After successfully summiting San Gorgonio last January and San Jacinto last February, we have one more thing left to do.. bagging Mt Baldy this March right before the 2024 Winter ends completing our SoCal Triple Crown challenge. Since we did the first two Saints in overnight camping, we decided to do an overnight also in Mt Baldy which we haven't done before. It was past 1:00 PM when we started hiking towards the Ski Hut and the weather was already bad. Cold and wet. By Ski Hut we can see the white out condition above the Baldy Bowl. We also learned that one fellow fell 600 ft almost from the top of the bowl after losing his ice axe. He miraculously survived. But before we even cross the frozen creek, we chatted with another hiker telling us that he had companion that got separated. We told him that we will keep an eye for him.
We reached the top of the Rock Garden and we found a good spot to camp for the night. As we were setting-up, another hiker showed up and we thought that he was the one missing. Between 9:30 to 11:30 PM helicopter was hovering above our camp. Around 12:30 AM, some search and rescue crew knocked on David's tent door. They were asking if we saw a missing hiker. From there we learned that a third guy was still missing. He was Chinese. The following morning we were able to talk with some of the search and rescue members and we found out that the missing hiker was already spotted and they were conducting rescue already. The missing hiker suffered from ankle injury. He was airlifted as we were coming down from the summit.
This trip was from March 16-17, 2024.
Camera: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Music: Epidemic Sound
David's video of the trip:
• Mt Baldy Winter Backpa...
12 сен 2024
