To celebrate the summer solstice this year, I hiked the Bear Canyon trail to the top of Baldy. I had originally planned a 20 mile loop, but ended up completing close to 11 miles, meeting a couple of people on the summit that were training for Whitney, and getting a ride in the back of a pick up truck with a beautiful siberian husky named Betty. (I started this trail last year, but turned around due to a boot malfunction.) It was a very hot day and at least a gazillion flies all the way to the summit. I wore my head net from the start. This trail is 6 miles and close to 6,000' of elevation gain. I've read this is a very hard trail, and the reviews are correct.
My original plan was to park at Ice House Canyon, walk back down to Baldy Village, up the Bear Canyon trail to Baldy summit, down the Devils Backbone trail to Baldy Notch (ski area lodge), past the Notch to the 3 T's trail and down Ice House Canyon to the car. I knew this was a very aggressive hike for me, and my bailout was the Baldy Bowl trail or the fire road at the Notch to Manker with the hope of hitching a ride back to my car at Ice House. (Or walk back down to the car)
I parked my car at Ice House Canyon a little after 6am, got geared up, walked down to the Village and started up the Bear Canyon trail around 7am. Got to Bear Flats, 1.7 miles, in 40mins. Not setting any speed records, but a decent pace considering I had 3 liters of water and 1 liter of Gatorade. After Bear Flats, the trail goes straight up in direct sun. The trail is overgrown with brush and I would highly recommend wearing long pants and long sleeves to minimize getting scratched. I had a slow and steady pace going and was drinking water. Then when I got to around 8,500k, the elevation started getting to me and my pace slooowwwed waaaaay down. The last 2.5 miles were a struggle, but lots of breaks, water, gatorade, and snacks got me to the top. There were some big patches of snow along the trail on West Baldy, but nothing on the trail. Made it to the summit around 2:20pm.
I was wiped out and had only seen 1 other person on the trail, and there was no one on the summit when I arrived. (There were lots of flies and only a slight breeze.) I was evaluating where I was and how I felt and realized I would probably not complete the loop and would have to bail out. Now I had to decide if I wanted to go down the Baldy Bowl trail or the Backbone trail. As I was considering my options, a couple of women came up from the Bowl trail. We talked for several minutes and they mentioned they were training for a Whitney day hike on July 17. I explained my original plan for the day and my decision to not complete the loop. They were planning on hiking up the Bowl and down the Backbone trail and then down the fire road to their car at Manker. I asked if they would mind if I walked with them and they said "Sure and we'll give you a ride to your car." I hadn't even asked for a ride, but happily accepted the offer.
Made it down to the ski lodge around 4:30p. Just in time to meet a few of the summer maintenance workers as they were finishing for the day. We asked if they would start the lift that would get us down to the parking area, but they couldn't do it. I noticed one of them had a pick up truck (a small Toyota) and asked if we could ride in the back. He said sure if we didn't mind riding with Betty. This is when we met a beautiful siberian husky. A well fed husky, as she was a BIG DOG. And she was very friendly and a gracious hostess. The 3 of us climbed in the back of the pick up with our packs, and tried to find a place to sit with Betty, a shovel, a couple of tool belts, Betty's water bowl, and the wheel wells. It was a tight fit. When we got to the end of the road and unloaded, the driver and his co-worker passenger were amazed that we got out with big smiles on our faces. They thought it would be an awful ride down, we were thrilled not to have to walk 3 miles down a dirt road.
By the time I got back to my car, I was not looking forward to rush hour freeway traffic on the drive home. The 2 women that gave me a ride had the same thoughts, so we decided to have dinner at the Baldy Lodge restaurant. It was a nice way to end the day.
It wasn't the day I had planned, but it was a very enjoyable day and a good summer solstice celebration.
