I set off from Best Cocina around 0945 to meet Dima in Claremont around noon. I had my mtb (Trek 1120) with my boots, crampons, axe, and other mountaineering jazz in my bags strapped to the bike, and took it easy. One thing I really like about these Baldy Full Moon trips is waking up late. You don't need to start hiking until just a little before sunset, so you can wake up a little later and just take it easy. It's always a challenging day but this 'feature' helps keep it fun and somewhat chill.
I got to Claremont a little early and had a coffee, orange juice, and a donut, and sat around for 20min or so looking at expensive bike parts on the internet. Dima showed up and we sat and ate and talked for a bit before heading up the hill. We were heading up Baldy Road, not entirely by choice, as it's not my favorite climb. It's in direct sunlight (gets hot, aka sweaty mountain road), fast traffic close by especially in the two tunnels where I'm mega slow, and it's not as nice as the preferred GMR-GRR-Baldy Village route. I got turned back at the gate for GRR just past Horse Canyon Saddle last month during full moon, and didn't have enough time to ride back down and then go up Baldy Road. Thus, we bailed and pushed it back one month, hoping we would get some snow. Everyone knows how this season has been, especially compared to the last two years which were outrageous.
We refilled water and got a small lunch at Baldy Lodge, which was super busy, then continued up the road. Someone honked excitedly at me, and then Mikey hollered from his car a bit further up. Quite a bit of traffic on the hill with people stealing snow that will fly off on the freeway. Partway up to the notch we hid our bikes and went into FOOT MODE. I had chosen Devils Backbone for this year cause I figured the Bowl wouldn't be consolidated yet, and we had done that the past few times we rode up here in winter anyway. The Windy app showed low winds through the area so maybe the great views you get would be more enjoyable. Unfortunately for past-us, this was inaccurate, and it was quite windy as always up there. Some year I hope we will have just a light breeze up there so it'll be a beautiful walk in the park.
Some people had broken trail up to the start of the skinny part of DBB. The snow wasn't quite perfect but was serviceable and not too slow with some small cornices on the north side. Super pretty out! We got to the 'sketchy' part that everyone knows about and I aimed us at the little stick-out ledge that the trail runs on. There's a bolt places at the beginning of the traverse which is only driven in about 2/3rds of the way. I seem to remember other bolts on this traverse, which is a recent thing. My personal opinion is that if someone wishes to protect this traverse with a rope, there are natural anchors aplenty, such as long slings on the trees, a cam placement on a 2" crack on the right a bit of the way out, knifeblade placements, and of course one could use pickets if the snow was good in many places. Just my opinion, likely shared by many, thus I don't think the bolts should be there. We did not use a rope nor did I feel one would help, as we climbed this at night with no moon yet with a standard axe and 10pt strap crampons. The snow was quite steep for a section and I faced in and kicked steps with the toe of the boot. We plunged our axes into the slope above, using Piolet Panne where the snow was firmer. After the traverse, we roughly followed the trail (under a foot plus of snow), and around 9,000ft I began showing signs of AMS. I was breaking trail on snow with a crust that supports +/-50% bodyweight but then gives in and posthole to below the knee for a little bit and starting feeling very slow. Dima took over and we continued towards Harwood's south slope. Dima figured we'd get better conditions above the treeline on Harwood in exchange for some elevation gain. I was feeling real weak so the prospect of more uphill (when we still had to go up Baldy) wasn't something I really wanted but the conditions would probably make up for it. It was windier up there but the snow was harder and thus less work.
At this point whenever I started going uphill I was very very slow. No headache, no nausea, just tired and a little poorly coordinated. Good training. Just kept slowly putting one foot in front of the other and plodding uphill. It was very windy, and as we continued up towards the summit of Baldy from the saddle it would hit us from the south with force. Not as windy as last year, just like a normal windy day on Baldy. The full moon finally crept above the horizon and some high ribbon-like Alto Cirrus clouds, lighting up the mountain. It's always a bit challenging to really enjoy the amazing view when you're walking sideways facing north to keep yer face from getting ice blasted. Guess it would really suck if we had to march into that head first for hours. We reached the summit and Dima took some pics. I huddled behind some cover, we said some things and made the call to GTFO. I was looking forward to descending so I wasn't going so goddamn slow. Dima was always waiting up for me a good distance ahead up on the mountain. This was one of the hardest Baldy summits of my life with how I was feeling. Felt like 14,000+ft, not 10. I was still slow on the descent, but I wasn't so out of breath. Moving eastbound had the full moon ahead of and above us, lighting the whole world up. It was really beautiful, one of the main reasons we do this. I was feeling a bit better but still very slow until before the traverse. A part of me was worried about the traverse with how I was feeling, but my state improved when we got there, and I think having to actually climb and pay attention with consequences helped me clear my head of negativity while feeling fatigued. I rather enjoyed going back over it. Wearing my Japanese fishing gloves (look em up, they're amazing and $20) I was able to punch the snow and use it as a hold while moving my feet sideways on the steps we kicked and plunging the axe in at chest height. The snow became much more firm further along and I grabbed the axe below the head and pressed the pick in, perfect conditions for that. Dima is wearing boots that aren't very stiff so I tried to make most of the steps more firm. I had boots like his when I started doing this stuff and had a crampon fall off once or twice leaving me to downclimb a while with one good foot that squirms around in a crampon to retrieve my other. A stiff boot is always better. If you have soft boots, have your buddy with stiff ones kick the steps.
We completed the traverse and it was much better than I thought. Not only did I not dislike it, I enjoyed it, and my symptoms were decreasing, AND we were almost done. Just the short section of skinny ridge ahead, and then down to the bikes. We were both happy to be off the windy part and getting close to the bikes. We hiked down to them, repacked, and rode down. I took entirely too long to repack my bike, but I am rebuilding it in a fashion that will make it easier for these adventures. The current setup is frustrating and has other drawbacks I will discuss in a bike post later. I took it easy riding down the snowy road, Dima far ahead as usual, and got a bit sideways in one section which prompted me to dismount and walk a little. It became much easier just a bit further down and we made good progress. Baldy Road was in fine shape with very little ice. I am fast on paved descents so I stopped occasionally to wait for Dima to catch up, the only time I'm ahead of him. According to Strava I hit 47mph, which is pretty fun on a rigid mountain bike with 29x3 inch tires buzzing along like a huge bee. The descent was fun and traffic was nonexistent, and we got back into Claremont around 0200. I begged and pleaded and eventually Dima relented and gave me a ride home, saving me from a tiring and boring 20 miles of city riding. I felt OK doing this instead of riding back home cause that part is lame and it's not a big deal. I can't be too stiff with my ride-every-mile mindset or I'll miss out on good experiences (like sleep). Neither Dima nor I had much sleep recently so that was nice. I had also done my 46 mile per day commute for 4 days so I technically wasn't rested worth a damn.
I'll discuss my thoughts here for this and future trips.
-Feeling sick was a bummer but also provided valuable insight and training for doing higher stuff in the future, like the usual White Mountain rides.
-I figured DBB would be easier than the Bowl. This wasn't really my primary motivator for choosing DBB this year, as it was more to do with DBB being easier if the freeze-thaw cycle meant the Bowl was unconsolidated. Long steep snow routes in deep snow suck, and after riding 35 miles with 6,000ft of climbing in one long slow climb, it feels as if you've been climbing for a long time. Much harder than if you parked at Wanker and hiked up, by a lot.
The Bowl is almost always a hike up to the hut with some snow and little postholing. Gear up at the hut, then climb up to the summit and descend back whatever way you dig. In a way, DBB was more adventurous, with plenty of minro postholing (below the knee). The skinny part at the beginning has a cool mountain feel to it, and the traverse is the only 'climbing' part of the route, as a fall there has real consequences and it is relatively steep, especially compared to the rest of the route. The postholing really sapped my strength and reminded me of times past. The Bowl is mostly very easy but one has options for steeper climbing in the chutes and buttresses above. Normally we just go right directly at the summit, which gives the longest average steepness route. Keep on huffing and puffing. Conditions-permitting, I think next year we will go up the Bowl. Maybe one of the steeper couloirs or something.
-I will write a post about my mountain bike project, of building the right bike for me for exploring mountains and doing these bikeaneering trips.
-I need to bring more actual food. I had meals here and there but I mostly just brought snacks on the bike. I'd like a nice sammich at some point, and more fruit. Reckon I'll become a deli man. I also needed to drink more water, and need to bring a large bike bottle in the pack next time instead of a small. I had about 2 liters for the on-foot portion of the trip and should've had 3.
-I did 56 miles with 10,180ft of climbing.
I'm sure there's more but for right now I'm out. Still a bit tired, slept OK last night. Thanks guys.
