Bald Mountain 1/16/12

[Phimosis]

It rained in Bakersfield Sunday 1/15/12, so I thought I would take a chance to hit some snow at Bald Mountain on Monday 1/16/12. The results were dissapointing no new snow and limited old snow.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1603.jpg[/img]

I took a few of the open side tails, since most of the area was closed.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1604.jpg[/img]

A lot of the side trails were coated in brush and hadn't been previously cleared.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1610.jpg[/img]

I didn't have a chain saw, so I used my winch to break fallen tress and pull them out of the way.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1611.jpg[/img]

Some of the trails got really narrow and I would scout ahead on foot, only to find that it turned into a skid trail that was too narrow to pass.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1612.jpg[/img]

Some of the areas were washed out and would have been challenging without locked differentials. With locked differentials, it wasn't much of a challenge at all.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1616.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1617.jpg[/img]

The scenery up on the mountain was nice, but snow was limited, even at 7000+ feet.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1621.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1606.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1607.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1608.jpg[/img]

There are some rock formations that would be nearly impassable with snow.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1623.jpg[/img]

And, the trail was narrow in quite a few spots.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1625.jpg[/img]

i ended up making my own fun just because the trail was too easy.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1628.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1633.jpg[/img]

Saw some intersting tracks. Cougar?

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1597.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1596.jpg[/img]

Eventually I found some snow that was nearly a foot deep, but it was in a limited area.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1657.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1664.jpg[/img]

Over all, it was pretty dissapointing, but I saw some cool rock formations.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1674.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1676.jpg[/img]

And some interesting burls. A burl as big as a car? Crazy!

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/DSC_1672.jpg[/img]


Just waiting for more precipitation so I can go find the deep snow!

[RyanSBCA]

Cool pics!

[munepit]

Jeep is looking good! Good times!!

[REDxj5150]

bear tracks.

[Phimosis]

[quote="REDxj5150"]bear tracks.[/quote]

On the tracks, aren't bears supposed to
Be hibernating now? The other reason I was thinking cougar is that I don't see claw prints. Bears can't retract their claws, can they?

[REDxj5150]

It must be a cat track then. There would be claws if it were a bear.

[Uncle Cracker]

where is "bald mountain" and are there more challenging
trails when they're open?

[Phimosis]

Yes, there are 4 trails clustered right there and Bald Mountain is the easiest of them. The entrance is just outside of shaver lake. The most challenging is dusy-ersham. There's some excellent YouTube videos on them.