Rooftop Los Angeles

SCCC Adventurers atop Mt. San Antonio!

Today was a sweet, sunny day for outdoor adventuring, so I was up at the crack of dawn and headed to the San Gabriels for a climb to the top of Mt. San Antonio (a.k.a. Mt. Baldy), which at 10,064' is the highest point in Los Angeles county. I was stoked to be joined by original SCCC adventure-master Tad "Pole." We took a clockwise loop route from Manker Flats, up the Baldy Bowl ("ski hut") trail, across Devil's Backbone to Baldy Notch, and back down the chairlift. Total mileage was 9.3, including a summit side-trip to nearby West Baldy. Net elevation gain was 3900'.


Baldy is a well-visited and well-documented climb, so I won't detail that here. Fellow LA outdoor-blogger WWED? recently did a great writeup that proved very helpful in my preparations for the trip (shout out Shawnté - the water source worked out great!)

Arriving just before 8am, we were surprised (but not really) to find a packed trailhead, and realized we'd be sharing the trail with about 100 of our closest friends. Ah, Southern California. Fortunately this turned out just fine. We met some cool people along the way, and aside from a few poor choices of stopping points by fellow hikers along narrow, precarious sections of trail, it really wasn't a big deal.

Crowded Baldy summit

We cruised up the 4.3mi, 3900' ski hut trail in just under 2½ hours, taking a few breaks along the way. Much of the route was shade covered by a variety of pine, fir, and cedar trees that I'd love to learn to identify. Wildlife was sparse, though we saw some lizards, a few little chipmunks, and I heard a lot of insect activity in the bushes.

Tad enroute to the summit

The toughest part of the climb was the last 0.8mi, which climbs from 8800' to 10,064' (a 31% grade, or 17.4deg angle) along the southwesterly ridge of the mountain. Still this was decidedly easier than a more direct route straight up the Baldy Bowl, which I think is only possible (and certainly only advised) in winter with crampons and an ice axe.

Baldy Bowl, as viewed from the south

You definitely feel the altitude a bit, and Tad repeatedly cursed the "stupid trail designers" (deer?) who apparently were unaware of the concept we commonly refer to as the "switchback." But we made it up just fine, and the summit was a sight to behold!

Mandatory summit plaque photo

I was surprised to see so much green foliage, holding on for life amidst loose, steep granite. LA was enveloped (as usual) in a thick haze, but we still managed to spot:

• The San Gabriels, Santa Monicas, and Topatopas to the west
• The Saddleback to the south
• The San Bernardinos (including Mt. San Gorgonio) to the east
• Mt. San Jacinto to the southeast
• The I-15 through Cajon Pass, up through Apple Valley and George AFB
• The Mojave desert to the north
• Just a few tiny, little patches of remaining snow
• A bunch of cool butterflies
  

Summit view, looking east. Note the prominent rises of San Gorgonio (under the alien spacecraft), San Jacinto (to the right), and a cute little patch of stubborn snow

After having some lunch and enjoying the view with 50 of our closest friends atop the summit, we took a quick side trip to West Baldy (9988'), which is about a 1.5mi, 25min roundtrip. Nobody else was there. Go figure. There's a steep, wide chute along the NW face that we thought looked promising for winter sliding ("Hey fellow sledder!"). There was also a big area of fallen trees on Baldy's west face that we speculated came either from a large rockslide or avalanche.

Starting downhill, again looking east from the Baldy summit

The return route down to Baldy Notch was steep and loose in spots, but quick and straightforward (3.2mi, -2300', 1:10), and featured some beautiful sky and evergreen scenery along the way. The clouds were cooperating to make for great photos.

Enroute downhill from the Devil's Backbone

I want to make a special point to note that the much ballyhooed, ever-fearful "Devil's Backbone" stretch of the trail is nowhere near as scary as people make it sound. Yes, there are steep dropoffs on both sides, and yes this makes for spectacular views. But the trail is plenty wide, smooth, and relatively level. Unless one was running, hopping, or otherwise trying to throw themselves off the mountain, I think it'd be pretty tough to get hurt, at least in the absence of snow and ice. And I'm coming from a pretty conservative stance (see Wilderness Chronicles Part I). I definitely get acrophobic at times, and can tell you I felt *nothing* along this section of trail (the ski lift is scarier). It's trivial vs. this spot in Hawai`i or this spot at the Grand Canyon.

Now then, the section of trail below Mt. Harwood is something to pay attention to. Here there's a narrow trail and steep, loose rock going up to the north, and down to the south. With cross-traffic going by (and some jackhole deciding the narrowest spot of the trail is a perfect place to stop), you really need to be careful to avoid a precarious slide.

We finished off the trip by catching a ski lift down to Manker Flat, and having a hearty lunch at Farmer Boy's in Upland. Great stuff!

Looking back toward Mt. Baldy summit from the trail near Mt. Harwood

It's easy to knock the outdoor limitations of LA, and I'll be the first to admit that I prefer a more solitary wilderness experience. But the fact of the matter is I had breakfast, left my sea level apartment near downtown, and a few hours later after a gorgeous hike was sitting atop a 10,000' mountain having lunch. At dinnertime, instead of writing this, I could be on the beach or having a surf. In other words, we could do worse.

Aloha.