We had plans to hike Baden Powell today but the forest service told me it was “closed” with no other information. Rather than risk driving 2 hours for nothing, we decided to hike Baldy instead. Not a bad consolation!

I've been up via Devil's Backbone and was interested in trying the ski hut trail to Baldy Bowl, and my hiking buddies were happy with that plan. We descended down Devil's Backbone and I remembered how boring that steep road up to the notch is. I'm a big fan of the Ski Hut loop. (On a related note, it sounded like the the ski lift will be running on a  Fri/Sat/Sun starting Memorial Day weekend.)

The forecast was cold – 22 degrees at the top – and it wasn't a lie. We got pretty cold whenever we would stop, but on the plus side it kept us moving! The hike up to the ski hut was fairly crowded but through the bowl we saw people sporadically. There were only 2 other groups/4 people at the summit with us. More were headed up on our way down. The clouds and mist coming up over the ridge were dramatic and spooky, and we even had a few light snow flurries fall. Soon enough we had blue skies and a beautiful day. Even with the clouds there were great views of the inland empire.