Mt. Baldy 5.11.04

Today's goal was for Mt Baldy via the Easton Ridge trail. The weather was cool and cloudy and very windy on the exposed ridges. I made great time up this sometimes very steep trail. The Domerie Ridge trail is snow free until the Junction at Pt. 4952. Since I had been to the Thomas Mt summit last year I followed the eastern fork that takes you towards Mt Baldy. The trail is still covered with quite a bit of snow but only strays from the ridgeline once to pass the south side of a rock outcropping. Mt Baldy is mearly a easy walk-up summit and am quite sure the view is stunning. However today visibility was quite low and the wind was quite strong, 30-35 mph sustained with higher gusts. I almost always stay quite warm with minimal clothing, but today I was forced to use many layers to stave off the biting wind. I backtracked my way by mearly following in my footsteps until I reached the junction with the Easton Ridge Trail. Since I had plenty of time I followed this also very steep trail to Pt 4291 which is a third of the way to the Easton Ridge terminus. Again any views were stunted by the low cloud cover. I quickly downclimbed and rejoined the trail and was off to the truck.