Thursday, May 18, 2017

Ran Away to the Top of the World Today


I'm not sure why people deliver bad news on a Friday...

There is the joke in Office Space that firing people on a Friday makes it less likely that an 'incident' will occur. But I disagree. Because by firing someone on a Friday you not only take away their job, you commit the treacherous act of ruining their weekend.

Honestly, if I'm dreading an email or a voicemail that I receive on a Friday, I just won't look at it until Monday thus creating a Schrodinger's cat situation. My life is simultaneously fine and in shambles, allowing me to get drunk with my friends without the chance of remembering some terrible news and becoming sad.

Almost all corporations dump bad news on Friday.

The TV show that I was supposed to write on got scrapped on a Friday and then this past Friday I got some more upsetting news, mere hours before I was scheduled to leave for Vegas. For the love of God, will you people let me live? Monday is going to be shit regardless, at least afford me a few hours of bliss before wrecking this illusion of happiness I have built.

Alas, on Monday I refused to get out of bed. Tuesday I crawled to the couch and watched some Netflix. But on Wednesday I woke up, took a shower and decided that I was going to climb a fucking mountain.

This is that story.

I have always been very impulsive. I used to make my mom drive me two towns over at 9pm because I decided I MUST have a haircut before school the following day and there was a barbershop in Fishers open until 10. I often get in my car and start driving without a destination in mind. It's an exciting characteristic to have, but also somewhat dangerous.

When I woke up on Wednesday and decided that I was going to climb Mt. Baldy, it was likely a foolhardy one. Two professional climbers died there just last week and I was going to jump in my car with no map, no plan, no gear and like 20 bucks.

The amount of research I had done was negligible. All I saw was "12 miles" and "extremely strenuous" and I decided I could probably do it. I base all of my 'could I do this' on the fact that I was an extremely good athlete when I was 12. I was on the best basketball, soccer and baseball teams in the city. Now despite that this was nearly two decades ago I do things like wake up and think 'maybe I'll try to run a marathon today.'

I arrived at the Manker Flats campground around noon. I had some ill fitting hiking boots, four smart waters, a turkey sandwich and some sun tan lotion. As ready as I was every going to be I set off for the San Antonio Falls trailhead.

There were supposed to be maps in that box. There were not.

After a brief jaunt toward the falls and up a paved road, I found The Baldy Bowl trail. Baldy Bowl is a 10 mile out and back trail with an elevation gain of 4,000 feet. Again, I really had nothing to measure this by as the only time I ever really hike in LA is when I want a cheap date.

The first two miles up the Baldy Bowl are steep but consistent. The trail wraps through Angeles National Forest. The path is mostly dirt with some rocks and it is quite narrow. I imagine someone with a heights affliction would not enjoy it much.  Due to the waterfall below, lots of condensation rises to meet the path, the first mile of the hike is legit through a cloud.

San Antonio Falls
After a couple miles or so, the terrain got quite a bit more vigorous as I approached the ski hut. The trail is quite tough to follow, but fortunately for me there were a few hikers out on the path so I was able to follow them a bit as to not get lost and die alone in the woods.

At about the two hour mark I arrived at the ski hut, a shelter built by back country mountaineers in the 1930's. There are picnic tables to enjoy a lunch, a hut with cots to take a rest, natural spring water and a very convenient outhouse...all at 8'300 feet. I decided to have my pitiful lunch and prepare for the final 2000' climb.




The next portion of the trail progresses over some very rocky terrain as you make your way toward a ridge that will lead you to the summit. By now I was realizing that I had probably bit off a bit more than I could chew, but I was inspired by retirees that I saw on the path. I stopped and chatted with a few of them. Many were concerned about my lack of trekking sticks or a coat, or a map, or a GPS. Several insinuated it might be best if I turned around but as I shared the purpose of my mission they cheered me on.



When bad things happen in life, it's easy to get sad...to wallow in misery and contemplate if the world is conspiring against you. I cannot control certain external forces in my life, how someone feels about me, how I am perceived, but I can control my body. At this juncture in my life it is one of the few things that I have absolute dominion over, so despite the pain I may feel, every step I take is a small victory in my mind.

Once across the ridge there is a deep forest section in which one would expect lots of switchbacks but this is not the case. Instead a brutal 40 degree incline awaits. I took many breaks, sometimes to admire the scenery, sometimes to make sure my heart was not on the verge of exploding.

Fortunately, this is the part of the hike that it begins to warm up a bit as I finally peaked through the clouds.

That was short lived though as once you reach the treeline there is once last mile up a rocky ridge, I've never moved slower in my life.

View before the final climb


I had planned to take the Devil's backbone trail down the mountain after my summit, but I met some locals on my last jaunt to the top and they strongly advised against it due to high winds and my lack of gear. Devil's backbone is an exposed ridge only about 4 feet wide with perilous drops on either side, this is where most people that hike baldy meet their demise. I was happy to take the strangers' advice.

Around 3:30 I reached the summit of Mt. San Antonio. Exhausted I collapsed onto a little rock hut and took a well deserved nap.

 At 10,000 feet it was quite cold and windy, but I did have time to snap a few photos.


I promise on this next one the blue steel was quite unintentional.

 

Shout out to this homie for keeping me company during my nap in my rock fort.



His name was Chip and we kicked it for a solid 20 minutes before I headed down.

I saw a few people heading down when I was on the way up and they warned me that going down might be tougher than ascending.

I figured this might be due to fatigue or the physical muscles in our legs used for descending are rarely used and thus much weaker, but what I found to be the most difficult part of the climb down was keeping the trail. I became lost many times and if it weren't for some hero with a spray paint can I would surely be stuck on Baldy Ridge at this moment.

Life savers

I made it back to base camp around 5:30 and though I had planned to camp and spend the night I realized that I had enough energy to drive home and after a 10 mile hike I might be best off spending the night in a bed.

 

One last stop on the way out of town though, the Mt. Baldy lodge. I cannot recommend this place enough, great atmosphere, delicious IPAs and a small town vibe. Mt Baldy as a village is actually very much like a tiny Big Bear. There are beautiful log cabin mansions and a fun local isolated mountain feel. I can't wait to go back on a summer weekend.



As a final note, I would urge those who are going through a tough time to focus on the positive. We're young and capable and there is a large world out there. Physical achievements will always make you feel better about yourself and in the grand scheme of things, I'm probably not going to remember years from now the time something shitty happened at work, but I will never forget this Baldy panoramic. Cheers and thanks for reading!


 

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