Bald Mountain Trip Report 03/23/2021

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Bald Mountain - 13,703 feet
Date Posted	03/23/2021
Date Climbed	01/31/2021
Author	Scary_Canary

A Birthday Bash on Baldy
This will be a report from the phone, so pics will be at the end. But they're pretty, and mostly worth my ramble here. Bald mtn A. North ridge route 9 miles, 3300 ft gain. Team: Myself, Uncle K, and T-dogg A way to wrap up my 20s and start off the big 30 with a bang. It wasn't initially planned as a birthday hike, it was just going to be a quick easy summit sunrise so my buddy Uncle K could get back into town for his other friends birthday party later in the afternoon. However, since my day was coming soon as well, we figured we'd make a little celebration out of it. We decided on a Sunday tequila sunrise summit at sunrise. Something like that. We packed some little cups, tequila, OJ and grenadine in our packs in preparation. We started off way too early... I think we started skinning up between 2 and 2:30. As with a lot of things in life the suffer is met with reward in the end. On this day, it definitely was. Between the sunrise and cloud inversion we were treated with, the drinks and skiing later on, it was absolutely spectacular. Back to the suffer, it was easily in the negatives when we started. It was bitter and frigid, everything was frosty. We got up to the radio towers on the ridge top in good time. We tried to take a small break, but it wasnt for long. We left our skis here to pick them back up and ski a few laps later after we got back from the summit. It was cold, and the wind was picking up some. We tried to pathetically huddle together for a bit warmth, but it was worthless, so we kept moving. Sometime around this point, when I put my pack back on, I kept on smelling that very pungent tequila smell. Uh oh, it came open in my pack! About half spilled out but we still had enough for some stiff drinks later. Just dont be stupid and spill the rest Carrie! The hike itself is pretty straight forward. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Gain the ridge, then follow it up to the top. A little scrambly here and there, you can spice it up a bit if you like. Not super fun in ski boots, but it is what it is. They're just clunky. The big hindrance today was just the cold. Probably pushing close to -30 I'd guess. I had handwamers in my 8000m mits and my hands were still getting cold if that says anything. But I get cold very easy also. As the sun slowly started rising, we could see an amazing cloud inversion forming around Breckenridge. It was a blanket below us and we could see the lights of the city glowing on top of the clouds. Seriously cool. Lazy bums down there still sleeping in waiting to take those magic flying couches up hills. We kept going up and up, and as we were getting on the summit, the sun was JUST starting to crest over the ridge. Absolutely beautiful. We timed it perfectly! The few minutes right before this moment matched the colors of a tequila sunrise to perfection. Unfortunately for us, it was far too cold to be able to enjoy our Sunday tequila sunrise summit drinks on the summit. We all stood around in awe of the clouds, watching them sink further below us for a few minutes. Soaking in the beauty was amazing, the pinks and oranges on top of the clouds, the sun pouring over Quandary and her friends. It was a special moment for sure, goodbye 20s. Hello Dirty 30! But we wanted our "hard" earned drinks! Hah so we started making our way back down. The clouds were constantly making us stop and take pics. The sight was beautiful. Baldy was casting a big shadow over the Breckenridge cloud inversion, and we saw a slight rainbow forming on top of the clouds. For a few moments, it didnt feel like we were on earth. Or atleast not in Colorado. Heading down it was slowly starting to warm up as the sun was gracing us with is presence, but the cold and snow had made some interesting formations on the rocks. It looked like the rocks grew teeth, just to be able to chatter them. Strange really. Got back down to the radio towers again to greet our skis. We finally were able to make our tequila sunrises, and boy they did NOT disappoint! The OJ was mostly frozen through at this point, but there was just enough liquid to make 3 slushy drinks. We had our little celebration for a bit. Some pole dancing on the radio towers, and enjoying the warmth of the sun that had finally reached the ridge below. We then cleaned up everything and got ready for some skiing! Baldy had gotten a couple inches of fresh snow over night so we were ready to make some turns! Overall a great day out with some amazing friends. Being able to do this kind of stuff is what makes life worth living. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

A Birthday Bash on Baldy

This will be a report from the phone, so pics will be at the end. But they're pretty, and mostly worth my ramble here.

Bald mtn A. North ridge route

9 miles, 3300 ft gain.

Team: Myself, Uncle K, and T-dogg

A way to wrap up my 20s and start off the big 30 with a bang. It wasn't initially planned as a birthday hike, it was just going to be a quick easy summit sunrise so my buddy Uncle K could get back into town for his other friends birthday party later in the afternoon.

However, since my day was coming soon as well, we figured we'd make a little celebration out of it. We decided on a Sunday tequila sunrise summit at sunrise. Something like that. We packed some little cups, tequila, OJ and grenadine in our packs in preparation.

We started off way too early... I think we started skinning up between 2 and 2:30. As with a lot of things in life the suffer is met with reward in the end. On this day, it definitely was. Between the sunrise and cloud inversion we were treated with, the drinks and skiing later on, it was absolutely spectacular.

Back to the suffer, it was easily in the negatives when we started. It was bitter and frigid, everything was frosty. We got up to the radio towers on the ridge top in good time. We tried to take a small break, but it wasnt for long. We left our skis here to pick them back up and ski a few laps later after we got back from the summit. It was cold, and the wind was picking up some. We tried to pathetically huddle together for a bit warmth, but it was worthless, so we kept moving.

Sometime around this point, when I put my pack back on, I kept on smelling that very pungent tequila smell. Uh oh, it came open in my pack! About half spilled out but we still had enough for some stiff drinks later. Just dont be stupid and spill the rest Carrie!

The hike itself is pretty straight forward. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Gain the ridge, then follow it up to the top. A little scrambly here and there, you can spice it up a bit if you like. Not super fun in ski boots, but it is what it is. They're just clunky.

The big hindrance today was just the cold. Probably pushing close to -30 I'd guess. I had handwamers in my 8000m mits and my hands were still getting cold if that says anything. But I get cold very easy also.

As the sun slowly started rising, we could see an amazing cloud inversion forming around Breckenridge. It was a blanket below us and we could see the lights of the city glowing on top of the clouds. Seriously cool. Lazy bums down there still sleeping in waiting to take those magic flying couches up hills.

We kept going up and up, and as we were getting on the summit, the sun was JUST starting to crest over the ridge. Absolutely beautiful. We timed it perfectly! The few minutes right before this moment matched the colors of a tequila sunrise to perfection.

Unfortunately for us, it was far too cold to be able to enjoy our Sunday tequila sunrise summit drinks on the summit. We all stood around in awe of the clouds, watching them sink further below us for a few minutes. Soaking in the beauty was amazing, the pinks and oranges on top of the clouds, the sun pouring over Quandary and her friends. It was a special moment for sure, goodbye 20s. Hello Dirty 30!

But we wanted our "hard" earned drinks! Hah so we started making our way back down. The clouds were constantly making us stop and take pics. The sight was beautiful. Baldy was casting a big shadow over the Breckenridge cloud inversion, and we saw a slight rainbow forming on top of the clouds. For a few moments, it didnt feel like we were on earth. Or atleast not in Colorado.

Heading down it was slowly starting to warm up as the sun was gracing us with is presence, but the cold and snow had made some interesting formations on the rocks. It looked like the rocks grew teeth, just to be able to chatter them. Strange really.

Got back down to the radio towers again to greet our skis. We finally were able to make our tequila sunrises, and boy they did NOT disappoint! The OJ was mostly frozen through at this point, but there was just enough liquid to make 3 slushy drinks.

We had our little celebration for a bit. Some pole dancing on the radio towers, and enjoying the warmth of the sun that had finally reached the ridge below. We then cleaned up everything and got ready for some skiing! Baldy had gotten a couple inches of fresh snow over night so we were ready to make some turns!

Overall a great day out with some amazing friends. Being able to do this kind of stuff is what makes life worth living.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

Will_E	Cloud shots 3/23/2021 6:11pm Are fantastic! I never get that!
Sbenfield	Love 3/23/2021 6:27pm The sunrise shots!
Scary_Canary	3/24/2021 12:46am @Will_E Thank you! I've seen some decent inversions before, but this one really put on a great show! @Sbenfield Sunrises are about 80% of the reason I'm convinced to wake up for these alpine starts haha. Those few minutes are so amazing watching the whole world wake up.
+Gravy	Your pics 3/27/2021 9:26pm Are so good!

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