I've recently been smitten with the hiking bug. Over the last year I've found myself going on progressively more difficult hikes. On this overcast grey day I found myself at Mt. Baldy. I had wanted to get up at 6 am and make a go of it..but I worked late and ended up sleeping in. Around 11 I decided to make the hour drive to Baldy anyways..just get a feel for it and check it out.
I brought my backpack, hiking shoes, water, and some food and thought maybe I will go a quarter of the way up. I parked at Manaker Flats around noon and found the trail head pretty easy. I was easily entranced by the landscape and beauty of the area… About 2 miles into the hike most of the grey clouds were gone and the skies became relatively clear. I could see the cloud cover far below in the valley. Even though it was a Tuesday, I was still a little shocked at how few people were on the trail. I figured this was a pretty popular spot. I encountered 3 people total before reaching the Baldy Notch ski area. One guy was nice and answered a few questions for me like…”am I going the right way?” lol Keep in mind that I'm a newbie hiker. Before this hike I was unaware of even the most basic things like “the 10 essentials” or how to keep the battery on my cell phone from losing power from my hiking app sucking the life out of it.
When I reached Baldy Notch ski village..I felt good. It was still way early in the afternoon. The place looked deserted but I heard movement in what seemed like a cafe or store. There were a couple of really nice people in there that pointed me in the direction of “The Devil's Backbone”. The adventure bug (which was even more powerful than the hiking bug) kicked in. And it was then I decided that there was no turning back..and I was like…”what the hell! Let's go for it”. I began my ascent.
Even though they gave me directions…my dumb ass was still a little confused. It seemed there were many trails heading up the Devils Backbone. But I saw a path swerving up towards the right and lo and behold…another hiker heading in that direction!! I quickened my pace to catch up. I ended up meeting a very nice and knowledgeable hiker that I pretty much ended up spending the rest of the day with. She ended up schooling me on everything from “SoCalHiker 6 Peak Challenge” to the “10 essentails” (I think I only had 5 at the time.) She did look at me a little crazy when she asked me “why are you walking so slow?” It was during that part of the Devil's Backbone where there is an ity bity trail and very steep drops on both sides. I explained to her that I'm a little scared of heights. She asked me “Well what the hell are you doing up here?” I replied “because I love it.” Hahaha
We reached the summit around 3:30. I thought we had made really good time. I actually felt like I could keep going higher. We had encountered 1 other hiker on the trail but as we reached the summit about 5 hikers began their decent. There was nobody at the top and the view was spectacular!!! You could see the cloud cover far below. I wipped out my phone and snapped a picture of the elevation sign. I switched it to video to capture an awesome 360 experience..and as if on cue my battery died and my phone shut off. lol. She mentioned that it probably wouldn't do that in “airplane mode”. Ah Ha!!! Many things learned on this adventure. Many basic things. lol I'm such a newb. But totally inspired.
So we began our decent. We had decided to go back the way we came via the Devil's Backbone..but we were lost in a conversation about Wilderness First Aid classes..when we came upon a sign that said “Ski Hut/Manaker Flats”. I was like hmmm “I don't think we came this way.” She agreed and we started back up the mountain. About 1/8 of the way back up we were both exhausted and grudgingly decided to do the loop and attempt The Baldy Bowl. It was much steeper this way. And the views were definitely not as good. My knees had a chat with me the next day as well. But we made it all the way down to Manaker Flats by 6 pm.
Looking back, I was pretty lucky to encounter such an experienced friendly hiker. I now realize I need to be much more prepared when I'm out on a hike. I recently enrolled in some classes at REI that will help. I've also been doing a lot of research online. Like I said…I'm totally inspired. I looked up SoCalHiker and was totally amazed. I signed up for the 6 Peak Challenge and here I am. I will definitely be ready and more prepared for the next adventure.