I did this hike as a training hike to prep for Mt Whitney, which I plan to summit May 19, 2018, fingers crossed. But doing this hike with a 30lb pack made this just as difficult as Cactus To Clouds. With over 5,000’ of elevation gain in just 6.5 miles this was not a walk in the park.

Starting at Bear Canyon Trail was absolutely beautiful. We began just before 6am and we were able to catch the sunrise. Can you say amazing? Even though the elevation gain was immediate in the first 6.5 miles the views were stunning. You’ll be putting in a lot of work but don’t forget to look up once in awhile. The trail was pretty straight forward and well trafficked so you can’t really get lost.
We did this hike the first week of May and the weather was perfect. Surpringisy there were a lot of people taking this route up.

I hosted this hike through Friends That Hike and to my surprise, 18 people showed up in our group. And what a tough group of hikers they were. We all managed to bag West Baldy, Mt Baldy, Mt Harwood, the 3Ts, and down Ice House Canyon. I couldn’t have been anymore proud of these bad*sses.

I actually hiked up to Baldy via the Ski Hut route twice this year but I really wanted to log this route just because how epic it was. This trail is definitely a nice change of scenery after taking the Ski Hut route and Devils Backbone many times. If you plan to take this route the trailhead starts in Baldy Village. But if you want to continue on to the Notch and come back down Devils Backbone or the Ski Hut route make sure you leave a car at Manker, or else you’ll be walking or hitchhiking back to the village. You’ve been warned.

Enjoy the photos and check us out on Facebook, Friends That Hike.