Mount Baldy, California
My good friend, Suong, had been dying to hike ever since his last trip. I guess he's the Blog's first guest! We started this hike around 8:00am hoping to catch some lingering snow along the trail. It snowed a good amount the previous week when a few buddies of mine went and I was eager to see it myself. Despite the cool temperatures, the snow had already melted off and all I had was a nice sunny day to hike in. Hey! Nothing to complain about. I must admit, I wasn't as physically prepared for this hike as I normally am. There was a lot of unexpected downhill hiking while hiking to the peak... which meant the return hike had a lot of steep, upward slopes. If you're that kind of person that exerts all of their energy on the first half of the hike and expecting the second half to be a breeze on the downhill, "you're going to have a bad time." Okay. No more South Park references. I might have made this sound a little worst than it is but I wanted you to be prepared. This hike is very possible, even for an amateur hiker looking for a challenge. Take it easy and bring lots of water and snacks!
Distance: 12 miles (Out-and-Back)
Elevation Gain: 4,314 ft.
Final Elevation: 8,858 ft.
Directions to the start of the trail (Icehouse Canyon Trail): Use the directions feature in Google Maps and enter the following coordinates exactly as shown. This will take you straight to the parking lot at the beginning of the trail. An Adventure Pass is required to park here.
34.250217,-117.636691
My apologies, I forgot to take a picture of the start of the trail! I'll grab it next time... Starting from the beginning of the trail, follow the signs to Icehouse Saddle.
Signs at the beginning of the trail.
It is beautiful here. Wish it snowed!
This trail rewards you every few miles with an incredible view.
Trails get pretty narrow especially towards the last half of the hike. If you plan on hiking this while it snows, be extra careful!
Almost to the saddle.. Is it bad that I'm tired already?
Made it to Icehouse Saddle! This is potentially a good resting spot to have a quick snack. Unfortunately winds were picking up pretty severely and it seemed to be directed towards the center of the saddle. We hiked back down a few yards to get out of the harsh winds to have a quick snack.
Left of the saddle is the start to the Three Tee's Trail. We'll save that for another day..
2.5 miles to go!
Continuing on... The trail's next rewarding view. One of my favorites and another nice resting spot.
Trail got uncomfortably narrow. Careful now...
Found a cave.
Gotta love it.
Rocky trail!
Forgot to take some "almost there" pictures. Well... we made it!
You can see the Catalina Islands from here.
#2.
Chris's Difficulty Scale - 6/10
Chris's Difficulty Scale - 6/10
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