Mount Baldy Loop

The parking lot was packed when I arrived at 7:45 am – gotta get up earlier next time.

Beautiful, warm & sunny conditions meant I could just go up in my trail running shoes. I brought wind breaker for the summit (Baldy can be super windy on any nice day) and I packed a Nalgene water bottle (1L) and a sandwich. Traveling light got me past a lot of hiking groups up to the summit in just over 2hours. Fantastic conditions, warm and little wind at the top made for a wonderful break with a view. I took devils backbone trail down, which follows the ridge to the ski lift and then back down into the canyon towards Manker Flats. It adds a mile to the trip, but the spectacular ridge makes it well worth it. It’s also less steep = easier on the knees. I got back to my van just around 11:30am, drove to a vista point a couple miles down the road and hung out a little longer to enjoy the mountains in quiet. Great start into the long weekend!