Up to Mount San Antonio (Baldy)

Yesterday Edie and I decided to hike up to the summit of Mount San Antonio, also known as Mt. Baldy. It is the highest peak in the San Gabriels at 10,064 ft., and on a clear day you can see the oil tankers resting outside of El Porto. It was not a clear day, at least at a lower elevation. Edie expressed worry about the cloudy and rainy weather as we drove out, and I smiled with the knowledge that where we were going, the clouds would be far beneath us.

The hike turned out to be one of the most exhausting I've been on. Rising 3,800 feet in about 6.5 miles, and negotiating the Devil's Backbone- a long, rocky ridge probably 2 miles long, with thousand foot dropoffs on either side. It was imperative to keep your eyes on the path in front.

The last 400 feet up to the summit were incredibly difficult, "walking through hell", as one hiker noted. Once we were up, though, the vistas were amazing and everyone was in a happy, endorphine-rush lunchtime break mood. Here's Edie relaxing against the stone cairn/crescents set up for hikers on the summit.



Here I am standing in front of the sea of clouds extending over the valley we hiked up and beyond.



The next picture is looking over towards Mt. Baden-Powell, which I climbed last weekend. You can't really make it out, it's enshrouded in clouds.



Here's a really good shot of Edie.



The altitude was difficult; you could feel the lower oxygen content with every step. But once we were on the summit, and happily munching on sandwiches and apples, all was good. Here's a picture of the scene up top.



The following picture is looking down the trail towards the lesser Little Baldy, the lesser of the two peaks, and around the corner from that is the Devil's Backbone ridge. This is at about 9,700 feet.



The clouds really made me feel as if I was on the surface of the moon, cut off from normal civilzation. The following shot shows this dramatic landscape on the side of the mountain.