Mount San Antonio Climb

Hi.

So its been three days since I returned from my most
recent adventure - Why has it taken me so long to
write about it?  Because that's how long it taken me
to fully recover.  In a word it was a butt-kicker.

Where did I go?  this past weekend I trekked to the
top of Mount San Antonio (MSA) in the San Gabriel
Mountains inside the Angeles National Forest; this
area is also better known as Mt. Baldy.  After having
done Mt. San Gorgonio (MSG), and Mt. San Jacinto
(MSJ), I now have a So. Cal. hiking triple crown, as
these are the 3rd, 1st, and 2nd, highest peaks in the
area.

The total hike was about 10.7 miles, with a 6,064 ft.
elevation gain.  I took me 8.5 hours up and 4.5 down.
I spent the night on the South-East face of Old Mt.
Baldy peak at 9,800 ft. and then on Sunday morning,
right after sunrise, summitted Mt. San Antonio peak at
10,064 ft.

Partly because the conditions were more favorable than
most of the other hikes I've taken this had been by
far the most gratifying one I've done; including our
Machu Pichu hike!  Why?  The change in climates and
scenery are truly dramatic, and the views outstanding;
that plus it was a great physical challenge.

The entire hike is on the ridge between Cattle canyon
and San Antonio canyon, starting from mt. Baldy
Village at 4,000 ft.  Miles 3 & 4 in particular were
amazing the average width of the ridge top was 20 ft,
with a many areas where it narrowed to 3 to 4 ft wide
snow & ice covered peak.  It is simply amazing to look
down and see three, four, and five thousand foot
drop-offs to the canyons below.

Equally challenging were the grades on the mountain
sides, there where many portions were Java and I could
not climb up, our only option was to traverse the
slopes in zig-zag fashion - It wasn't until the hike
down that I actually appreciated the how steep certain
sections were; easily 60 degree slopes.

Once we made camp, the day got even better. The sunset
over the LA basin was the single most intense color
I've seen anywhere, at any time.  With so much junk in
the air above LA the entire sky was lit up like a
fire, and the glow reflecting off from the mountain
tops was just awesome.  Some of the pictures give you
a sense of what it was like, but not really - Pictures
may say a thousand words, but they don't tell the
entire story!

It only got better when I finally turned my attention
away from my stove looked behind me and saw the entire
LA basin lit up in lights - Because everything had
been obscured by the ever present layer of smog, I had
forgotten that civilization was actually not the far
away.  The view was a shock - It was like driving into
Vegas at night time for the first time, only amplified
100,000 times over - The shimmering glittering lights,
certainly took away from the immersion of my
wilderness experience, but it added a special treat to
see LA as a huge shinning jewel enveloping most of the
darkness far into the distance.  It was a wierd
fantastic experience to be eating dinner under the
stars and then looking to the side to see a whole
nother set of constellation made up by LA's lights.

The conditions were sunny the entire time and once we
got above the snow line it stayed a constant 34 deg F,
until nighttime when it never got below to 24 oF.  Of
course the winds kept me and java company, but they
never peaked above 35 - 40 mph.  Its funny to think of
the conditions as relatively nice, but they were.


The entire weekend we saw only one other person, on
our way down - This guy impressed the hell out of me.
He has only ever done Day-hikes, but he's done MSG 50
times, MSJ 8, MSG 6, and Mt. Whitney 5 times!

After climbing MSA, and talking to the other hiker,
who said the Mountaineer's Route to Whitney is no
harder than MSA, I'm more motivated than ever to climb
Mt. Whitney - I got it firmly in my ToDo List.

What's next?  The Southern Sierras.  In one the
pictures I'm pointing to them with the tip of my ice
axe.  although you can't see them in the picture, and
even though they are 110 - 150 miles away, I was
clearly able to see the snow capped peaks high above
central valley floor and high dessert areas.


I can't wait to get out there again.  Life is not only
Good - It's Great.  Enjoy it.