On our way back down from Mt. Baldy, we will be taking a detour through the Baldy Town camp, for our final food resupply of the trek. We had been given some advice before our trip to bring one or two empty packs with us on the hike so that we could use them to carry our supplies from Baldy Town back to Miranda. As it turned out, this was very good advice!
The first rule for hiking Mt. Baldy is to start the hike VERY early in the morning. Early afternoon storms are very common, and the last place you would want to be during a thunderstorm is on the top of a mountain well above treeline!!!
We woke up very early, well before dawn and everyone got ready to go. We had decided that we would hike to the top as a "super-crew". This was something we all wanted to do together, so we decided to bend the rules a little. It was dark and rather cool and damp when we set out. Everyone had a headlamp on so that we could see where we were going and we were all wearing jackets, hats and some of us even had gloves on.
As daylight broke, it didn't take long to warm up, as the trail had a pretty steady pitch to it right from the start.
Along the way, we encountered some reminders of the area's history as a mining concern. It was hard to imagine people moving this kind of material up the slopes of this mountain!
We hiked for a while and then took a break for breakfast. Everyone was already feeling the combined effects of waking up early, hiking up a steep mountain, and elevation!!!
We eventually reached the tree line and things really opened up. At the same time, the pitch became steeper and the side of the mountain became a giant scree field. In some spots, it seemed that for every step forward, you slide a half step backwards!!!
Finally, the summit was within reach. Just a little further and all the effort would pay off!!!
The views from the summit were ... in a word ... incredible.
We all marveled at the world spread out before us. High fives, hugs and pats on the back were exchanged. It was a moment I will never forget. It was the culmination of approximately 18 months of planning & preparation, and in that moment, it was all worth it.
It was incredibly cold and windy at the summit ... much more so that I had expected. It was a good thing we all had our warm clothing with us. There were some little "shelters" that people had made by piling up the rocks. The boys took the opportunity to lie down, get out of the wind and have a bite to eat.
After a little while, we all gathered up and took a group photo. Once again ... a moment I'll never forget.
We hung around on the summit for a while, but then we noticed some storm clouds forming to the West. It was time to get moving and head down to lower ground.
We got back below the tree line just as the rain started. It was hard to believe how quickly the storm moved in. We continued down the mountain on our way to Baldy Town camp for our final resupply stop. The rain started to get heavier and the next thing we knew, we were being pelted by hail stones. It was a REALLY good thing we got off the summit when we did!!!
We arrived at Baldy Town and picked up our supplies for the remainder of our trek. We hung out on the porch for a while, trying to stay out of the rain as much as we could. One of the staff members here was the twin sister of a staff member at the Seally Canyon camp. We had been told to expect this, and of course, when we showed up, we all called her by her sister's name ... just as we had been told to do!
The rain finally let up a bit and we headed out to get back to Miranda for the night. When we arrived, it was still raining lightly so we all kind of huddled under the rain fly for a while. Everyone was spent!!! The rain finally stopped and we made dinner. We decided that we would make a campfire to celebrate today's accomplishment. The one down side to making a fire at Philmont is that you're required to pack your ashes out of the camp and disperse them along the trail. This is rather annoying, so this was to be our first fire of the trek.
We hung out for a while watching the fire and talking and then it was time to go to bed. Tomorrow would be our last full day & night in the back country. We would be hiking from Miranda to, of all places, Santa Claus Camp!!! Would there be any presents waiting for us there?
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