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

What do you think about this article?

https://www.outkick.com/culture/cal...ble-mt-baldy-bigfoot-throwing-rocks-tent

Have a great hike.

So after 800+ trips have you had a chance to get a picture , stop and talk with bigfoot or noticed the old hair on the limbs or extra large tracks in the snow ? Often I have noticed bigfoot sightings are in active UFO areas (I made that up but hey)

Manker flat parking lot was a mess because of the rebuilding of the eroded road shoulder from the last rain storm. The trail was almost dry with some icy section near Ski hut. The snow in the bowl was very thin and there were many deep grooves were seen. There was a very long canyon just before the Rock garden with 5-7-foot-deep runs from bottom of the bowl to San Antonio canyon.
Today was a perfect day to practice, microspikes or crampons from Ski hut to the summit. Icy snow covered the entire area above Ski hut, no deep snow holes. You could walk on smooth surface to any directions. The summit area was very icy and windy today.
There were two SAR operations near Devils backbone trail area in the morning.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pVBGV1u9G537psUf8
Have a great hike.
P.S.
Doug, No UFO sighting today. Two dogs snatched up a half of my lunch.

Repair works around Manker flat parking area got almost done and the parking situation was improved very much. Ski hut/Baldy bowl trail was dry till Ski hut. It's better to use microsipke and poles on the switchbacks under the tree section to the west ridge, dry to 9300ft/badly eroded, consolidated old snow with a few inches of fresh snow to the summit. The damaged/erosion on the entire trail caused by the last rainstorm was visible more and more with less snow.
San Gorgonio summit area had plenty of snow.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FqQsPjQMUG3rTPSVA

Have a great hike.

I took a drive up to the parking lot last Saturday, I want to look at the information posted., correct on the road repair it was close to finished then many cars parked like always so looks like the mountain is seeing steady flow of hikers.

My first visits to Baldy was in the early 70's don't recall it being busy but we did it in the winter and not sure if we knew about any of the trails I recall a road and hiking up a canyon before the ski area. Do recall meeting Kurts dad during that time frame also so we must of been around the ski hut at times.

It would be a good study to see what has changed over the last 50+ years with the accidents and recoveries . A review of user groups and experience levels that did the hikes/climbs then and now. I know rock climbing has branched /morphed in many direction and has maybe changed from small cult to a social activity.

Hey Thanks for the update Maybe a Richard sighting soon?

Mt. Baldy will be closed from 02/10/2026 to 02/23/2026 according to the Angeles National Forest service.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/angeles/alerts/trails-closed-mt-baldy

Mt. Baldy trails closure is extended from February 27th to March 20th.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/angeles/alerts/mt-baldy-trails-closure-extended-march-20

No chance to use winter gears in this season.

I know it takes Budget... but they should implement something like they have at Mt. Rainier to hopefully avoid having a bunch of Yahoo's going up and killing themselves...it's a shame that Skilled Climbers can't practice what they love...

I can see targeted closures, such as the Devil's Backbone for short periods of time. But this is stunning in its length and geographical coverage.
. Perhaps the volunteer SAR teams can spend more time on prevention rather than dramatic rescues. For example, staffing trailheads on winter weekends, doing equipment checks, providing advice, and exercising authority given to them by the Forest Service. Or at least have a website providing information on snow conditions and advice on equipment along the lines of Jon King's for the San Jacinto mountains. While Shin's reports here effectively do that, an official website would be better known and speak with more authority to the general public.

And the National Forest and the media could expend more effort on educating the public. When I search for photos of the Devil's Backbone on the web, I see many of the relatively benign sections, and none of the short sections that are truly dangerous in the winter, even if you are well equipped and know how to self-arrest with an ice axe. Not surprising that people look at those photos and think 'Does not look so bad, I can do that'.

Meanwhile, we hear no talk of closing areas with high avalanche danger to guided parties further north. Perhaps because there is an active community of commercial interests that would strongly oppose it.

I am also disappointed by all the Baldy closures. I suppose its easier to shut everything down than deal with the people that die up there. Guess I’ll have to drive farther over to San Gorgonio or San Jacinto.

Let's not cry over spilled milk. The culture won't change overnight. Let's find what we can do this weekend quickly and cheaply. S.G. and S.J. is too far and too expensive for a weekend hiker like me.
I hiked Mt. Wilson trail because of the bad news. But, it offered me similar workout with clean and fully supplied restroom at trailhead. Enjoyed seeing beautiful wildflowers. We turned around before the ridge to avoid the unusual heat. There was no reason to suffer for the summit.
Let's not hike earphones in the ear on the trail:
I heard a very loud rattling ahead and one upcoming hiker was behind the tree down below.
There was a big fat rattle snake in the middle of trail refusing to yield for many hikers from both directions even after many of us threw rocks and small branches. One young hiker picked her up and tossed over the canyon below. She was still rattling loudly. If my ears were plugged up. I would walk directly on the rattler.
There was a bear sighting last Wednesday and deer on Saturday on the same trail.
Till Mt. Baldy reopen, Mt. Wilson is a very good alternative trail.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aRKTc1dEoi5sCz3M8

Have a great hike.

That was a brave hiker, picking up a rattlesnake. It may have been in a dormant state, though that seems unlikely. In a dormant state, the snake refuses to move, but typically won't rear up and rattle. According to the experts, a rattlesnake in a dormant state is less likely to bite, but just as bad if it does.

I usually find that a trekking pole works better than sticks and rocks. One of the worst encounters I had was with a rattler I heard but never saw. It was on a brushy section above Kelly's Camp on the Ontario Peak trail. The trail was only about a foot wide, and the snake was hissing and rattling from the side. Trashing the brush with a trekking pole only seem to make it angrier and more determined to defend its territory. I ended up retreating and detouring through thick brush with no trail, praying that there were no snakes on my detour route.

I have had a dog bitten by a rattlesnake. After she went through rattlesnake aversion training. She dove into some brush after a baby rattler that bit her on the nose. Fortunately, we were 10 minutes from the car and 30 minutes from the vet. But she had quite an enlarged nose by the time we arrived. Expensive to treat, I think it was around $1700.

Mt. Baldy has been opened since 03/21/2026. We lost almost entire winter snow season this year.
But there was deep enough snow from 2" to a foot and a half from 8000ft to the summit today after the recent rainstorm. Please be careful about all voids and stepping on fresh snow on the rocks in Rock Garden area. We only used trekking poles because snow was too soft for the microspikes.
We posthole all the way from Ski hut to the summit combined both the summer trail slope and winter ridge rout around 9300-9500ft. The summit area was very windy, 25-35 mph, and very cold,10s F. The weather was very unstable all day long. Please take microspikes and poles just in case.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/y1bPmdSUwemkYcph6

Have a great hike.

Hey Thanks Shin for another update. Wind ,cold and fresh snow a few days after record heat! Snow survey reports hinting a very dry season after the wet start. Southern Sierra may report about 10% of normal !

Off topic, but...
looks like the Cottonwood sensor is showing an additional 5-6" of snow...about a foot-and-a-half...was down to about 13" the other day...

Whitney had fresh snow also covered some of that north upper corner of Thor that was clearing.

Hiked Baldy today (Sat., April 4); only a few icy spots, poles were useful to navigate. No spikes needed. Saw one guy hiking barefoot!

Mt.Baldy trail is closed.
Alert Start Date: April 10,2026
Alert End Date : April 20,2026
Forest Order No. 05-01-26-10
Contact Number 626-547-1613

Please verify the details.

Mt. Baldy got some snow from recent rainstorm. Thin snow is visible under the tree section of west ridge, 9300-9500 ft. and near the summit. No special gears were needed.
The weather was nice and cool with gentle breeze. It was a good time to start training for Sierras.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/28oq95xRJmERAX3o6

Last Friday, Rick G. and I escorted down one hiker from 9300ft to Ski hut. He seemed suffering from hyperthymia, dehydration, elevation, or lack of energy. He didn't have any supplies at all. We provided him with a jacket, gloves, a bottle of coke, medicine, trekking poles, and foods at Ski hut. His shoes were falling apart at Ski hut.
He and his partner had several disagreements about the hiking arrangements earlier on the trail. He was ditched by his partner, and the partner took off to the summit. We asked other hikers heading up to tell his partner about this hiker would be waiting at Ski hut. His partner joined us later on the trail. This hiker was a tuck and field athlete with competitive records, and the partner was a cross-country runner. Both of them were very fit at sea level but failed on the mountain because of the ill-prepared about the high elevation mountain hike, luck of understanding about the safety and personality of their hiking partners. They were very appreciative and receptive to our suggestions.
Rick G, and I did our best to assist these guys to prevent ANF from closing the mountains because of these many ill-prepared hikers.

It is a good idea to check every hiking partner's physical, mental condition and compatibility as a member before the actual hike through several training hikes.

Have a great hike.