Since I will have a forced break from hiking for a few weeks, I wanted to do something a little more epic than cruising the Wilderness Park. My choice for stuff like that is frequently Mt Baldy, which is a nice familiar trail and a good 11-mile loop.
Leaving home later than I wanted, I reached Manker Flats around 8:45 and scored a nice parking spot not too far from the trailhead. It's definitely not as crowded in the wintertime. Despite my slothful ways over the last six months, I actually felt pretty good once I got on the trail. I realized that I missed this stuff…. Surprisingly, I passed a few people before I reached the ski hut, where I took a break for some fresh mountain water and a little snack. I was making pretty good time, and kept that up when I set back out for the second (harder) half of the hike. When I got to the top of the bowl, I took a little time to explore along the ridge line, enjoying views of the nearly-sheer face. I ran into a little traffic just below the summit, but still managed an ascent time of 2:40. The views were still pretty good, Catalina was very clear before the clouds rolled in.
The temperature at the summit was a little brisk, a light breeze forcing me to don my fleece jacket. I hung around the top for a little while, had some brief conversations with the multitude of folks already there, and in fact met up with a co-worker on his first trip to Baldy. Heading down, I was planning to visit Mt Harwood, but I picked up a jacket that someone had dropped on the upper section. Figuring the owner might not be too far in front, instead I just went straight towards the Notch. I ran into the guy about halfway there, and he seemed rather appreciative not to have to make two ascents in the day. I stopped at the ski area for lunch, and I was a little disappointed in the cafeteria setting. During the summer food is cooked to order but for winter it's under heat lamps and not quite as tasty. Still, I downed a cheeseburger, fries and a Red Hook ESB before heading down again.
To avoid the boring 3.6 mile fire road, I took the route straight down under the ski lifts, which chopped a couple miles off of the trek.
My total time for the day: 6:05
Total miles: about 9.2
Total elevation gain/loss: about 4,000 feet
(EveryTrail shows it as 8.8 miles (one stretch is skipped on the map) and +/- 6,673 feet but that's way off)
A few pics:
Looking up from the trail. It always looks a lot higher than it feels.
Almost to the hut. Break time ahead.
View at lots of peaks across the canyon.
One of the two icy patches on the trail, both easily avoided or just walk on the gravel embedded in the ice.
Looking down the edge of the bowl.
Only a small crowd at the top.
Side view of the bowl.
Looking back at the summit.
Unusual not to see anyone on the backbone.
Unused equipment this year.
There's your snowpack, kids.
Going down the use trail under the lift.
