Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt.San Gorgonio

We are planning a Whitney training hike for Friday 6/4 up Mt. San Gorgonio via the Vivian Creek trail. Has anyone done this hike in the last week? The SGWA website trail conditions shows 2' of snow above Halfway Camp, and 5' above High Creek camp. Recommending ice axe and crampons above halfway camp. Their update shows 5/26. I know we had a big winter but this sounds off to me for this time of year.

I too am interested in the snow conditions for that trail up San Gorgonio. My friend's and I will probably hike it on June 16th, also as a warm-up hike for climbing Whitney on July 2nd in one day. I'm also waiting for trip reports on the snow level on San Jacinto. Snow pack is our biggest concern this year as none of us have the equipment or experience to hike in snow, so we'll have to turn back if the trail isn't snow or ice-free.

That is an accurate report of the conditions above 8500' in Southern California. Look for recent trip reports on the SGWA site and the San Jacinto Message Board
There are many great hikes below the current snow line. Try Santiago Peak, Iron Mountain, Mt. Wilson, Spitler Peak, ext. Combine a few peaks to add some mileage and gain.

Thanks for the ideas. We are going to do Mt.Baldy instead of San Gorgonio. From all accounts Baldy has patchy snow along the trail above 8,000, and a few fields on top, but the trail is clear. The Baldy bowl trail from Manker flats, to the Summit is a great training hike, 4,400 gain in 5.5 miles.

Baldy is more like 3,800' of gain in 4 miles via the Ski Hut Trail. Also, folks were have a problem finding the summit during the ascent and re-finding the trail during the descent this past weekend. If you are not familiar with this trail, be cognizant of your surroundings as you ascend.

However, it is suppose to very warm this week and conditions have been changing rapidly every week.

I was up there last week. Though there really wasn't a dirt trail, there were enough people and new prints to know where to go. There's virtually no snow on the "Devil's Backbone" side, but a decent amount of snow from the summit to about 3/4 of the way to the ski hut. Mostly slippin and sliding stuff as the snow is wet after it warms up. Not only are the prints easy to follow, you can see parts of the trail where the snow has melted. But, the trail is really torn up as most people have made their own trails going down to the hut.

*And according to the Baldy Map from the forest service I'm looking at right now.....from Manker Flats (San Antonio Falls Parking) to the summit, using the Baldy Bowl is 4.6 miles and 3904' elevation gain.

I was up the Old Baldy Trail (Bear Canyon) from the village last week and there is still a nice snowpack above 8500' and some fun routefinding opportunities. 6000' gain over 6 miles makes for a nice conditioning climb.

I was on the Vivian trail 2 weeks ago and there is only patches of snow up to High Creek and then solid snow up to the summit ridge. You should have no problem following the trail to High Creek now.

Btw, the SGWA website trail conditions are almost always inaccurate during the winter & spring.

Here are a couple of photo logs of Mt Baldy climbs via the Ski Hut Trail this last Sunday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonov/sets/72157624176539758/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvephotos/sets/72157624189516950/

No ice axe or crampons required.