Bear to Baldy

[Ellen]

Howdy All

Met Marilyn at Manker and left a car (I hate hiking down Bear). It was lovely to not be plagued by gnats, biting flies and mosquitos in the lower section. A group was camping at Bear Flat. As we headed up the dreaded switchbacks through the brush, it was obvious that someone has worked on the trail and trimmed back the brush. Whoever it was, thank you!

We ran into new deadfall at about 7.2 K. My favorite part of this trail is the middle section -- pine forest, expansive views, winding uphill through rocks. Ran into snow just past the narrows and donned microspikes. From 9 K up, what is normally a long slog without snow became even longer

Enjoyed lunch at the peak before heading down the ski hut trail. Kept the microspikes on until the beginning of the "rock garden" at the base of the bowl. From 9 K down to the bottom of the bowl, the snow is a slippery mess -- landed on our butts and backs a few times. Met a couple going up who wanted to come down the Devil's Backbone to the Notch -- we discouraged them. Lots of water in the streams that cross the trail and in San Antonio canyon. Wonderful day.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Sean]

Thanks for the report. Was there much water at Bear Flat?

[Ellen]

Howdy Cucamonga Sean

There didn't appear to be much water flowing where the trail crosses -- I didn't go off trail to investigate.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[tekewin]

I was looking for the most recent report on the Bear Canyon trail to make a few comments. My wife and I just completed our first up/down but didn't think it warranted a new post. Completed my Baldy trail superfecta (all maintained trails). Only took me 10 years.

Initial thoughts: It was harder than expected and deserves the reputation as the hardest maintained trail. There wasn't much of a break in the middle section, 3500' gain from Bear Flat to 9000' where it mellows a bit.

Probably fifty people were on the summit last Saturday, so we just took one photo on top, then headed toward West Baldy for lunch. I love the views on this trail, though I think the north backbone has the best views overall. North backbone remains my favorite trail.

It's an awesome trainer, and would only do it again in that context. Coming down did a number on my quads.

[Hikin_Jim]

Nice pix and thanks for the update. I've done the ski hut trail 10 gazillion times, but even after all these years I've yet to do the Mount Baldy Death March (MBDM), er, I mean the Bear Flat Trail. It never seems to work out. It's still on my "to do" list though.

Particular congrats to your wife. I get the impression that she doesn't hike as much as you do (I apologize if I'm misreading here). For someone who is not a regular hiker doing fairly serious hikes, I think MBDM is a real accomplishment.

HJ

[tekewin]

Nice pix and thanks for the update. I've done the ski hut trail 10 gazillion times, but even after all these years I've yet to do the Mount Baldy Death March (MBDM), er, I mean the Bear Flat Trail. It never seems to work out. It's still on my "to do" list though.

Particular congrats to your wife. I get the impression that she doesn't hike as much as you do (I apologize if I'm misreading here). For someone who is not a regular hiker doing fairly serious hikes, I think MBDM is a real accomplishment.

HJ

Thanks, I'll pass on the kudos. She has been hiking a lot more with me lately, but this is not her usual fare. She usually prefers camping and lakes more than peakbagging, but decided she wanted to attempt Whitney this year. This was one of our training hikes. We have a couple more big trainers coming up.

[Sean]

Always a classic. Good luck on Whitney!