20110112 West Baldy North Face

TRs for the San Gabriel Mountains.
Post Reply
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

I explained the day to my good buddy Patrick in an email...

"I parked at the ski lifts, climbed up Manker Canyon to the Devils Backbone, took the ridge to the summit of Harwood, hiked over and across the NE face of Baldy, down to the saddle between Baldy and Dawson, then across Dawson's south side over Fish Fork, then right down into Fish Fork, the straight up the major couloir on West Baldy's north face, then across to Baldy and down the Ski Hut Trail, across the bowl from in the trees, and then home. :-)"


Pics:

Image
Starting up Manker Canyon

Image
Here be the poles that USED to be on DBB.

Image
In Manker

Image
Image
Image
Done

Image
Summit of Harwood

Image
Dawson

Image
My lucky Koopa Troopa

Image
Fish Fork

Image
Image
Image
Baldy's NF

Image
Avy debris at the base of the route

Image
C46 Commando bit

Image
Scrapes along the base of a spur from avalanches.

Image
Image
Image
Starting up

Image
Unhappy with steep postholing.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Further up

Image
Happy with conditions

Image
Nearing the top

Image
Landing gear

Image
Image
Image
Image
Almost done

Image
Top

Image
Koopa Troopa and the Pacific

Image
Route

Fin
User avatar
lilbitmo
Posts: 1092
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:44 pm

Post by lilbitmo »

That crux looks narly, can we get past that?

Just a super route today Taco, I'm very impressed, nice work, great pictures and report.
Taco wrote: Image
Image
Baldy's NF
User avatar
Elwood
Posts: 612
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 5:23 pm

Post by Elwood »

Holy s#!t !! That's an amazing route, and great pictures !
User avatar
HikeUp
Posts: 3855
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:21 pm

Post by HikeUp »

Dude!
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

The crux on Baldy's NF Couloir (the one I didn't do) looked easy to get through. No gear.

Thanks Elwood!
User avatar
norma r
Posts: 707
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:22 pm

Post by norma r »

:shock: How's the knees?

Hike, Taco hike! very nice.
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

Knees not so good as usual, probably because of miles of postholing. :?
User avatar
hvydrt
Posts: 494
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:18 pm

Post by hvydrt »

Wow! Great job. Looks like fun.
User avatar
Burchey
Posts: 304
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:28 am

Post by Burchey »

Taco out livin' the dream. Nice report, how many miles would you reckon that was in total?
User avatar
Dave G
Posts: 321
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2008 9:51 am

Post by Dave G »

Nice day's work!
I like the landing gear pic.
User avatar
outwhere
Posts: 323
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:40 pm

Post by outwhere »

Dang :shock: you are one tough Taco!

For a good while I was fascinated with those poles that used to be on Back Bone - who put them there, when ,,,,,, then who decided to take them down, etc etc...

Now to see that they were just tossed 'aside' is classic!

I've only seen one picture of them 'in action' - think it was in one of those Russ Leadabrand guide books or an old Westways magazine.

Good 1, Taco! Thanks for capturing all that beautiful scenery... :!: :arrow:
User avatar
spotfin
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 2:30 pm

Post by spotfin »

Great job, how long did that take?
User avatar
snmtbaldy
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:01 pm

Post by snmtbaldy »

Hi Taco,
You are truly an adventurer and mountaineer !!!
I enjoyed your photos very much.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Shin
PS. Sorry, I couldn't join with you last weekend. I had a very bad cold.
User avatar
406
Posts: 321
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:36 am

Post by 406 »

nice work. I still haven't made it back in there, looks like it would be a good ski. Also like the airplane parts.
User avatar
secondlizard
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:22 pm

Post by secondlizard »

Great trip report Taco. That was quite a day. I like that you take the time to take good pictures to go with experience. I think Koopa Troopa deserves a carbon fiber biner for guiding you. Next time I'm in REI I will pick one up for him. You are a good inspiration for me to keep working hard to get in better mountain shape so I can have those types of experiences.
User avatar
HikeUp
Posts: 3855
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:21 pm

Post by HikeUp »

...the Manker Shortcut Road (disintegrated Winter 2010-2011)
Dang. How bad is it? Last summer it was in easy walk up condition.
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

Thanks all!

Burchey, about 7 miles or so, 7,000ft gain and loss, give or take.

Outwhere, now you know where to find them!

Spotfin, started around 6 something in the morning, got back to my car around 4:30pm, 10.5 hours? It's kind of a long walk in that kinda terrain.

No worries, Shin.

406, it would be a ski paradise. So many awesome runs.

Secondlizard, sweet! Matching biners! Glad I could be of service!

Hikeup, all but the last 1/4 of the road is completely gone, you'd need a rockcrawling 4x4 to negotiate it now.
User avatar
Lcpl Hughes
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:08 am

Post by Lcpl Hughes »

What a sick route!

When I grow up I wanna....
User avatar
asbufra
Posts: 135
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:27 pm

Post by asbufra »

Impressive.
User avatar
Johnny Bronson
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon May 31, 2010 2:04 pm

Post by Johnny Bronson »

Man that is some training for....

Image+
Image+
Image+
Image+
Image
Image=
Image

:P awesome stuff!
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

HELL YEAH, ALL-SPORT-MAN!
User avatar
Sam Page
Posts: 267
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:59 am

Post by Sam Page »

Totally awesome route, Taco. You got WAY off the beaten path on that one.

There was mention of a road being thrashed. Which one, exactly?
User avatar
mve
Posts: 414
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:53 pm

Post by mve »

WOW dude, you are an animal! Incredible route. I like your buddy there too - Koopa Troopa :D
User avatar
HikeUp
Posts: 3855
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:21 pm

Post by HikeUp »

Sam Page wrote: There was mention of a road being thrashed. Which one, exactly?
It is (was) a short steep "road" that's shown on this map (try the satellite view). Goes from point A (parking lot for ski lift) up Manker Cyn. to point B (a point on the road from Manker Flats to Baldy Notch). Kind of a short cut if you want to walk up to the notch without following the really steep use trail under the ski lifts or following the road all the way up from Manker Flats.
User avatar
Sam Page
Posts: 267
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:59 am

Post by Sam Page »

HikeUp wrote:
Sam Page wrote: There was mention of a road being thrashed. Which one, exactly?
It is (was) a short steep "road" that's shown on this map (try the satellite view). Goes from point A (parking lot for ski lift) up Manker Cyn. to point B (a point on the road from Manker Flats to Baldy Notch). Kind of a short cut if you want to walk up to the notch without following the really steep use trail under the ski lifts or following the road all the way up from Manker Flats.
Thanks HikeUp! I didn't know about that road.
User avatar
glamisking
Posts: 89
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:04 pm

Post by glamisking »

Nice. Last time I was on DBB Manker Canyon looked like a fun shortcut to bypass the lame road. Look forward to trying in.

I was stoked to find a stash of ice pirates stickers in the registry box on the 13th. So thanks!
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

You can thank Simonov for those stickers. :-)

Manker Cyn will probably suck unless you finish it before sunup, since it's been hot.
User avatar
mcphersonm80
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:46 am

Post by mcphersonm80 »

What... the.... hell??

The why, I can understand, but how you did that route, I have no clue.

Awesome stuff!
User avatar
Taco
Snownado survivor
Posts: 6010
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:35 pm

Post by Taco »

It was technically very easy. The hard part was the postholing. I'm still searching for a route that will destroy me.
Post Reply