Stockton Flat to Baldy Notch: 16 May 2009

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Sat May 16, 2009 9:42 pm

It was great day to go Stockton Flat! After the village area of Lytle Creek the asphalt becomes dirt (3N06) and your adventure begins. The ~7 miles of dirt road took us about 40 minutes to traverse. Various sources note that low slung vehicles may have problems on this road. I would change that to say that only high clearance vehicles should attempt the trip. Four wheel drive would be even better.

We parked before the gate at the base of the hill and headed up. My red truck:

The view of Stockton Flat from above. Presumably, the trees were burned in the Grand Prix fire of 2003. Is that correct?

The 4 mile road to Baldy Notch was relatively easy with a very nice grade.

The view from The Notch restaurant was nice with only a little haze in the distance:

Our return trip down was uneventful. I recommend this hike for people that want solitude and quiet. This is a great first hike, as well. The road in, however, is not good if you must bring a car.

Post by **Taco** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:17 pm

YO

There is a spot in that shot you posted where there was a prescribed burn a year or two ago, covered about 300 meters or so by 150m.

DON'T go down 3N33 (or whatever the furthest road is) unless you've got 4WD. 8)

406 · Post by **406** » Mon May 18, 2009 1:43 pm

nice looking area.

Post by **Taco** » Mon May 18, 2009 2:18 pm

406 wrote:nice looking area.

The area has some badass BC skiing.

406 · Post by **406** » Mon May 18, 2009 2:37 pm

hmm, I've been thinking it might. need a friend with a real 4x4

Post by **Taco** » Mon May 18, 2009 5:36 pm

I hope to spend more time up there this coming winter if you're down. Hobo camping in the area to get as much climbing and whatever in as possible.

KathyW · Post by **KathyW** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:15 pm

Thanks for the report. I've been wanting to do Baldy from Stockton Flats, but I haven't yet. I was really curious about road conditions. It sounds like I'll be able to make it all the way to, or at least near to the gate, in my truck.

Post by **Taco** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:50 pm

KathyW wrote:Thanks for the report. I've been wanting to do Baldy from Stockton Flats, but I haven't yet. I was really curious about road conditions. It sounds like I'll be able to make it all the way to, or at least near to the gate, in my truck.

Kathy, I regularly made the drive in my stock 1990 Nissan pickup with blown shocks. I turned back once in winter, where a section 3/4 mile south of the turn up to Baldy Notch was covered in ice.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Wed May 20, 2009 7:20 am

Your truck should have no problem. There was a guy with his family that took in a Scion and he could only get about three miles in.

mattmaxon · Post by **mattmaxon** » Wed May 20, 2009 7:48 am

I was thinking of Mtn Biking from Manker Flat > Baldy Notch > Sierra Ave / I-15

With shuttle back to Manker Flat

Anybody out there done something similar?

KathyW · Post by **KathyW** » Wed May 20, 2009 10:29 am

Thanks Taco and Mike - it sounds like my truck should be fine on the road, so I'm going to head up there sometime soon. I have 4WD on my truck, but I'm still hesitant to head out on really rough roads when I'm on my own.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed May 20, 2009 12:42 pm

Looks like a neat area. My little Honda isn't going to like those roads though.

I've gone up the Middle Fork a couple of times (beautiful), but I've never been up farther in the main Lytle Creek drainage, generally because of road conditions.