EISPIRATEN

Hiked up to Mt. Baldy this morning via the Devil's Backbone. Started from the ski lift parking lot, went up the short and steep road that connects to the main road up to the notch, then made my way to the peak.

I was on the summit for about 15 minutes around 8:22-8:37. Saw about 5 other hikers all together on the way up and on the peak while I was there. Saw many many more on the Backbone as I headed back down. I didn't know this at the time but as I was leaving the summit I turned around and I think I saw Shin returning from West Baldy to tag the peak for a second time today. When looking at the pictures I think I recognize him from other pictures I've seen posted. If not, then oops, sorry.

No wind. Trail is in good shape. Only snow I saw was a few patches between Baldy and Harwood. It was pink.

Pics.

Snow...

Nice looking photo. I can see San Jacinto Peak quite clearly off in the distance. Is that Harwood in the middle distance of the photo?

Good day to be out.

HJ

Hi Hike-up,
Yes, it was me coming back from West Baldy. I got up the summit around 7:45.
Lately, DaveG,Zach,Tina,Patric did a Iron mountain to Baldy traverse so I wanted to check out exit point on West Baldy. There was still some snow on west side,too. It was a nice quiet hiking day till Ski hut.
I may have to start 4:00 am to avoid the traffic.
Hope to see you soon on the trail

This is the view of west from West Baldy.


The highlight of the day was meeting my friend,Dorothy who is 78 years young, just finished Sierra club's over 270 peak list for 6 times. Yes, 6 times. She is an amazing lady. Let's congratulate her amazing accomplishment. I hope I can be in that kind of shape in my late 70s.

Wow! Now that's impressive.

Added belatedly: You captured a special moment, HikeUp.
But this Lady Rules!

HJ: Yes, that's Harwood. Dunno why but my favorite view from Baldy is towards Harwood.

Shin: Cool, next time I'll be sure to say hello! I like starting early as well - I saw no one until a few minutes before reaching the summit. That's really impressive of your friend to complete the list so many times - perseverance!

A buddy and I started up the Ski Hut route at around 6:20am, making it back to Manker at around 11:45 after stopping for a snack on the summit. It was a beautiful day to be on the trail. I couldn't believe how many folks were out yesterday, as it was a log jam coming back down. It was beginning to warm up by 10am, and I wonder how many people, of the many that were just starting up the mountain, pooped out from the heat.

One funny thing that happened as we were coming down, about 20 minutes from the hut. As so many folks are always inquiring to those coming down, about how much farther they have to go to get to the top , an older lady hiking with her family asked how much farther up. My friend told them about a mile or so. I chimed in with "yeah, but it's a heck of a mile", and a younger lady who seemed to be that lady's daughter was giving me the neck slash sign for don't tell her that..lol. So I added something about being proud of her accomplishment and all that and got out of there before I got yelled at. Funny, but I always believed that the honest answer in those cases was the best way to go, but now I'm not going to be as forthcoming I guess.

Very impressive, nice photos.

It was an awesome day but way too many people -- I've never seen so many people on that trail.

In regards to "how much farther" questions -- I always reply in "time left" not "mileage left". Because typically, the people that ask these kinds of questions cannot apprehend the mileage, when you tell them a mile they think oh, no big deal, but when you ask them "how long did it take you to get here?", then based on their answer calculate that they are still 1.5-2 hours away from the summit and tell them that -- it tends to register in their mind better.