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

Just did Baldy on Saturday via the Manker Flats trail for the first time. I thought it was an enjoyable trail and a great training hike if you keep the pace up. We extended it and descended down the backbone ridge and the ski slope trail which all in all took us 6 hours including a nice 15 min break at the Sierra Club cabin hut, 30 min at the summit, and 15 min at the Ski Lodge. Heading to Gorgonio next weekend and then I'm only 3 weeks from a 4 day backpack in Yosemite and 4 weeks from Whitney! Vacation time is near.

I hear the Bear Flats trail is a scorcher this time of year...START EARLY if you do that one!

Cappy, I agree with Candace. I love the Bear Flats trail up Baldy. As I said, I believe that you can do Whitney if you can do this Baldy route, but it is a bit of overkill as a Whitney training hike.

The uphill is just tiring, it's the downhill that I find brutal. I tend to feel a bit beaten up after doing 6000' downhill in 6 miles. Also, as others have said, it is better in a cooler season. Last time we did it we were on snowhshoes for the top half.

I think something like Vivian Creek up San Gorgonio is an ideal Whitney training hike. The suggestion of doing Baldy via the Ski Hut trail and coming down via the Devils Backbone trail is also good.

If you do San Jacinto as Whitney training, you should consider a longer route than the one from the tram. It's a fun hike but a bit too easy for a Whitney training hike. I am not the person to ask about routes, but there are several. Unfortunately, to date my only other San Jacinto experience is Cactus to Clouds. That's a great hike but serious overkill as Whitney training. Also, hotter than you-know-where right now!

I would agree with all the previous posts about Bear Flats being a worthy training hike. It is difficult, but there are some interesting spots on the route, such as a semi-knife edge ridge up high that's fun to walk across as it falls away on both sides, and a spot that I really enjoy just below the summit; this area is relatively flat, logs to sit on, expansive views, very peaceful. With the right mental attitude, it can be a fun hike!

AlanK... try the Deer Springs trail from just outside Idyllwild to San Jac. Long and pretty much uphill but a nice hike, very woodsy. You can even return via Devil's Slide if you don't mind walking back through town to get to the car, or arranging a car shuttle.

Can anyone comment on the trail to the summit of Mt. Wilson from Sierra Madre compared to Whitney? I realize the elevation is much lower but from the stats, the steepness of the trail seems to be similar.

MountainBob -- we'll give the Deer Springs trail a try. We really like San Jacinto and need to expand our horizons in that area.

DHMeieio -- The Mt. Wilson train in Sierra Madre starts at about 1000' and the summit is 5700'. The length is 7 or 7.5 miles. On average, is is similar to, or a bit steeper than, the Whitney trail. It's just a bit shorter and, as you noted, closer to sea level. It's a nice hike.

Ist, for Cappy: do Manker Flats to Baldy, not the village church. As another poster rightly said, that's overkill. I haven't done it since '99 & wouldn't do it again unless I had a car shuttle and descended by the backbone. If you go down the same way you came up on the church route, your knees will be sore for days. There are spots you almost gotta go down on all 4's it's so steep. The Manker Flats way is more scenic and is a good workout & it's not overkill.

2nd, I've done Mt. Wilson a bunch of times. It's very hot about now and smoggy. No comparison to Whitney, Mt. Wilson is much easier. Wilson is best to do in Autumn, it's very smoggy now. I wouldn't use Wilson as a training hike for Whitney-- it's not tough enough.

Cappy -- doing San Gorgonio, Baldy by Manker Flats and San J. will do you just fine for Whitney. No need to kill your knees doing the church route to Baldy, + you don't want to injure yourself so close to doing the big one, Whitney.

Thanks for the info on Wilson. I live nearby and have hiked it a couple times in winter when it's not so hot.

Wow. Thank you everyone for all the posts. We've been convinced to do the Manker Flats route instead!

This has been a very informative post to follow and I thank everyone for their input. Our group summitted a couple weeks back and I'm now looking to some other 14er's in California so I'll want to keep up my conditioning and I'll try some of these alternate routes up Baldy.

For people living in Southern California getting ready to do Whitney I believe that the "trifecta" is a good gauge of your ability to reach the summit. The "trifecta" is Baldy, San Gorgonio, and San Jacinto -- the highest peaks in the San Gabriel, San Bernadino, and San Jacinto ranges.

I did Baldy a couple of times. The first time was from Baldy Notch up the backbone after riding the chair lift up. This was an early season hike and helped be get my "trail sense" back. I would not reccommend this hike for conditioning as it is not long enough. I did meet someone who did a couple of roundtrip circuits on this trail in a day and they said that you get more hiking time at altitude that way. I also hiked this from Manker flats following the fireroad to the noth and then up the backbone. I liked this hike because it has a good elevation gain and the trail is fairly easy on your knees. The biggest challenge I had was staying hydrated. There is not water on this route so I carried six liters. This meant my pack was a little heavier than it would be on Whitney, but I viewed this as a positive since this was for conditioning. You can also lengthen this hike by going over the summit and onto little Baldy. This variation adds an extra mile, but you'll likely have the little baldy summit to yourself and avoid the crowds on Baldy. I strongly encourage people to start this hike early in the morning as the heat can be tough.

I was mroe drained after summitting San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek than doing Whitney. People have differing opinions of this, but I found the two to be roughly comparable. In Southern California I think there are few hikes that will better prepare you for Mount Whitney. Statistically San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek has 1,000 feet less elevation gain, the summit is 3,000 feet lower, and the trail is seven miles shorter, but the route is steeper, the trail is tougher, and the heat can be more oppresive. If you can pull this hike off without too much trouble then your biggest concern on Whitney is likely to be the weather. Be aware that you need a permit to do the Vivian Creek trail.

San Jacinto was our last group conditioning hike. We wanted to give ourselves some time to recover between San Gorgonio and Whitney so we stuck this summit in right before our Whitney attempt. There are several ways to the summit. The approaches from the Idylwild side are longer and more strenuous. We did not try these. We took the relaxing tram ride to Mountain Station and then hiked 5 miles to the summit. This ten mile round trip hike does not compare favorably to Whitney, but it is a nice last-minute, high altitude tune up. There are also a few other peaks worth bagging in the area and if you want a longer hike you can try for Jean, Cornell and a few other summits. The day I went I hit three peaks and stretched my hike into a very relaxing 15 miles, about half of which was cross-country and an excellent opportunity to work on my orienteering skills.

I wish you the best of luck on your Whitney attempts and remember to hike at a steady pace and drink plenty of water.

found the Baldy hike from Manker flats up

Another alternative route to Baldy is the Blue Ridge way, which is considered the "back way" to Baldy's summit. This is arguably the most scenic way to Baldy, but curiously, the least-used trail. It's 14 miles and by far the prettiest route to Baldy's summit. It's tougher than the Manker Flats way, but more shady and less rocky. It's a more pleasant hike than any of the traditional routes to the summit. Here is a description of it, along with driving directions:

http://www.desertmud.com/hike_details/EventID/49

They say the trail is little used, but I did it in mid-July and the trail conditions were good, you could not lose your way and there were about 20 other people on the trail on a Sunday. If you're coming from L.A., it will be a longer drive to Wrightwood, but it's worth it. As a conditioning hike, it's harder than Manker Flats, but not as hard as San G. There is a backbone section on this hike which is a little scary, more exposed than the "front backbone" route to Baldy.

I agree with Spankybob, the Vivian Creek way to San G. is a killer, harder than Whitney. Mentally it's sometimes a real chore. Spankybob, since you live in So. California, why not try Whitney again? I just checked their permit board and there are several days in late August that still have 20-40 permits still available!

I'll definitely have to give Blue Ridge a try!

On Vivian Creek, John Robinson's book has it listed as 14 miles round trip. It isn't. Robinson is rarely wrong, but that mileage is simply way off. I don't have the data with me, but I have checked it twice with GPS and it's closer to 18. The track deviates significantly from the trail on the standard USGS maps in one place, and that would account for much of the difference. (The rest depends on where you measure from. I measured it from my car, which was in the top lot.) I suspect that the trail changed some years ago and the mileage difference didn't make it into Robinson's book.

Candace- Thanks for the information on the Blue Ridge trail. I'll give it a try soon. I also like your suggestion to try Whitney again, but right now I'm toying with the idea of dusting off my mountaineering skills and trying Mount Shasta. Because it has been twenty years since I last swung an ice axe or wore crampons, I'm booking a trip with a guide service that can offer me a refresher course in glacier/snow travel and that will escort me on the summit attempt. I hope to be atop Shasta by the end of the month.

I definitely agree with Candance regarding the superiority of the backbone route to Baldy from Blue Ridge! I believe she is stating miles with a start at Blue Ridge Campground and following the road to the trail head. When I first did it I wrote an A+++ by the route description in my Robinson 100 Hikes book. If you want to make it even more Whitney like you can start lower and a bit farther away all while saving a bunch of driving. Total miles would be about 17 depending on where you parked. Access the Acorn Trail out of Wrightwood, go 1.6 miles east on the PCT or road to the trail, and follow the backbone trail up. Acorn is a steady climb to Blue Ridge. You can't park right at the beginning of Acorn Trail since it starts in a residential area past Camp Maria Stella. PCT thru hikers use this route to drop in to Wrightwood for resupply. This route is easy to spot on Harrison's Trail Map of the Angeles High Country. To get there from Hwy 2 go left on Spruce, right on Apple, and left on Acorn. The Acorn trail starts at the end of the pavement and is not signed. Walk past the guard rail by a water tank. It is pretty easy to follow after that. You might be interested to know that the Acorn Trail is the route used by runners for the first part of the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run prior to connecting to the PCT and heading west.

You should try Mt San Jacinto from Marion Mtn. Climbs 5300 feet in 5.5 miles and elevation at the summit is 10,384! It is a hard hike and good conditioning. We also did San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek and Baldy via Manker Flats and this one is tough too!