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:
![Image](http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/3228/dsc00573i.jpg)
Matt's first-ever steps with Crampons and Ice-Axe. He did great!
![Image](http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/5953/dsc00585b.jpg)
![Image](http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8171/dsc00588tl.jpg)
Mitch and Mike
![Image](http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2677/dsc00591zr.jpg)
Matt, Mike and Fritz. Mike was visiting from Houston, TX.
![Image](http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/4846/dsc00596fw.jpg)
Mitch checking out turtle's snowcave .. hidden behind the tree.
![Image](http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/8540/dsc00597b.jpg)
Beautiful views of San Gorgonio with the wind
![Image](http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1784/dsc00603v.jpg)
You could see spindrifts all over Harwood and off the Baldy summit
![Image](http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/1792/dsc00605mv.jpg)
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.
![Image](http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/8271/dsc00610d.jpg)
Mike and Mitch moving up the South-eastern ridgeline
![Image](http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/8933/dsc00617sk.jpg)
Dostie's Dare. The chutes look relatively good, except for Taco Sauce and one other
![Image](http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/843/dsc00619j.jpg)
Girlie Man, I think ..
![Image](http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/552/dsc00623z.jpg)
Hourglass
![Image](http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9724/dsc00621m.jpg)
Matt over Hourglass Chute
![Image](http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/1668/dsc00631s.jpg)
My favorite tree on Baldy
![Image](http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/7587/dsc00637y.jpg)
At the windy summit Mitch sees Guillermo Quiroz!
![Image](http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/9725/dsc00635s.jpg)
Then a spontaneous two year reunion on the Summit ..
![Image](http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/4584/dsc00634pr.jpg)
![Image](http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/8210/dsc00644ub.jpg)
Just like Feb 9, 2008 - Complete with Wine and Hakatsuru Sake!
![Image](http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/1313/dsc00643wb.jpg)
![Image](http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4286/dsc00645y.jpg)
![Image](http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/9026/dsc00657n.jpg)
Summit Stoke!
![Image](http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/9983/dsc00660dn.jpg)
West Baldy conditions
![Image](http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4351/dsc00661m.jpg)
San Gorgonio and San Jacinto to the East. You could clearly see the Sierra and Mount Charleston by Las Vegas.
![Image](http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/555/dsc00671pf.jpg)
After lunch below the summit we were glissading our way down with Guillermo
![Image](http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/2723/dsc00681y.jpg)
![Image](http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/9901/dsc00690w.jpg)
![Image](http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/6936/dsc00694u.jpg)
![Image](http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/9329/dsc00695c.jpg)
![Image](http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3708/dsc00701d.jpg)
![Image](http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/859/dsc00704lj.jpg)
Watched some Telemark skiers heading down
![Image](http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6460/dsc00710r.jpg)
And back to the Hut
![Image](http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4497/dsc00713sq.jpg)
Where Pavel greeted us with bottomless Hot Tea and Brandy!
![Image](http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5893/dsc00717m.jpg)
That made the return to Manker Flats even more fun!
All in all a great day with good friends!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)