Baldy first time in a while

This was my first trip up Mount Baldy in almost 2 years with breaking my ankle last year and then the fire closure, which only opened a few weeks ago. I left the house at 5:15 and pulled into the parking lot around 6:45 and it was already packed, meaning I was parking way down at the bottom of the lot.

I decided on the fire road up to the notch, up the ski slope and onto the devil’s backbone trail. I made great time up to the notch, 3.5 miles in 1 hour 7 minutes. From there the steepness of baldy kicks in with slower miles coming. I included some photos from the backbone trail, which some people find scary as it is narrow with a long drop. The later photo showing the narrow trail against the wall is the really sketchy part. Weather on the ascent was perfect, mid 50’s to low 60’s with a nice breeze that came through.

The summit was packed with people and I found a spot to eat a sandwich and an apple and started down the Baldy Bowl trail to the Ski Hut trail. This trail is very steep and slow going heading down. Temperature picked up and was in the mid 80’s by the time I got back to the car. Overall good day and nice to get to go up Baldy again.

10.5 miles / 4,029 feet elevation gain / 5 hours 12 minutes