Climb For Heroes Set Up Day

Well, I did not intend to summit Mount Baldy a second time this year. Instead, my plan was to be a volunteer on the day before and day of the annual Climb for Heroes event which raises money to support our disabled Veterans. I arrived at Manker Flat Campground on the evening of the 6th with plans to stay until the morning of the 9th. On the evening, I arrived, I ran into Tim, the founder of the Heroes Project. After saying our hellos, Tim asked if I was interested in summiting Mount Baldy on the 7th while setting up the Climb for Heroes course. Of course I couldn’t say no.

So, we all met up around 10am Friday the 7th and began unloading and prepping all the gear. Three of us, Todd, Patrick and I, headed up to Camp 3 (Beer Camp) riding in a quad. We brought with us all the gear necessary to set up High Camp and the Summit. This gear had to be carried the remaining distance across the Devils Backbone and on to the summit. This gear was not lite and, in some cases, awkward to carry. We headed up to the Summit from Camp 3, then back down to Camp 3 and up again to High Camp. This was a tougher job than I assumed it would be. Once everything was in place and we were back down at Camp 3 we hopped into the quad and headed back down to the start point.

This end up being my shortest summit of Mount Baldy and definitely the hardest. I’ll admit, after hiking about 5 miles total, carrying all that gear and just over 2100 feet in elevation gain, I was spent!

The day of the event, as I was verifying participants for entry into the event, I was able to meet up with several friends. Of course, there were the Super Hiking Twins and their parents. They were completing their 100th Baldy Summit. I also got to see my friends, Norm Symonds and James Harvey, Tara Meyers and her husband Chris, with their two German Shepards.

Just another great day on the mountain.