EISPIRATEN

Eric, Jay Olsen, and I did a Baldy 6 peaks hike on a hot day that was even hotter down in the valleys we temporarily left behind. Temperatures ranged from 69 to 93, which made for plenty of perspiration. We started at Ice House Canyon and walked down the road to Baldy Village. We then took the Bear Flat Trail to West Baldy and Baldy and headed down the Backbone, tagging Harwood on the way. After a stop at the Lodge, we headed up the 3T's Trail and tagged Thunder, Telegraph, and Timber. The total distance is almost exactly 21 miles, and the elevation gain/loss is 8250 feet.

There were a lot of people trying the Bear Flat Trail today -- remarkable considering the heat. Some of them made it to the top. Or further. The Backbone Trail was typically busy, but 3Ts Trail was sparsely populated until we got behind a huge, slow-moving party descending from Timber. Ice House Canyon was also popular.

All in all, it was a nice outing, heat or no heat.

Pictures

Good stuff, Alan. I can only imagine how hot the 3 T's trail was! Do you know what was going on with the Sherriff vehicles near Thunder Mtn?

GigaMike wrote:Good stuff, Alan. I can only imagine how hot the 3 T's trail was! Do you know what was going on with the Sherriff vehicles near Thunder Mtn?

6 peaks were certainly enough on this day. Although, truth be told, I have not hiked more than 21 miles in a while anyway. I hope to fix that.

Our guess was that we came across a SAR-related training exercise on the way up to Thunder.

Question, when you do that loop, do you still get a permit from ranger station since you're coming down ice house

dan

drndr wrote:Question, when you do that loop, do you still get a permit from ranger station since you're coming down ice house

Permits are required for the 3T's Trail (Cucamonga Wilderness) -- Ice House Canyon to Thunder Mountain.

6 named peaks? What is this world coming to?

Great pics, this will give me the cover to bag a named peak...as in 'Officer, the other guy was going 600 miles per hour, Im only going 100!'

AW wrote:6 named peaks? What is this world coming to?

Great pics, this will give me the cover to bag a named peak...as in 'Officer, the other guy was going 600 miles per hour, Im only going 100!'

OK, you opened up a subject we briefly discussed on Saturday. So, I'll ask...

My son and I visited 6 peaks and admit our guilt. We get no credit at all.

Our friend Jay skipped West Baldy, the very first peak. He also skipped Telegraph. Does he get credit for not visiting two peaks or does the guilt of the others ruin his bid? I can say that he honestly didn't seem to care about West Baldy or Telegraph. And he was not far from them... he just blew them off.

We saw a couple of women who were doing the same basic loop but skipped 5 of the peaks. Do they get credit for skipping 5 peaks or does the fact that the one they did hit was the highest of the bunch negate their good work?

AlanK wrote:OK, you opened up a subject we briefly discussed on Saturday. So, I'll ask...

My son and I visited 6 peaks and admit our guilt. We get no credit at all.

Our friend Jay skipped West Baldy, the very first peak. He also skipped Telegraph. Does he get credit for not visiting two peaks or does the guilt of the others ruin his bid? I can say that he honestly didn't seem to care about West Baldy or Telegraph. And he was not far from them... he just blew them off.

We saw a couple of women who were doing the same basic loop but skipped 5 of the peaks. Do they get credit for skipping 5 peaks or does the fact that the one they did hit was the highest of the bunch negate their good work?

Motive plays a role in the charges.....it could be second degree peak bagging or even summitting. For example, if the peaks bagged were merely part of a peak+canyon combo, Icehouse canyon being the key objective and the peaks just part of the trip, then probably be gulity of summitting with a sentence of probation.

I dont know if Baldy is on the exemption list of NHPS, the women may have been able to squeak on by NHPS rules. Either way, a rehabilitation could be in order....such as a mandatory reading of Right Fork North Creek Zion or some such material.

AlanK wrote:he was not far from them... he just blew them off.

Jay receives full credit for those two, and in fact should be commended for resisting the peer pressure on such a trip!

Cool stuff Alan - in fact, Jane and I talked were wondering how many people attempt that loop when we were up at Icehouse Saddle the other day. It seemed really interesting to be able to hike that whole rim.