EISPIRATEN

Hi Jim! I don't know where everyone is? Answer to your question -- you have to be at Manker at least before 9am -- since there are no chains requirement at this point I'd say you should be getting off 210 at 8-8:15 to be safe.

I would say MUCH earlier based on my experience today. I was off the the 210 a little before 9AM and traffic was totally stopped just after the dam! It was insane and we simply turned around. I am going to try and get there by 7:30 tomorrow and hope to at least get within a mile of manaker

Read the LA Times article about today's horrible TRAFFIC!!!

I left about 5 am this morning, and was only stopped to see if I had chains. Was quickly a nightmare even by 6 AM. Starting at the village was ice, so everyone pulled over(massive traffic) and put their chains on, then people without chains just kept spinning over and over and ruining everyone elses day.

Anyhoo! Finally got to the parking lot of icehouse canyon(trying to go up to manker was impossible) at 730 after getting my car stuck. Was very lonely hiking! Passed a group heading up and met 3 at the saddle. On the way down there was a BUNCH of Koreans, and then all of a sudden nobody the rest of the way.
Got to the parking lot, no cars at all! Was awesome, everything got closed down and only when cars went down the mountain did they let any more up

mve wrote:Hi Jim! I don't know where everyone is? Answer to your question -- you have to be at Manker at least before 9am -- since there are no chains requirement at this point I'd say you should be getting off 210 at 8-8:15 to be safe.

Jim,

I am sorry -- man was I wrong! It was a ZOO over there today I have never seen so many people there. It was crazy. I based my advice on this:



taken from http://www.mtbaldy.com/snow-report.htm

We went earlier since we wanted to climb Ski Hut trail and even at 7:00am it was a sizeable traffic jam starting at the village (eveyone was putting chains). We were able to sail through to Manker on our M+S tires and 4WD -- in fact there wasn't much ice there on the road or I just didn't notice.

When we got back from the trail at 2:30pm I simply couldn't believe the complete and total debacle that was unfolding in front of my eyes -- there were COPs everywhere towing people's cars/trucks off because they were blocking the road, eveyone was getting stuck not being able to get out of the parking area (2WD no chains!). Forget it! I took bunch of pictures and will hopefully post a report later today ...

MVE,

I think I saw you on Falls Rd. Luckily I saw the comments after yours and we left Long Beach at 7:00. That got us up the hill in a reasonable time with plenty of parking near the trailhead. We did get to enjoy watching people stopped in THE VERY MIDDLE OF THE ROAD TO PUT THEIR CHAINS ON! Like they couldn't back up over to the edge? Ah the fun of local mountains.

My daughter and I snowshoed up Falls Road to the Ski Hut turnoff. I was hoping for more... but she's 9 and this was her just her second time on her new snowshoes.

We spent about an hour at the turnoff making big snowballs then rolling them down the slope to see how big they'd get.

We had lots of fun on the way back- practicing descending some rather steep slippery slopes.

Jim,

I am so glad you didn't listen to my suggestion -- I kept kicking myself for it all morning! Glad you and your daughter had a great time! It's a wonderland out there with all the snow -- never seen anything like it here in CA!

Wrightwood was an absolute nightmare the last 2 days.
Lone pine was closed, and with Big Bear closed everyone and his dog (literally)were here. Geez! Looking forward to weekdays. Heck, looking forward to spring!

Bill wrote:Wrightwood was an absolute nightmare the last 2 days.
Lone pine was closed, and with Big Bear closed everyone and his dog (literally)were here. Geez! Looking forward to weekdays. Heck, looking forward to spring!

I'd send you a snow shovel to dig you out but what you really need is "anti-tourist/gheto remover" AKA explosive devices

I went to the Tram because I knew that no hiker in his right mind wanted anything to do with all the bad drivers on those mountian roads - not that I'm in my right mind by any means, but it did work out for me

Saturday, Mark & I went up to Mt. Pinos so Mark could test ride his new (1st) BC rig. As expected, the road wasn't plowed, so we skinned up 7 1/2 miles or so, hit our turnaround time a few miles and 500' below the summit, and started to ski down. After a couple of miles though, we ran into the plows, clearing the last of the road. So it was a 5 mile walk out in our ski boots on a black ice filled road....

Nevertheless, it was a great day.

gregp909 wrote:

Augie wrote:

gregp909 wrote:keep ... the east LA crowd out of the hills.

. . .legitimate gripes about how some people behave in the outdoors are one thing. . .to tar a whole ethnic group is unjustified.

I am happy you felt compelled to call me out. . .I like people with opinions that aren't afraid to share them.

The fact you recognize that there are legitimate concerns with the way people behave in the outdoors means that you understood the intent of what I posted. I didn't I tar a whole ethnic group, since 1) I didn't use any ethnic terminology that singled out any particular group, and 2) even if you mistakenly inferred something from my comment, I didn't realize the whole of any ethnic group lived in just east LA.

My best friend is from latin heritage, I lived in South America for many years, (I even LOVE Mexican food ) so be careful before you imply someone is racist -- you know what they say about assuming something before you know your facts. . .

Cheers.

***Sorry to hijack the post, let's get back to the weather and all the glorious snow we are all so excited about!!!

Greg,

I appreciate your response. I realize you didn't mention an ethnic group. It's just that in my experience people use the geographic designation "'east L.A." synonymous with "Mexican" or "Latino" and your phrase "east LA crowd" sounded like such a reference.

As far as I'm concerned the "air is cleared" on this matter. Peace, bro'. My apologies as well to everyone else for side-tracking the thread. Back to the weather and all that fluffy stuff from the heavens. And we should be getting more this week. Everybody enjoy and be safe!

Augie

. . .From the Mt Baldy Ski Area website:

February 10, 2010 Snow Report

12-15 inches of new snow last night

gregp909 wrote:. . .From the Mt Baldy Ski Area website:

February 10, 2010 Snow Report

12-15 inches of new snow last night

Outstanding!

More snow is in the forecast for Saturday, February 27. What do you suppose the conditions will be on the Mt. Baldy road at dawn on Sunday morning?

Probably a big Charlie Foxtrot, in military terms.

TacoDelRio wrote:Probably a big Charlie Foxtrot, in military terms.

That's affirmative.

TacoDelRio wrote:Probably a big Charlie Foxtrot, in military terms.

I don't know what that means.

Sam Page wrote:

TacoDelRio wrote:Probably a big Charlie Foxtrot, in military terms.

I don't know what that means.

A clusterfuck (cf, c= charlie etc).

Manker Flats ain't a great place to be on the weekends.

I need to start bringing trashbags in my pack for all the crap I/we pick up on the walk out. Alotta Blue Falcons out there (another Army term). Picked up most of a sled, a few beer bottles, and tons of other trash with Fritz yesterday. Had our hands full.

Sam Page wrote:

TacoDelRio wrote:Probably a big Charlie Foxtrot, in military terms.

I don't know what that means.

"Charlie" stands for a "C" in military terms and the context requires that the word starting with a "C" is "Cluster."

How's Kelly's Camp in spring/summer?

Also, along the Middle Fork Trail: Commanche, Third Stream Crossing and Stonehouse?

Would like to train for bike/hikes on Baldy and am looking for camping sites around the area. Ultralite - hammock, bag and a few things. Water at any of these campsites?

Kelly's Camp is very nice. I take noobs up there, and really enjoy myself. There's plenty of water, it's all full of nice tall trees.

Trip reports:

https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=1789

https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=1602

Thanks so much Simonov. Excellent pictures and commentary.

Cool.

Did this latest system bring anything in? I think I see new snow from my backyard, but I'm impatient!

Nevermind, saw it. Real nice. Some snow on the north side of Rattlesnake and Doe, and all that jazz.

Missed the big Whitney climb this weekend because I couldn't get off work Friday and wasn't feeling to hot. So I settled for a quick 16 mile mtn bike ride on blackstar in the Santa Ana mountains.

If you like fireroads right now black star is in good shape. No ruts at all. The owner of the property at beeks place has placed bee hives there so depending on which way the wind blows there are allot of bees up there. Great day and great views of Baldy and San Gorgonio.

Things change in just a few days.




Here's a shot from someone trying to go up yesterday.
It's not good when wet, and yesterday was only a little rain.

Word is also that the beekeepers are fairly sketchy and drive with little concern for others on the road.

hah, where's the carwash? nasty.

SNOW!!!!!!?

Tuesday Night: A slight chance of rain showers before 11pm, then snow showers likely. Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. Windy, with a west southwest wind between 25 and 30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Wednesday: Snow showers likely, mainly before 11am. Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. Breezy, with a west southwest wind around 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Thursday Night: A chance of snow showers. Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 33.

Here's the Pano of the Baldy Bowl from our hike yesterday. We hiked the road up to the notch and did the Backbone trail for the first time. Having climbed the bowl 5 times in winter conditions, I have to admit that I like the snow MUCH better!
I'll post more pics of the trail conditions as soon as they are uploaded to my site.

Happy hiking,
Stacy

Baldy in winter is a climb.

Baldy in summer is just a work-out.