West Baldy and the long shadow of Baldy
Like Dima and other people have mentioned, Gunsight Notch looked worse than it was. My mistake was assuming that once I passed Gunsight Notch, the ridge would get easier. I thought the second notch was more difficult. There is a semi-stable tree that you need to climb over and we spent some time trying to figure out the best way over the top of the second notch. There was a way up on the left side of the jutting rocks, but it was very exposed with a starting foothold above a 500' drop. I started down the right side to explore a gully, but everything I touched slid and gave way. I clawed my way back up sending handfuls of rotten debris down the gully. We returned to the left side and scrambled up. A little higher, Henry made a risky direct ascent over some loose rocks. There was a third scrambling section made of white rock maybe 500' below Iron Mountain. Bypasses were available for some parts of the rugged terrain, and there were several class 2 sections. I was startled that some of the class 2 sections also had crazy exposure to huge drops. By the time we were on Iron, the sun was cooking us.
Glorious Gunsight
The 2nd notch
A tense moment on the ridge
It was hot so we didn't hang out on Iron for long. I had recently been treated for an actinic keratosis (AK), a pre-cancerous spot on my left forearm. For this reason, I was not only slathered in sunscreen, but had been applying it frequently along the hike. That was also the reason I had a long sleeved based layer on and long pants even though the high at Heaton Flat was forecast to be 96F. I chose to deal with the heat to protect my skin. We took a few breaks in the little shade we found on the way down to Allison Saddle. Just past the saddle, the heat overwhelmed me and my body shut down. I had a mild case of heat exhaustion. I finished off my last bottle of water trying to cool down and not puke my guts out. It was a bad situation since it got hotter with every step down and we had four miles to go. I laid down under some brush and Henry and I talked over the situation. Had I been alone, my only option would have been to stay put until the sun went down. We were out of cell range. I had to minimize not only my heat generation but anything that retained heat. Skin be damned. I zipped off the lower half of my hiking pants, changed the long sleeved base layer to a short sleeved shirt and even took off my underwear. Henry generously offered me a liter of his water. I still wasn't sure I could move, so Henry also offered to carry my backpack. After ten minutes or so, I was back on my feet moving at a glacial pace up the ridge. For three miles, Henry carried my backpack as I sipped his water and moved slowly down. I finally felt recovered with a mile to go and took back my pack. The heat episode cost us an extra hour and was a harsh lesson. I cranked the AC until I was freezing and drove Henry back to his car. The first ten hours of this hike rank among the most fun I've had, and soon I'll forget the rest. Thanks, Henry. Also, thanks to Sean, Dima, Ze, Kicks Rocks, Scott Richardson, and Headsizeburrito for awesome beta on the ridge.
