This hike was a tough one. First we started by meeting up at Manker Flats and then leaving most of the cars there, we carpooled downhill back to the Mt. Baldy Visitors Center in Baldy Village. We parked the cars on the street then after a few minutes we started hiking to the church where we waited for a few more minutes before starting the hike. Weather wise the skies were clear, it was sunny. The hike to Bear Flats was short and somewhat steep. But the hike from Bear Flats to the summit reminded me of the last 3 miles of the Vivian Creek-San Gorgonio Mountain hike – it was steep. Two of our hikers fell behind because of one of them cramped up and had to stop for a while and the other kept him company. Later, I too, with the group's agreement separated and slowed down while the group kept on at a fast pace. Despite being sluggish on the trail and multiple breaks I made it to the summit. After taking pics I took a 3 hour nap instead of my customary 30 minute-1 hour nap – I was that wasted. After waking up I walked around the summit and chatted with some of the hikers at the top of the summit. The other last two hikers in my original group had reached the summit in the meantime and I saw that they had caught up. We went down Ski Hut together. Since I was more familiar with the Ski Hut trail than them I helped guide them down to Ski Hut. The signage on the trail also helped. Along the way to the Ski Hut we passed a group of hikers whom I had seen earlier at the summit and had gone down earlier. They were resting. As soon as we passed them, they got up and followed us. We stopped at the Ski Hut to rest a while. My two hiking companions decided to go ahead down after a few minutes and so did the other group of hikers. I stayed there for a few more minutes before resuming the hike down. Despite having stayed longer at the Ski Hut, I overtook the group of hikers and briefly chatted with them before going ahead – they said it was their first time to hike Baldy. We came across several backpackers at several points during the hike who were on their way to the Ski Hut where they would spend the night before heading the summit. Closer to the fire road I overtook my two companions earlier. We hiked together for the rest of the way. Past the junction of the Register Ridge trail, I opened the metal box hoping to sign the register but to my disappointment no register was there. We then proceeded to the fire road and continued together to the cars at Manker, with a short stop to take a picture of San Antonio Falls from the fire road. We got back to Manker and our cars. The other group shortly arrived too. Another summit bagged. My two hiking companions took out bottles of water from their vehicle and gave me one. After saying goodbyes to my hiking companions, I then drove off with John Williams' “Raiders March” playing in the car.