I have a love/hate relationship with the Bear Canyon Trail. I think it has some of the most beautiful scenery of any trail leading to the Mt. Baldy summit (of the ones I hiked, at least), but the trail is not kind to my legs and knees.

My hiking partner and I started before sunrise and I made the same mistake as when I last hiked it two years ago (The trail starts at the end of the church parking lot, not the parking lot next to the Mt. Baldy Visitor Center).  After about 5-10 minutes of wandering around, we eventually found the trail and started up it. The last time I hiked this trail in the summer of 2022, it felt humid as I made my way up the switchbacks. This time the weather was not as bad and was even a bit cold at times with the wind. I would definitely bring a jacket as it was pretty cold at the summit, but it did get hot later on in the morning.

The climbing just never stops on this one.  However, that is the reason we picked it as we hope to hike Cactus to Clouds in October. It is not the climb that bothers my knees as much as the descent.  I should have pulled out my trekking poles (which I did have on me – mostly for crossing “The Narrows”), but for some reason I thought about it way too late as I usually don't like hiking with trekking poles. So, uh, note to future self if you do this trail again…

Now I can cross Mt. Baldy off the list and my fourth hike in the 2024 Six Pack of Peaks challenge.