Crunchy Baldy via Register Ridge - 1/22/2012

mcphersonm80 · Post by **mcphersonm80** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:23 pm

Finally got around to heading up Register Ridge. Steep, secluded, awesome. Only ran into one other guy on the ridge, and very few all day (descended Ski Hut)

Conditions were chilly and dry up until around 8500' or so, and then virtually every square inch was covered in a layer of ice and it was freezing cold. Don't go up without gear, and more snow is coming in tonight so these conditions are old news.... 12-14" predicted overnight, and hopefully we get something real roll through soon.

I was surprised how much ice was left from the small storm yesterday.

Overall, another excellent day and frigid day up top. Some pics:

And the full set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wattifoto/ ... 747327415/

obie · Post by **obie** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:50 pm

Microspikes FTW.

Nice pics.

Post by **Taco** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:11 am

I really like that pic of the trail along DBB with Baldy straight ahead.

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:51 am

mcphersonm80 - 12 in our group went up Register Ridge yesterday, don't know how we missed you? What time did you start? Very fun icy day up there, great pictures. Hope to catch you on the next one.

mcphersonm80 · Post by **mcphersonm80** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 1:16 pm

Thanks all 8)

obie wrote: ↑Microspikes FTW.

Yup, the spikes were absolutely perfect for conditions yesterday. Sure as hell wouldn't have gotten very far without them, and proper crampons would have been too much.

Taco wrote:I really like that pic of the trail along DBB with Baldy straight ahead.

I love how you can trace almost the whole route to the top.

lilbitmo wrote:mcphersonm80 - 12 in our group went up Register Ridge yesterday, don't know how we missed you? What time did you start? Very fun icy day up there, great pictures. Hope to catch you on the next one.

heh And the whole time I thought I was following a single set of footprints, and even those were faint... you guys bring a whole new meaning to "leave no trace"

Yeah I got off to a late start, right around 10:00am, reached the top around 12:30 and saw only one other guy the entire route up (he was descending). You guys must have been well on your way down before I even started. I just ran across your photos over on the Whitney board, seems like we agree on photo ops, I recognize several trees in your shots that I got, too. lol

TracieB · Post by **TracieB** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:21 pm

Yes there was a tribe up RR before you...even I couldn't see the tracks, the ice was so hard, most of us just had on microspikes.

I brought up the rear and took this shot, if you look closely you can see the nice BBC peeps waiting at the base of Baldy for me..and a few others scattered near or at the top.

The snow was considerably softer on the Ski hut trail.

mcphersonm80 · Post by **mcphersonm80** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:12 pm

Wow, awesome shot. You really get an idea of how cold it was up there in that pic.

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:52 am

Southbay Mark recorded 22 degrees at 10 AM when he came up with a full size thermometer and laid it out for 10 minutes

mcphersonm80 · Post by **mcphersonm80** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:58 am

lilbitmo wrote: ↑Southbay Mark recorded 22 degrees at 10 AM when he came up with a full size thermometer and laid it out for 10 minutes

I believe it. And felt even colder when the wind was gusting.

666-The Beast · Post by **666-The Beast** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:04 pm

Wow!!! a courageous trek to the crunch-land Baldy; thanks for the pics, real good job for us to see. I would have liked to have been there and done a bit of crunch walking myself but after a while I would have been the crunch material!!!- 20 degrees- a bit too cold for me!.... 666