I awoke Saturday morning at 2:30am, and by 4:25 was heading up Bear Canyon.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728556/P1100030 (1024x731).jpg)
I made decent time up the steep trail and caught a beautiful sunrise.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728557/P1100035 (1024x731).jpg)
I also caught sight of some seemingly fearless Big Horns.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728559/P1100045 (1023x1024).jpg)
By 8am I was crunching semi-hard snow on West Baldy.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728560/P1100048 (1024x731).jpg)
Instead of gasping my way up to Baldy, I then contoured around the southern flank of the highpoint,
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728561/P1100055 (1024x768).jpg)
dropping down to meet the Ski Hut Trail, which I took down to the Bowl, where I enjoyed a snack,
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728564/P1100062 (1024x768).jpg)
refilled water at the creek,
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728567/P1100065 (1024x731).jpg)
changed footwear,
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728568/P1100069 (1024x768).jpg)
and debated the meaning of life with a bird.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728569/P1100068 (1024x1024).jpg)
A little more downhill took me to the service/fire road, which I then took up to the Notch.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728570/P1100075 (1024x768).jpg)
The Notch, of course, is a convenient stop for washing
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728571/P1100080 (1024x768).jpg)
and eating.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728572/P1100082 (1024x768).jpg)
Feeling pretty good, I was ready for more hiking action by 11:30am, heading back up to Baldy, this time via the Devil's Backbone fire road and trail.
Fire Road
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728573/P1100085 (1024x768).jpg)
Trail
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728574/P1100090 (1024x732).jpg)
The wind felt nice and freezy on Harwood.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728575/P1100095 (1024x731).jpg)
I then had the bright idea of trying to conserve energy by contouring around the eastern side of Baldy to the North Backbone Trail.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728576/P1100101 (1024x731).jpg)
But whatever faint use path I was following ended at a not-so-appealing ice sheet, quite a distance from the Baldy-Dawson Saddle.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728580/P1100103 (1024x768).jpg)
So I then scrambled back up to the Devil's Backbone and bagged Baldy.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728582/P1100106 (1024x732).jpg)
It was only 2pm, but I had been out for nearly ten hours already. I considered trying for Dawson and checked out the trail.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728583/P1100110 (1024x729).jpg)
I observed a little snow/ice on the route down from Baldy, but it probably wouldn't have slowed me down too much. Still, I was fairly fatigued with only two Clif bars and a Snickers remaining. If I got stuck on Dawson, that would be bad, so I hightailed it out of there, descended the Bear Canyon Trail back to my car, still another 6.5 miles to go.
And it's a good thing I did, because I found two lost individuals who had missed the Ski Hut Trail and took the Bear Canyon Trail about three miles before realizing the error.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1728585/P1100125 (1024x731).jpg)
We walked back to the village together. I told them all about The Full Baldy and gave them a ride back to their car at Manker.
My stats for the day amounted to 22.5 miles with 9370' of gain.