Also. I could not locate that parking lot on your link for parking on Google.

Thx for all your resources and efforts.

I haven’t used Garmin Connect. Are you uploading to a website or a device? Are you getting a particular error message?

Any help would be much appreciated!

I backpacked overnight on Mt. Baldy this past September, but used the old trail that starts in Baldy Village.

Here is video if interested

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG2rNWo3EaE

Summitted Via Ski Hut Trail on 1/31/17. Even with an alpine start, the layer of ice covering the snow had thawed tremendously by 12pm when we finished. If going up, be very cautious of the warm temperatures adding to already high avalanche danger. I would personally not recommend attempting the summit without crampons, ice ax, and helmet.

Stay safe and happy hiking!

Thanks, Medicine Dog! I did that in Google Earth. There’s a ton of power in Google Earth — and it’s free! It’s a great way to visualize a trail before you hike it.

Marty, the shortest route is the reverse of this to the summit, and then down via the same Ski Hut trail. But that’s not the easiest. The route described is the easiest way up, though not the shortest. If you really want to make it easier, you can buy a lift ticket, ride up to The Notch and start hiking from there. That will shave a couple miles and quite a bit of the vertical climb off your hike.

I have a chance to hike Mt. Baldy in mid-July, 2015. Could you recommend the easiest way to summit? Would an ultra lightweight down ‘parka’ (8 oz.) and rain shell suffice for mid-July weather?

Thanks,

Marty

Just wanted to mention that I’ve done this Baldy route twice in the past month, first as described in your article, then the reverse, and I agree wholeheartedly with your recommendation to go up Baldy Bowl and down Backbone. I thought it’d be much harder that way (Baldy Bowl seemed like a beast even going DOWN) but I was wrong–I did it an hour faster than up Backbone/down Bowl, party because everything between the Notch and Manker–the “least exciting” portion of the hike–lends itself well to running/jogging down.

The 2nd of these trips was yesterday–the clouds, wind, and snow made it interesting, to say the least. It’s a surreal experience to be alone on a mountaintop in those conditions. (Not recommending it…I just had to try it.)

Martin, when it’s dry, it’s not that bad. There is one section that crosses steep scree that I’m extra careful on. Bring trekking poles and a friend.

In rain, ice or snow? That’s another story.

Damian, I would recommend going up the Ski Hut Trail, then playing it by ear. Gusts up to 19mph isn’t bad, and going DOWN the Ski Hut Trail is a pain. In fact, my overall recommendation is to do this loop in the opposite direction that I did here. 🙂

So tomorrow is going to be my first time attempting to summit Mt.Baldy. Very excited to say the least! I plan to use use the same loop route you have laid out here on your page. I checked the weather forecast for tomorrow and it’s looking like it’s going to be a windy day with wind gusts projected to be up to 19mph for the Mt.Baldy area. Would you advise going up The Devil’s Backbone under these kind of windy conditions or should I just do an out and back hike via The Ski Hut Trail?

Yes, this is a public road and it’s always open (barring weather, fire, etc.). I like to get an early start — and that’s no problem for Mt. Baldy (especially since no permits are required).

It’s more commonly done in the reverse of what I show. The initial climb is much steeper, and then many people work in a stop at the ski lift bar before hiking the last couple miles down (or even take the ski lift down!).

@Nathan, you should be okay. There are still patches of snow up there (see the webcam: http://www.onthesnow.com/california/mt-baldy/webcams.html?t=cams&id=) but not much. Trekking poles are a great idea. Crampons are probably overkill. Microspikes would probably suffice. Today it’s over 80 degrees here in LA, and so there might not be ANY snow left by the time you hike this.

Looking forward to doing Gorgonio and Jacinto prior to Whitney as well…

Thanks

Thanks, Chris! Glad you found the trail descriptions helpful. I liked the variety of the “six-pack” of peaks, and I’ll probably do it again next year, though maybe not on consecutive weekends. You’ll enjoy San Jacinto. The Marion Mountain trail is beautiful.

Good luck on Mt. Whitney in September!

Wonderful site and glad I found it. The descriptions are helpful and I am doing San Jacinto tomorrow along the same route you took.

Again, great site

Derek, it was bitter cold until we started heading down, but it was a great day. It was really fun to be up above the clouds — the “low-lands” were completely shrouded in clouds, even though there were still some clouds higher up.

Devil’s Backbone is spectacular. I’m glad it was dry.

Thanks, Tim. We did the loop in just over seven hours, starting at about 7:15am and returning to the car about 2:30pm. I’m going to post an update with a Google Earth fly-by of our GPS data. When you watch that, you can see relative speed (where we stopped for a few minutes or more, etc.). And the actual time is watermarked as the video advances.