Baldy, finally

This weekend was the charm. Hiking Saturday, Dec. 10th., with new friend Dan, we left the Manker Flats Campground (at 6,160 ft., a much higher trailhead than that of my attempt last weekend) at 8:50, arriving at the San Antonio ski hut, 8,200 ft., at 10:40. After a break and a snack, we headed on up the ridge that rims the bowl and then up to the 10,064 ft. summit, arriving at 12:50. Half an hour on top for lunch (it was chilly but pretty calm), enjoying great views all the way up to Mt. Whitney, over towards Death Valley across the desert, the San Bernadino peaks to the east, Catalina Island and ships on the ocean. We headed down at 1:15, a fairly leisurely descent, getting back to the car at 3:45. Four hours up, two and a half down. There was patchy snow in the trees on non-south-facing slopes and some packed snow on the trail now and then, remnants of a few drifts on the summit. We were leery enough of snow and ice on the Devil’s Backbone trail over to the ski area, so we skipped our plan for this alternate route back. No pix ’cause Leda took the camera with her on her trip to Huntington Gardens with her mom. Next time….