Trip Report: Mt. San Antonio / Mt. Baldy

Dec. 10, 2011

My hiking partner Julia and I began the path to the Ski Hut at just before 10 AM, a bit of a late start but still acceptable considering the two hours drive time and beers consumed the previous night.

The first thing we noticed, and what sums up the whole day: 

“There is no snow on this mountain.”

A cloudless sky and high temperatures for mid December accelerated the warm up and made me regret my layering decisions. After my nose settled into the shock of clean dry air, we settled into an easy pace and reached the Ski Hut about an hour and a half after we set out. It was looking pretty nice, lots of people taking advantage of the weather to complete repairs and maintenance.

The view from the Hut was a bit depressing for those of us itching for some skiing/riding. Unless you break out the rock skis, it will be a while before hitting these slopes. A few patches of Thanksgiving snow remained in the shaded couloirs.

We did encounter a patch or two of snow/ice on the trail, some of which were deviously slippery. Out of solidarity for my spike-less companion and considering time vs benefit, I left my crampons in the pack for this class 4 section to the left : )

And yet another view of the bald slopes beneath Baldy.  

It looks like spring up here.

In total it took us about 4 hours to reach the summit today. The pace was pretty relaxed overall, and it was great to be out in this kind of weather. I personally have never hiked this hill without snow, and was surprised to see the summit sign and nice looking windbreaks.

The sky was clear in all directions and we caught some interesting shine off the channel waters. It was surprisingly calm on top, with winds starting to pick up only as we departed, I would estimate the temperature somewhere between 50 and 60 F.

 

We caught a neat view of what I think is Long Beach through the smog, looking out to the islands with the afternoon light reflecting off the ocean. I guess I should clean my camera…

After taking in the sights and a few photos, we decided to hike down along the Devil’s Backbone ridge trail, which neither of us had done before. A few other hikers gave us the general plan, and we set off along the ridge. This trail had some great views that were new to me, and in several areas there were nice dropoffs to either side of the path. Eventually we came to the Baldy Ski Area and finished the hike down under the chairlifts. Overall a great hike, fun to get above the smog.

Think Snow!!!