I was planning on hiking Mt Baldy on March 19. I was wondering if anybody has been up there in the past couple days. Are microspikes and trekking poles sufficient? I'm not sure of which route we are taking but maybe bear canyon or Ski hut, probably not devils backbone

I saw a video someone posted from their hike via the Baldy Bowl today, and he used crampons and carried an ice axe. There have been SO many injuries and accidents this year, nobody should be hiking the snow covered peaks without crampons and ice axe, and some knowledge how to self-arrest.

People using microspikes find they can climb ok, but when they turn to head down, they have lots of trouble. Get yourself a quality set of crampons. They are expensive, but once you have them, they will last you for many years.

Take them EVERY time you go for a snow hike. I made the mistake of trying to hike the mist trail this winter in Yosemite -- without my crampons! What was a very dangerous descent could have been a cake walk with crampons.

Steve, you are reminding me of when we hiked Half Dome and encountered a lot of snow on quarter dome. We made it, but I sure wish we had crampons and ice axes. One slip . . . .

I'll echo Steve. I think we have had 3 deaths so far this year in the Baldy area, all from slips on the trail. It doesn't stay consistently cold up there, so the snow turns into ice-- I have heard some people say that even with crampons, the conditions were too iffy.

Brent N