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Getting High with Ricochet Friends
Struggling to absorb enough oxygen from thin air, it’s a labor to walk 20 feet. The steep broken rocks that loom above look like teeth, and I imagine myself falling away from the narrow trail and tumbling down to hungry stone faces below. With a firm grip on trekking poles for balance, I pause and contemplate turning around to return to the forgiving embrace of a warm, soft bed when a voice above shouts encouragement. Taking a deep breath, I forge forward, knowing that pride may have to haul me up the last thousand feet or so.
We did it! From L to R: drlorentz,(anonymous member) , Dan, Nice Grizzly, me, Dave, Kelly, Danny
As a flatlander, I arrived a bit underprepared for the Ricochet Mountain Meetup lead by Contributor (and intrepid mountaineer) @davesussman to the top of the San Gabriel Mountains. Our hike up “Mt. Baldy” resulted in a gain of about 4,000 feet of altitude that rewarded our group of eight with stunning views from the highest spot in Los Angeles County, at 10,064 feet.
Steep climbing at higher elevations is strenuous. To get ready, you need to work out hard for at least a couple of months beforehand, with practice doing actual climbing for sustained periods of time. I’m in reasonably good condition but my travel and work schedule made it challenging to get the hours in, and my only reliable source of altitude gain was a small 150-foot ski hill in Michigan.
A week ago, the temptation to chicken out hit. I didn’t want to look foolish in front of real athletes; MLH previously had run to the top of Mt. Baldy, Dave is a mountaineer who regularly conquers very high elevations and Nice Grizzly is a natural climber — small, strong and energetic. Drlorenz, Nice Grizzly’s brother Dan, and Dave’s two friends Danny and Kelly all had lots of experience, and I figured I’d hold everyone up, or worse, get altitude sickness and end up barfing into my hair while everyone gawked in horror.
Just before the steep part! From L to R, Kelly, Me, Dan, Dave, Anonymous, Nice Grizzly, Danny
With Dave’s calm assurances that I’d be fine (we’d hiked up a couple of smaller mountains earlier this year), I overcame my fear and arrived on time at our “base camp” 4,000 feet below the peak. We began the skyward trek at 8 AM, and I immediately became the last person in our procession; I felt like I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. I wasn’t having an asthma attack, but the air seemed “thin.”
It should be pointed out that there are two ways to get to the peak of Mt. Baldy; the long, gradual hike, or the less boring, shorter, very steep and brutal one. Naturally, our group took the billy goat trail straight up the mountainside, and while my legs screamed for mercy, I was grateful for the amazing views.
Nice Grizzly made sure I knew that even she thought this was a very tough hike, which made me feel a lot better as Dave cheerfully mocked encouraged us to move ever upward (see video below).
Nice Grizzly.
From L to R; me, drlorentz, Nice Grizzly’s brother, Dan.
Every 10 minutes or so, Dave stopped everyone so the stragglers (me) could catch up. Drlorentz discreetly monitored our altitude and I was delighted every time he reported our gains. At 8,000 feet, I knew I’d see everyone at the top, and stopped thinking about my warm bed.
Just a simple case of payback (see video below).
Well-earned snacks with the Ricochet Gals.
At 12:30 PM, we all reached the peak and took a well-deserved lunch break.
As I marveled at the view, relief and joy washed over me (I made it! I didn’t throw up!) and we huddled together behind a windbreak to share our food and hearty congratulations. After we had replenished ourselves, we tackled the descent, which includes the famed Devil’s Backbone, a narrow walkway with 3,000-ft. drop-offs on each side. Scary, but fun.
Like all Ricochet meetups, this was like a marvelous family reunion, but with the added twist of accomplishing a difficult and dangerous feat together.
To Ricochetti and guests, Dave Sussman, Nice Grizzly, Dan, drlorentz, Danny, and Kelly; thank you for a wonderful, perfect day. (More photos soon!)
See all the latest Ricochet meetups at RicochetMeetup.com
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Published in Meetups
Some of our party hiking the Devil’s Backbone:
The Grim Reaper (far right) leading his unfortunate charges in a scene from Bergman’s The Seventh Seal:
Thank you for the report, Melissa!
@thereticulator: I would not hike this alone because of the exposure down the Backbone. It was very busy, though, and if you are in shape, don’t have a fear of falling and not in a hurry, it would be okay to hike it “alone.” Dave has.
Wow! I needed to take in extra air just watching you all cross the devil’s backbone! Who was manning the camera? Extraordinary views, beautiful day and group! The closer you get to heaven, the farther away the Hollywood sludge – makes sense – congratulations!
Nice photo. So were you ahead of the group or behind it? Did anyone take photos while walking the ridge, or is it too easy to lose your balance that way?
BTW, I think I still have a scythe in the barn. I’ve tried using it for cutting tall grass and weeds, and it’s not easy. I’ve since seen them in use in Russian movies, and from that it seems my technique was about right, and my technique for sharpening was about right, but it’s still hard. It’s easier to use my old gas-powered sickle-bar mower, even though that’s a grim task in itself. But the scythe would probably be easier to carry up a mountain. I’d have respect for whoever managed to do it.
Oops. Missed the video. I’ll check that out now.
I have felt your pain. This was 18 months ago with my youngest son atop of Mt Phillips, a few feet shy of 12,000′, on day five of an eleven day trek, with a 50 lb pack.
This was my third (and probably final time) to the summit. Even after 3 days of intestinal trots, curtesy of the base camp staging cafeteria, and the loss of 12 pounds from the trip. It was worth the hurrah of doing with my son one last time.
Here is a few more shots from this and other trips to the summit.
Fantastic group of intrepid Americans. Loved every painful moment. Great job Melissa putting this together!
What a tremendous day. On to new adventures!
Wow great shot Dr!
One question I have is how you get in shape for the altitude if you’re a flatlander. I don’t have much experience with that. It was maybe 25 years ago that I was at Snow Bird UT for a meeting, and rented a bicycle to go a little higher. That was only 8000 feet (or maybe 8000 feet where I started?) and I could feel my face going a bit numb with the altitude. That was before I got into long-distance bicycling and developed a little endurance in my legs, but I was also quite a bit younger then. So I must admit that the fact that Mt Baldy takes you to 10000 feet does give me pause.
A friend of mine recently because the oldest person to climb one of the peaks in Antarctica. But he’s almost ten years younger than I am. I would ask him, but what he does is way out of my league.
Lots of steep. Squats. Lunges. Stairs. Dropped hell calf raises. I think short route up is 17% grade (average). And learn the moutaineer’s rest step. Or workout during commercial flights. I’m sure the air crew will let you!
Strong work by all involved. 4,000′ elevation gain in one day starting at 6,000′ is a proud accomplishment.
I’m definitely jealous. Always wanted to hike Baldy, but never got around to it. Would have gladly joined in, except that I moved out of California a few months ago. If anyone wants to do it again in the Alps, I’m all in!
@mlh: were you a competitive trail runner (or something similar) in the past?
I wouldn’t say “competitive” but I did trail running. The run referred to is the Run to the Top. I have to say, I don’t remember coming back down to Baldy Notch afterwards (to catch the lift down — a couple folks did that this time — to the cars).
Amen brother! Im not only a flat lander but a sea level flat lander. A while back I drove cross country. We arrived in Colorado late at night and stopped overnight somewhere near Aspen. I didn’t really have an appreciation of just where we were. In the morning I went to the hotel pool to swim a bit. I felt like I was drowning. I thought “Wow, is this what two solid days of just sitting in the car does to you?”
When we got back on the road there was a sign announcing welcome to wherever-the-heck-we-were, elevation 7500 feet. “Oohhhh. That’s why I felt like I was drowning!”
If there was a road to the top, I couldn’t even drive to the top. Looks like great fun though. Thanks.
Beautiful photos – thanks for sharing them.
Great organizing and leadership, Dave! I forgot to mention that you carried the mental burden of worrying about our safety and health. This is not a hike for anyone who is has a problem walking 12 miles or so.
Great video and recap! Thanks, Melissa and Dave, for such a fun day.
I was at the right in the picture: Grim Reaper position.
I thought of bringing my scythe but it might have freaked out my companions. Plus, it’s a bit unwieldy on the trail. Maybe @ejhill would be kind enough to photoshop one in for me. I hear tell he’s good with the Photoshop.
Thanks to Melissa and Dave for documenting our little adventure. You guys did all the work so the rest of us could just have fun and try to look natural.
My only complaint is that I didn’t get a chance to put my hat at a rakish angle before the summit picture was taken. As it is, the angle is merely jaunty.
Basically, Ricochet people are the best. Here are additional photos from the climb:
Dave and his friends, Kelly and Danny
I don’t suppose your friend is black and white with lots of feathers?
I thought we agreed that this would stay on the member feed!?
If only I could be in two places at once! Also, for altitude, Diamox is your friend. I have a large bottle. Such a nice maintained, graded trail. My last altitude hikes were in the Arfak and Snow Mountains in West Papua, Indonesia. Just don’t be in a hurry, and drink lots of water.
I’m sorry, I don’t remember discussing it. I can edit and take you out of it if you like.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just put it back on the member feed? I sent you a PM and noted in the group that people should have people’s permission before allowing things to go to the main feed.
Now back to the regularly scheduled post. . .
Amazing views! And tough crowd!