Mount Baldy (San Antonio) 2023 – Solo Hike

December 14, 2023

The plan was originally to hike Mt Wilson and hang out at the observatory but, when doing my last minute weather/trail conditions check, I found several posts mentioning that the trail had just closed temporarily for construction just a mile from the top.  A big thank you to all the hikers that provided this update here and on the social media groups as there was no information posted about this closure by official agencies. With the first snow storm of the year predicted in just a few days, I didn't want to risk waiting and decided to hike Baldy instead. Mt Wilson would have to wait until 2024.

Left S.D. at 3am to beat L.A. traffic and get a little rest at altitude in Baldy before getting started at dawn. The weather conditions were as predicted – perfect hiking weather with low winds even at the summit, temps in the 30s-50s, dry trails, and a gorgeous sunny day.  The ski hut route isn't my favorite as there is a lot of steep terrain with slippery scree to hike through, especially the second half after the ski hut. In the future, I'll stick to my routine of coming up at least the afternoon before to acclimate at altitude when hiking at 10k+, it does make a huge difference for me. I still enjoyed the hike overall and the views from the top were all worth it. It was fun to spot the (artificial) snow runs in the distance from the Baldy resort – they were even showing up on the daily snow map overlay from NOAA.

2023 turned out to be a bit of a slow hiking year – looking forward to seeing what 2024 will bring.

Hike Logs: 2021 (Ski Hut → Baldy Bowl loop)