After recovering from the San Bernardino peak trail snow slog, I went up Baldy via Register Ridge yesterday. I was prepared to turn around before Manker if the road became icy, but it was just damp. In fact, there was no longer ice on the road by the fence.
I ran into Shin Nimura -- the Baldy King -- and his friend Troy at Manker. I didn't know what the conditions would be like and carried micros, crampons, ice axe as well as numerous layers. It was drizzling when I started a bit after 7 AM but not cold.
It was wonderful to go up Reigster in dirt again. I did not run into significant snow until reaching the Devil's Backbone trail below Harwood. I tried to follow DBB and was immediately post-holing up to my knees
Arrgh -- I'd had enough of that on Wed with Sally. I donned micros and headed up to Harwood. Once there, I stayed on the ridge and followed the use trail to the Harwood Saddle. There was new powder on the DBB heading up to the summit and I had good traction -- placed my feet in previous footsteps.
Met a really nice group of guys on the summit who'd come up the Ski Hut trail. Took each other's photos, then they headed down and I had the summit to myself. It was fantastic to watch the clouds move around me. At times, I was in a mist and felt like the last human on earth. Then West Baldy would appear or I could see blue sky to the north.
I ran into Shin and Tony about 250 vertical feet below the summit. Shin warned me about the lousy conditions in the trees. The condition of the "trail" was very mixed -- sometimes I post-holed in fresh snow and sometimes I slid in slushy snow. Before the trees, it was mostly dirt. When I reached the top of the tree section, I donned crampons and alternately plunge stepped and stayed on the trail. Snow was really soft and I sank deeply off trail.
At the base of the trees, I removed the crampons and watched a group practicing in the snowy chute to the east of the trees. Most of the bowl was completely melted out. I took my time heading down -- my bad ankle was screaming and I had blisters on my heels from wearing waterproof Merrell boots (won't be using those again for those conditions). Past the ski hut, most of the snow had melted and the icy sections could be easily avoided.
It was wonderful hiking in and out of the clouds and mist. I celebrated with Gung Pao chicken at PF Changs in Victoria gardens. Met and chatted with Vietnam war pilot who flew B52s. Great guy and perfect end to stellar day.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen