Mount Baldy Hike

Last weekend, my friend Fred and I embarked on a journey to hike to the summit of Mt. Baldy. We met early in the morning for the drive out to the trail head. We we got there, it was a bit on the chilly side and the wind was blowing about 40 miles per hour. We headed off on our 8 mile round trip journey to the top and back. The first mile was on a paved road and then a dirt/gravel road with very little incline. Mile 2 was more of a hike and we were now on a trail. We seemed to be moving at a pretty good pace, probably a bit faster than we should but we were comfortable with the pace. We arrived at "The Hut" which is about the half way point in the trip. We stopped to refuel and get some more water before making our way to the summit.











Mile 3 was a bit more challenging as the grade became steeper and we were now moving along switchback trails. Our pace slowed a bit, but we were still ahead of schedule. We stopped for a quick GU gel and water and made our way up the last 3/4 mile to the summit. Once on the summit we sat behind some rock shelters and had a bite to eat. The wind was blowing about 50+ miles per hour on the top. After lunch we took a few pictures and decided to head down.



Going down is a lot easier than going up. We made record time getting back to the hut, where we stopped and had a cup of tea provided to us by the host from the Sierra Club. We then made our way down the last 2 miles to the car. Total time to hike 8 miles with 4,000 feet of elevation gain was 5:15...pretty fast by some standards. All in all, it was a great trip and look forward to doing it again in the spring. You can see all of the pictures here.