Headed up Baldy with a friend from work, Matt, who never climbed Baldy in the snow.
With daylight savings it was dark and unusually windy at 5:45AM
First thing that happens was unusual ..
A skantily clad 20 year old girl shivering in the cold and wearing only a skimpy Cavewoman outfit asked me to jump her car.
I helped her out and got her going again, then Matt arrived.
As we headed up Falls Road at 6AM I hear Simonov, Mitch, calling out my name at the hairpin turn by the waterfall.
He too was taking a friend, Mike, up on his first Baldy climb. So we traveled as a group of four.
The lower half of the Ski Hut trail is melted away since I was there last at the end of January.
Quite a change from 6 feet of snow on Falls Road to faint traces of snow.
We booted it up to the Hut where San Diego SAR was meeting for the weekend.
Hut-Host Dave was cooking up Bacon .. mmm ... Bacon!
Mitch recognized quite a few of the San Diego guys from a recent Wilderness First Aid course he took with them.
More mini-reunions .. good stuff.
We headed up the traditional South-est route:
Matt's first-ever steps with Crampons and Ice-Axe. He did great!
Mitch and Mike
Matt, Mike and Fritz. Mike was visiting from Houston, TX.
Mitch checking out turtle's snowcave .. hidden behind the tree.
Beautiful views of San Gorgonio with the wind
You could see spindrifts all over Harwood and off the Baldy summit
Mitch mentioned that a woman named Cindy Abbott was climbing. We run into her on her way down. She's headed for Everest in 2 weeks.
I tell her I've got two close fiends climbing it too; turns out they are climbing together and already know each other. Small world.
Mike and Mitch moving up the South-eastern ridgeline
Dostie's Dare. The chutes look relatively good, except for Taco Sauce and one other
Girlie Man, I think ..
Hourglass
Matt over Hourglass Chute
My favorite tree on Baldy
At the windy summit Mitch sees Guillermo Quiroz!
Then a spontaneous two year reunion on the Summit ..
Just like Feb 9, 2008 - Complete with Wine and Hakatsuru Sake!
Summit Stoke!
West Baldy conditions
San Gorgonio and San Jacinto to the East. You could clearly see the Sierra and Mount Charleston by Las Vegas.
After lunch below the summit we were glissading our way down with Guillermo
Watched some Telemark skiers heading down
And back to the Hut
Where Pavel greeted us with bottomless Hot Tea and Brandy!
That made the return to Manker Flats even more fun!
All in all a great day with good friends!
