Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Baldy Conditions?

Heading over to Baldy for a little Whitney-prep fun via the Bear Flats Trail (from the Village) bright and early this Sunday (6/13) with BruinJane and two friends. Descending via Devil's Backbone. Are there any snow fields to speak of, or have they all melted? Thanks in advance for the info.

BruinDave

Hey BruinDave,
I went 2 weeks ago without winter gear. I know my friend Ron did it this past weekend and noted only hitting about a 100 yard stretch of snow. So with this week's heat wave by Sunday the 13th you'll be lucky to see some snow if any...Have fun...

Jeff

Heres a few pictures from Saturday..Nothing to worry about...
mark

Baldy 6/5/2010

I went up the ski hut trail and down the back bone on Saturday in trail runners, a t-shirt and shorts. Maybe 100 yards total on snow. No ice, no problems at all. Some snow in the shady areas that you could shove in your water bottle to top it off and to cool it off.

I went up Bear Canyon Sunday. There is some snow here and there but nothing that you won't be able to manage. I agree tee shirt and shorts are in order. The snow is soft and slushy,you might end up with wet feet, I did, mine dried out in about six minutes in the heat.

Here are drifts in the trees after the narrows.The trail runs right through them.

Here is a BIG drift where the trail curves back east towards West Baldy. This drift is much taller than me and will be there next week.

The approach to Baldy summit from Bear Flat Trail.

I was there on Saturday, via ski hut trail and down devil's backbone. Little to worry about from the snow and another week will make it less so. I did get rather sunburned though......

BruinDave and BruinJane:

Look out for the "rocks"...they tend to get "heavy."

Have fun.

Did the same on Saturday. On the way down my feet got a bit wet. there was a couple of guys with snowboards up there doing a few very short runs. They even built a jump. It was jump, land, stop. Beautiful day. Have fun. We'll be on Wilson.

Danu funny.

We'll have to find a way to somehow pry TeamDanu(elle) a ways south to enjoy the SoCal fun once again, even if only for a day. Maybe 7/3 on SanG? If not, late-July at the Portal??

Thanks for the Baldy input everyone, especially the photos from Mark and Asbufra. Should be a great day. Jackalopes, I enjoyed meeting you and briefly hiking together a short ways on your first hike via the Bear Flats trail a while back when you were training for Kili.

G-Cad, did Wilson via the Toll Road on Memorial Day and it was relatively bug-free until near the top. Wildflowers still in full force. Be advised that black flies are out and universally annoyed about something. A few weeks before that via the Old Wilson Trail from Sierra Madre was terrific, with a surprising amount of water still in the nearby creeks. With a tip of the cap to the TudeDude, "Have fun."

BruinDave