EISPIRATEN

The outdoorsclub is doing Baldy, Pine and Dawson on Oct 13 at 7am from Manker Flats. http://www.outdoorsclub.org See Calendar on 10/13

Outdoors Club says this hike is 14 miles with 6200' gain from Manker Flat and the Ski Hut Trail and down via the notch - is that accurate? I would have guessed it longer. I'd actually like to do this hike from Wrightwood; waiting for a nice cool day.

Leslie

I also like doing the hike from Wrightwood. The section from the dirt road up Pine is a lot of fun and I see enough of Manker Flat on other occasions. Regarding elevation gain and mileage, 6200' may be about right but the mileage seems short for a return via the Notch. If you walk down, the Manker - Ski Hut - Baldy - Notch - Manker is something like 13 miles. Surely, the Outdoors Club folks won't be taking the ski lift down!

I hiked Pine and Dawson from Baldy Village and it was over 9000 ft gain, so I suspect the 6000' is a little short (unless they are referring to a oneway hike, ending in Wrightwood). There is a lot of elevation gain going down from Baldy and Back up.

Here is my trip report:

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/2 ... llage.html

For Manker Flat, you can subtract about 2000' compared to the hike from Baldy Village. Maybe 7000' is a better estimate than 6000'

Manker to Baldy: 3900' gain
Baldy to Dawson: drop to saddle then ~750' gain from saddle up to Dawson
Dawson to Pine: drop to saddle the ~500' gain from saddle up to Pine
Pine to Baldy (bypassing Dawson peak saves maybe 100'?): ~325' + ~1250
Baldy to Harwood: drop to saddle then ~400' gain to Harwood

3900+750+500+325+1250+400=7125' gain

Mileage: 4.2 Baldy + ~3.0 Pine + ~3.0 Baldy + 3.5 Notch including Harwood = 13.7 miles to notch. 3.0+ more if you walk down the road to Manker.

16.7 miles

Numbers are taken or estimated from Tom Harrison map.

A nice long day in the hills no matter how you add it up.

I'd like to do it from Wrightwood too.

I've done it from Wrightwood. The drop down from Dawson to the Dawson-Baldy saddle is a bit disheartening. Then, after you drop from Dawson, you have to climb the back side of Baldy, which is pretty steep, steeper than via the ski hut trail.

I think the good news is that it's only 10 miles from the road on Blue Ridge to Baldy and return.

The hike I've been wanting to do is to go up Pine, then Dawson (one could take in Baldy too), and then return via the trail that drops down to Fish Fork and then to Prairie Fork, then XC back to Blue Ridge and the car. I did it years ("just a couple") ago with my dad in the 60's or 70's, but I couldn't find the trail the last time I was up there and didn't want to play "bushwack the buckthorn."

For another variation, my son and I once parked at the Grassy Hollow parking lot on Rte. 2 and bicycled to the trailhead on Blue Ridge before doing Pine, Dawson and Baldy. As I recall, the dirt road was supposed ot be closed to auto traffic but wasn't. It was a fun trip, though. It's always interesting to hike up a steep hill after bicycling.

What I'd really like to do is Wrightwood to Baldy Village. We need a cheap shuttle service.