I am 67 in good shape but not mountain climbing shape. I made the mistake (on a lark) last Fall of going with a seasoned meetup group that I had Climbed Mount Whitney with 2 years prior to attempting Mount Baldy. They had trained all season and just got back from Mount Whitney. To put it bluntly, I tried but could not keep up with them and went anaerobic (consistent max heart rate 165-170) on the way up and bagged out at the Ski Hut. Of course, that bothered me and I had to go back and climb it to redeem myself (ego).

Within the last month I worked on the stair climber and when I could do 2000 feet without too much stress, I knew I had to do Baldy. However, to double ensure I could make it to the top, I decided to solo and kept my max heart rate under 150 (max was 147) all the way up and took breaks when I felt I needed them. The goal was not a land-speed record but to make it to the top to check it off my list. Basically, I moved upward like a Tortoise with a slow but steady pace.

With breaks it took me 4.5 hours to the top.  It was a great climb, sunny, not too hot or cold, there were some strong gusts at the top that I liked. As usual, I met some nice climbers on the way up. Going down the Devils Backbone to the Baldy Notch Ski area was not hard but long. The Ski road out is easy to walk on but by that time I just wanted to get back to my car (8-hours total) so it seemed endless but of course it was not. All in all a a very-good challenging climb in Nature.