I couldn't wait for the good snow... Here's a little trip report. Since the kids (Melissa-9 and Jason-6) had Monday off school for Martin Luther King Day, I planned a camping trip for the long weekend with our Chalet folding camp trailer. I was hoping for snow but unfortunately the three spots on my...

I'm thinking of a quick snowshoe trek Friday morning from the Icehouse or Manker parking lot. I would like finish up by about 12:30. Anyone interested? I could arrive any time from dawn onwards. I've only hiked once up Icehouse Cyn- last month my kids and I went up a mile or so. It looked like route...

Thanks for those two suggestions. I'll wait for great conditions before plunking down $80 for San Jacinto. Jenks Lake sounds good. We're planning on camping at Barton Flats in our popup trailer sometime this winter since it's now open year-round. I want to wait until there's good snow but chains are...

Hi all- this is my first post here. Santa brought snowshoes for my wife and daughter; my son and I already had shoes. The girl is 9 and son is (almost) 7 and have each been snowshoeing a couple times. They are also good, surefooted hikers having done a 5 day trip last summer in Yosemite where we cov...