Decided to hit Baldy again the 2nd time this year just two days after the biggest storm of the winter season. This one left about 2 feet over most of the mountain, and brought out the snow hikers. My friends Cece and Oscar had never done Baldy before so I thought a beautiful snow hike was the best introduction I could think of. It was pretty cold (low 30’s) in the AM and we went up the Baldy Bowl/Ski Hut Trail and avoided the backbone (Devil’s Backbone is unsafe when covered in snow and ice… a number of people die each year on the backbone in winter conditions, even the experienced one’s).and were treated to some really beautiful and scenic conditions. Ran into super friendly people, and many winter mountaineer types were out to get the rare and ideal snow conditions for going straight up the bowl (off-trail mountaineering route). It was a great workout leaving the trail for certain sections and going straight up the mountain, especially toward the top at higher altitude. Baldy is always so AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL covered in fresh snow, and this day was bright and blue!!! Magical is an understatement… the pictures speak for themselves!