EISPIRATEN

I parked at Ice House Canyon and, starting at 6:35, walked down to the Ranger Station in the Village to head up the Mount Baldy Trail. It was clear of snow until well above Bear Flat. Once the snow got to be pervasive, it was quite hard due to the early hour. I put on crampons before the Narrows after contemplating how far I could travel with a slip. The snow slowed the pace, but I got to the summit by a hair after 11 AM. I had seen no one yet. After enjoying the views, I headed for the Ski Hut for lunch and met several parties heading up or practicing self arrest in the Bowl. By now the snow was pretty soft and good for glissading. The snow got spotty immediately below the Hut and the trail was mostly clear below about 7000'. I stopped at the Snack Shack for a bottle of Gatorade and a bit of conversation, then walked down the road to Ice House. It was a great clear day with temperatures in the 40s and 50s -- maybe the 60s by the time I hit my car (thermometer battery died).
Pictures

I logged on to post a question about snow level on the Mount Baldy Trail and look what I found! Alan "the man" K. telling me exactly what I needed to know. Sweet.

Nice pictures, BTW . I noticed that you always take a pic of the bear flat sign followed by a pic of the pine tree.

Do you think you could have gotten by with your Katoola Microspikes instead of crampons?

HikeUp wrote:I logged on to post a question about snow level on the Mount Baldy Trail and look what I found! Alan "the man" K. telling me exactly what I needed to know. Sweet.

Nice pictures, BTW . I noticed that you always take a pic of the bear flat sign followed by a pic of the pine tree.

Do you think you could have gotten by with your Katoola Microspikes instead of crampons?

I have been recording the slow erosion of the Bear Flat sign. :-( Actually, I try to throw in a few recognizable places so that people can figure out where at least some of the pictures are.

I used the microspikes for a bit, but there came a point where I wanted a heck of a lot bigger bite. Starting later would help, I suppose.

I needed to know how the snow coverage was on Baldy, Dawson & Pine and voila, here it is.......thanks Alan!