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

Help! I'm trying to figure out exactly how to locate/map out the hike from "Baldy Village" to Mt. San Antonio, which is supposed to have a 6,000 ft. elevation gain. So far, nothing on the web has helped outline this hike for me. Most directions suggest starting from Manker Flats or Baldy Notch, but we're interested in getting maximum elevation gain. Thanks for any input anyone can give! Cappy

My son and I have done Baldy Village to Baldy a couple of times. It is the best route up the mountain (in out opinions): 6 miles, 6000' elevation gain. Then down.

It starts right behind the rangfer station in Baldy Village. There is a road just down from the station, right by a 4000' elevation sign. Take it to the west of the road you drove up on until it ends. You can park at the ranger station of a little way up the road. The rest is reasonably well marked.

The hike is described in John Robinson's "Trails of the Angeles." If you hike the San Gabriels, I recommend getting a copy.

See also:
http://www.summitpost.com/mountains/mountain_link.pl?mountain_id=303
http://www.summitpost.com/mountains/route_link.pl/route_id/206/object_id/303

I heartily recommend this route to anyone who wants a really honest 6 mile hike.

The route you want is also known as the Bear Flats trail. After parking, walk the road that AlanK mentioned until you come to a church, and pass the church on the right to get to the trailhead, it's marked with a sign. It's a great hike, steep and uphill all the way, a great workout. Be sure to carry all your own water because water is only accessible on the lower part of this trail, and is pretty iffy this time of year.

If you want to extend the workout, descend from the summit via the Devil's Backbone to the east, down to the ski area. If the lodge is open, you can snag a soda or munchies along the way. Then take the fire road back to the ski area parking lot (or take the lift down), and walk down the road, past the switchbacks, to your car back in the village. Not very esthetic, but it adds a little variety and distance. Psychologically, you'll be charged up to handle bigger hills.

I'll be doing the Manker Flats route tomorrow morning to Baldy and West Baldy and descending the fireroad to the West of the lifts. I'd really like to try the Bear Flats climb sometime, but I've heard it is really hot due to the lack of shade and hot So Cal sun this time of year.

My friend does Whitney training hike up Baldy. He begins at Bear Flats ascends to Baldy traverses the Devils backbone then refuels at the ski lodge and continues on the Telegraph and Thunder Mt descends to the road then walks back down to his car. When it is all said and done I believe it is around 9,000' elev gain and 23 miles. If you can do that Whitney will be a piece of cake...provided that altitude doesn't affect you too badly.

Try this link for a good description of the Manker Flats route: http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/MtSanAntonioviaMankerFlat_4472.asp

The location of the trail is on the Harrison Map and the Mt. Baldy and Mt. San Antonio quads.

The trailhead is in the church parking lot across the street front the Mt. Baldy Inn/Restaurant.

Bill

I have told more than one person we've met coming up from Baldy Village (on the Bear Flats trail) that "if you can do this, you can do Whitney." It's not as high or as long, but getting the 6000' elevation gain in 6 miles instead of 11 makes it harder.

That last word is subjective, of course. I do know that I feel more beaten up after that Baldy hike than after doing Whitney, due to the steep downhill pounding.

The variations described above that make for a longer hike with even more elevation gain sound great. I'd do them for their own merits, not just to train for Whitney, but (for sure!)...

"if you can do this, you can do Whitney."

Cappy,

I'm one of the those people who firmly believe that the village church way to Baldy is much tougher than Whitney. You can't miss the trail, just park at the church across from the Baldy Inn restaurant. It's on the left-hand side of the road as you're driving up. The trail starts at the back of the church and is paved for the first half mile or so. There are houses as you begin the trail. Watch out for rattlesnakes in the brush section, about 1.5 miles in. I have almost never encountered snakes on So. California trails, but I do here.

I did this trail in late June and have done Whitney twice since then and there is no comparison: this trail is so much harder than Whitney. Mentally it will really whack you, especially on the descent. If you don't have knee braces and/or trekking poles, don't do it. One more thing: start early! This trail has little shade on it and it gets brutally hot in the summer. The high in Upland lately has been in the high 90's, so be prepared. Good luck to you!

Candance,

Have you ever attempted Baden-Powell which is located just north of baldy? It's a fun hike that has quite a few switchbacks.. You gain 2800' in elevation in 4 miles.

Chris

The only hike I've done in the San Gabriels that I rate as harder than Baldy Village to Baldy is Iron Mountian from the East Fork. The first time we did Iron Mountain, we did Baden Powell the following week, adding on Burnham, Throop and Hawkins (out and back). A comparative walk in the park. On the other hand, on an absolute scale, Baden Powell is a good honest hike.

But believe Candace about that Baldy hike.

It's nothing about hiking mt. Baldy,but I just wanted to thank Mother Nature for not putting Mt. Whitney where Baldy is. I lived in the smog filled basin under that mountain for 30-plus years and if Whitney was there you would only be looking into a sea of brown gunk from the summit!

That's all.

You lived in the LA Basin for 30 years?

I'll bet you're the guy who went into a neighborhood restaurant and lit into the chef about the awful food, then complaned that the portions were too small!

This is off track from Cappy's original inquiry but if you have experineced the Baldy ascent and the Iron Mountain ascent mentioned by Alan K. you may want to consider the traverse some day. It will require a car shuttle and plenty of water. It is tougher than Whitney in my opinion except for the elevation issue. I did it in winter up Baldy, across the ridge to Iron, and down to East Fork. There were a couple of tricky parts on the ridge. It took us a full day (8+ hours) even with running the last 7 miles. The ridge vegetation was cut back some a few years ago during the "Charmin" fire. I wouldn't suggest this if you have not done both ascents. I don't think you want to discover what Iron Mtn. is like at the end of this trip.

Alank, Huhhhh????? What is this about a restaurant and chef???? No idea what you're talking about.

If you didn't get what I mean, its that if Whitney was in the congested Ontario/ Riverside county area (I never lived in L.A. You think I'm crazy???) the forest at the Whitney portal area would have been torched several times, the parking lots would have been trashed and be locations for drug dealing, the unwashed masses would have dumped thier garbage and disposable diapers in the pristine pond, punks- not bears- would be breaking into your car, Doug would have been robbed many times. See what I mean? I'm just saying I'm glad the mountain is so far away from what passes as civilization today.

WorldClassWalker, I was attempting humor at your expense. I'm dying up here!

"Hating the restaurant's food" is to "hating the smog" as "can't get enough of the restaurant's food" is to "can't get enough of the smog" (i.e., by living in it, presumably volutarily, for 30 years).

Fortunately, UC led the charge to eliminate analogies fron the SAT! :-)

I was not arguing with the substance of your criticism.

Actually, I am also glad that Whitney is as remote as it is. If it were down here, it might get a bit crowded.

Ha, ha. Cough, cough.

Scott M. -- Thanks for bringing up the traverse from Iron Mountain. It's people like you who forced me to be careful not to call the Bear Flat's Trail the hardest one up Baldy on an absolute trail. I have to tackle the traverse someday before I get too old. My son looks at that ridge eagerly every time we do Iron. Maybe when he's old enough to drive, so that we can do the car relay...

Alank is right, Iron Mountian from the E. Fork is even harder than Baldy from the Village Church. I've only done Iron Mtn. once, but it was plenty brutal. It makes Vivian Creek to San. G. look like a walk in the park! Baden Powell I don't think is in the same league with any of the hikes we've been talking about. It's only 4 miles to the top with about a 2,600 elevation gain. The trail is great though, but I think it's very easy and not good prep for Whitney, unless it's early in the season and you want to regain your hiking legs. When I say "very easy" I mean if you're using Baden-Powell as prep for doing Whitney, Half Dome, or tougher hikes.

I'll be interested to hear Cappy's thoughts about the church way to Baldy. It's a total brute!

I just did Baden-Powell this morning after doing Whitney last weekend and it as extremely easy comparatively, however the person i was with said it was a bit challenging. One good thing about Baden-Powell is the elevation (9400) which makes it good preparation for Whitney, at least from that perspective.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Candace, we'll let you know what we think. I'm a little concerned about the downhill. My husband is having trouble with blisters. And we have to get the poles... We did Alta Peak as our first official training hike and are planning Baldy, Gorgonio, Jacinto and Mt.Dana in Yosemite, but we don't have much time wecan take off work.

Cappy,

Here's a tip on the church way to Baldy. You said you did Alta Peak, which is easy until the last 2.1 miles to the summit. Remember the sign where it says, "Alta Peak, 2.1 miles?" Then you climb about 2,000 feet in 2 miles? That part of the trail is still *easy* compared to the village way to Baldy. I hate to keep dishing out the chilling news on this hike, but everyone who attempts this way should know the brutal truth of it.

Have you considered doing the Ski hut way to Baldy? That's 10 miles, plenty hard, but just not as brutal as the church way. Since you're going to be doing San G. and the other hikes, I don't think it's necessary to subject yourself to the bleak hike via the village church.

I agree with Candace. When you have multiple training hikes on the schedule, it probably wouldn't make any real difference in the long run. The Manker flats ski hut trail goes up 3800 feet to the top of Baldy in 4 miles. Portions are very steep. It is a worthy hike without feeling like you have to do the "real" hike from Baldy Village. Seeing the ski hut is worth the trip. We are going to Whitney soon and the ski hut trail will be our last warm up hike.