Even on the drive up (super clear morning), Baldy looked patchy at best.
Started out in the Village, temps in the low 50s but once the sun came up over the ridge it got hot quickly and I had to shed my layers. Awesome colors in the chaparral, can definitely tell what time of year it is.
The switchbacks up from Bear Flat were annoying, as usual, but it's encouraging to see how well it's recovering after being decimated by fire a few years back, and this is where the first clouds started appearing.
Conditions-wise, the first patches of snow started appearing after you gain the ridge at about 7500', but they'll be gone in a matter of a couple days. The first real snow, and where we decided to put on our microspikes, was right around the Narrows at 9000'. This also happened to be where the clouds REALLY rolled in and it went from autumn to winter in a matter of seconds.
We hung around a bit on the Narrows to figure out what was going on weather wise, it seemed the clouds were heading up Good Canyon but met with a stronger wind over the summit, so they were pushed right back down and condensed into some seriously thick cumulus. Awesome for photos and no big threat of storm.
A chute down into Cattle Canyon near the top of Big Horn Ridge
Spikes definitely weren't required, but I was happy to have them with me. Crampons would have been too much, as it transition from knee-deep soft snow to patchy, icey snow several times through this section as we approached West Baldy. We ran into a group turning around due to the weather, one guy was simply wearing a tanktop.
The snow was nice and deep between West Baldy and the main summit, postholing up to my knees in spots, but not enough to be annoying. Quite fun, actually. 8)
The summit was cold, as expected, with a steady wind. Decent accumulation but also patchy, saw a few groups coming up from the Backbone and the Ski Hut in varying states of preparedness. The flag is really taking a beating up there...
By this time, the clouds had basically enveloped the entire range, leading to sights I had only previously ever seen from airplane windows.
Distant Sierras absolutely caked in snow
Heading down, the views were jaw-dropping, and when the clouds broke here and there you could see forever. The sun reflecting off of the Pacific had a particularly nice look to it.
Our route being straight down through those thick clouds also led to an eerie and awesome descent.
It was until the switchbacks that we finally dropped out of the clouds, and it gets dark really freaking early now. Bear Canyon is a little creepy in pitch black.
This was my 10th summit of Baldy and will definitely go down as one of the most memorable.
A lot more pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wattifoto/ ... 001872267/
Cheers! 8)
