EISPIRATEN

Howdy All

Made the mistake of heading up Baldy yesterday with Sister Sally and Miracle Marilyn. Sally and I left our cars at the ranger station and carpooled with Marilyn who has AWD,

We had high hopes and carried everything (crampons, snowshoes, helmet, ice-axe, micros). Took one look at the bowl from the road and changed plans. Headed up Register Ridge. This route takes much longer when you're three little old ladies carrying heavy packs Meet a nice guy and leap frogged with him throughout the day.

Went up Harwood to avoid dealing with the dicey parts of DBB. Of course going up the DBB and the summit were windy, so we tagged the sign and headed down out of the wind to have lunch. We didn't encounter many other folks on the descent, a nice change from our usual experience on the ski hut trail.

As we neared the road, the sirens and voices were an omen of the commotion at Manker. Forget commotion-- it was CHAOS Cars were parked illegally on the dirt road in front of the gate and double parked on the road. Horns sounded constantly. Carmageddon

It was a relief to get back to the village -- there were still cars driving UP. Sally and I ate dinner at the Baldy lodge, which was also jam-packed. Fortunately traffic had decreased by the time we started home.

We only used our micros. Oh well, good training for schlepping gear up from South Fork to the north chutes of San Gorgonio.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Ellen,

Thank you for this timely trip report. I am organizing a hike to Mt. Baldy this Sunday. What time did you start at Manker Flats?

Cheers,
Brian K.

Been there and done that. Its crazy. I headed up Icehouse Canyon again, on Friday. The lot was full but not overwhelmed. Lots of people playing in ice, not much snow. Crossing my fingers for another good storm in January.

On Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015, we hiked up Register Ridge to Mt. Harwood to Mt. Baldy and down Ski Hut trail. Did not need our micro spikes until upper section of DBB and going downhill all the way to the Ski Hut.

It was a warm, windless day. Most snow above 8,000'. The drive up to Maker Flats was a colorful array of broken snow disks along with garbage overflowing cans. The bears must have had a fun weekend.

These cheap hard plastic disks which are being sold to people coming up the mountain at the trout fishing place. They break once you hit a rock. As a kid, my sleds were wood and metal. Please sell something that is not disposal.

Once the snow is melted so will the crowds and we'll be back to normal...until the next snowfall.

Brian K.