Getting ready to head up the Mt. Baldy Trail (aka Bear Canyon) with some nice Fall colors.
Dad's photo of me at the same spot.
There's still a fair amount of water flowing in the creek, which is always beautiful this time of the morning.
Heading-up towards Bear Flat, we're surprised how much snow there is on the surrounding peaks.
There's pretty good snow coverage at Bear Flat, which is at less than 6,000'. We saw the first small patches of snow all the way down at 4,500'!
This is what we were hoping for today, nice views of surrounding snow covered peaks.
Dad heading-up the switchbacks surrounded by an interesting mix of chapparal and snow.
A look up Icehouse Canyon with Timber Mtn and the saddle in the distance.
Dad taking in the view.
Extra layers of clothes get added as we near the ridge and the temperature drops.
Getting into a little thicker snow with Icehouse Canyon stretching out behind us.
The snow is solid as we near 7,000' feet with the valley floor now far below us. We definitely didn't anticipate hitting this much snow.
Probably a good 6 inches of snow up here, but some foreboding clouds are starting to move in.
Fantastic scenery as we keep trekking up the ridge. Fortunately someone has already broke trail for us.
We decide to make this our turnaround spot for the day at about 7,700'. But what a great spot to hang out for a while!
Dad's photo of me at the same spot.
Getting ready for lunch.
How many people in SoCal are eating lunch at a spot like this right now!?
Getting ready to head back down. The ominous clouds are almost gone now, and they look pretty cool.
Late afternoon light on the valley below.