Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

Howdy All

Sister Sally and I went up the Baldy Bowl yesterday for her first time (my third in the snow). We started hiking before 6 and were fortunate to catch the alpenglow before 7 AM. I chatted with Lilbitmo (Knight Patrick) about a good route and took his advice. We stayed towards the right and followed some very nice footsteps, which made it easier to concentrate on climbing mindfully. I was pleasantly surprised when nothing came down on us. Maybe that was because we wore helmets or because the San Gabriel Rockfall Magnet wasn't with us

The wind grew stronger as we ascended. By the time we popped out above the bowl, it was knocking us around pretty good We carefully made our way up to the summit plateau and knelt to get photos -- it was gusting 40 to 50 mph or more. Then we got the hell out of there.

Since my glissading skills are in their infancy, I took Sally down the regular route. Ate lunch in the little gully to the east of West Baldy, then followed the route laid down by other feet. I showed her one of Taco's steep chutes and she was amply impressed Going down the regular "trail" was slow but good practice for traversing in snow with crampons and ice-axe. Also good post holing in spots Finally ran into some other folks on our way down from the hut.

We got held up by road work coming back into Baldy village but still a great day. Now I just have to find a good Mexican food spot in the area for a meal before heading home

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Well done misses!

Another strike for you two.. Looking forward to seeing the pictures!

Yes, folks, it was a great day. The snow on the trail before the bowl was icy and slick, but when we got to the bowl it was really nice. There were actually two parallel sets of footprints that we followed. One set was made by someone with a shorter stride, which matched mine pretty well. The other set was made by someone with a much longer stride. Stepping in the footprints was like walking up a really steep flight of stairs.

I was concentrating on making sure each step was firm, and leaning into the headwind so I wouldn't get blown over. I was hesitant to turn around and look down, or to take pictures because of the wind. On several occaisions I thought we were nearing the top, only to have another false ridge loom above us.

Finally we got to the summit and now I couldn't take many pictures because it was so cold. The wind was so loud that Ellen and I couldn't hear each other speak, and besides, our lips were frozen.

After starting down and having lunch, Ellen did an excellent job of navigating us around the bowl. We did some mini glissading, and I managed to tear up my knuckles (due to bad technique!). I didn't realize they were shredded until a while after the fact. Ellen had bandaides, thankfully.

On the way back down the trail to the trailhead we had some problems with the magical disappearing trail. We would be happily following footprints in the snow and, voila, where did the trail go?!

Thank you Ellen for a fun and memorable time!
Pictures to come later.

Woo hoo! Good fun!

HJ

I love Bowl-ing! Glad you ladies had a great day!

Pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/sallymorley ... directlink

Nice pics! Looked like a nice day out there.