Years ago, I was a pretty serious hiker. But after a while, I started to lose interest and eventually stopped. Hiking was my main form of exercise, so with that gone I really got out of shape. I tried hiking Baldy a few months ago and barely made it to the Ski Hut without passing out. What has happened to me? I finally got fed up and decided to get healthy again. I started working out and walking around my neighborhood.
This past weekend I went back to Mt. Baldy, my old friend. I woke up at 6am and surprisingly wasn't tired at all. This is not normal because I've been having chronic fatigue every time I wake up no matter how much sleep I get. Maybe this exercise really is helping.
I elect to go light and bring minimal gear. I even leave my camera at home, which I never, ever, ever do. I always have a camera. But I tell myself it's just Baldy and I've been here a hundred times. Who knew how much I would regret this decision later.
I hit the trail at 9am and am a little tired, but soon I'm getting into the groove of things again. I'm feeling good and climbing slowly but steadily. I pass several people and this makes me feel even better! Then a group of young people in their 20's and their freakishly large brown dog blow right by me. Damn those meddling kids and their ability to hike with no effort!
I get to the summit and I'm pretty happy with myself. There are a lot of young people up there. As I sit down and enjoy some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I notice a full scale glider coming closer. He circles several times, but amazingly people don't understand it's a real airplane. Some think it's an R/C plane, others claim it's a "drone." I tell people it's real because hello there is a person inside it! They nod, but no one really believes me. Goddamn YouTube generation. A second glider appears and this time he comes at us much, much lower. Apparently a friend of the pilots is on the summit with a camera and he's talking to them with a radio. They're coordinating a bunch of photo passes. This second glider circles so low you can tell he prefers Ray-Bans. Then he climbs out, turns around and dive bombs the summit. Oh man, I have to get a shot of this! Wait, where is my camera? NOOOOOO!!!
The gliders eventually leave and I feel pretty dejected with myself. Oh well, better luck next time. I stand there to stretch my legs and just people watch. A rather cute and incredibly fit young Asian girl arrives to the summit and passes by me. Darn, if only I was brave enough to talk to her. She starts walking around and stretching, then moves to a few feet in front of me. I'm trying not to stare, but c'mon she's doing that right in front of me!
Honestly, I really was just standing there, but then she suddenly turns to me and says something in Chinese. Oh man, she must be pissed and is going to chew me out! I play dumb and say, "Sorry I only know English!" She says, "Oh sorry you look Chinese to me. Were you born here?" We talked briefly and then she walks off. Dammit, I need to up my game quit missing these opportunities.
I decide to head back via the scree run down the bowl, which is all messed up. There's a huge trench down the length of the bowl. What the heck happened here? It's like someone tried to gold mine it by ripping it with a dozer--so strange. By this time I wasn't feeling good anymore. The hike back down to the car was exhausting and I started to get nauseated again. I got back home and was wiped out. I'm still feeling it today. Man, that was such a hard hike. Baldy never makes it easy.
Mt. Baldy, gliders and missed opportunities
-
Uncle Rico
- Posts: 1402
- Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:48 pm
Way to get back on the horse and ride Tim. More cute girls await you in the mountains so don't disappoint them. 
Today I hiked Baldy via Register Ridge and as an experiment on my way down via Ski Hut, I decided to engage every party I met in some kind of conversation to see reaction. My unscientific survey showed me that single women walking alone were the most responsive . The most attractive of the bunch had a conversation with me for five minutes. The most difficult to engage in conversation were Asian men travelling with partners so Tim I think there are some good opportunities out there unless you're into Asian men.
For your next experiment, try telling them you are putting together a Women of Baldy calendar, and would like them to "work it" for your camera. Asian men may still be your toughest sell.
I remember the look on your face trying to climb to BHR. I'm pretty sure those hike helped burn you out mentally (oh and John Q, Ofir, etc...). But see it's still on your mind!
It does bother me a little that I never completed that route. Remember how I was 45 minutes late? I ran all that way down that dirt road to catch up to you guys. So by that time I was beat up and my legs were cramping. Man, I hate running. It just kills me.