Baldy Alto (13,698) by Brian Schultz Monday July 30, 2007
Our early morning departure at 4:25 AM would cover much of the route on the Stewart Creek trail by headlamp. We knew the excellent trail would go well in the dark and even though we had outstanding weather yesterday on our peaks, we didn't want to chance any monsoon storms. As it turned out, the day was another beauty. We reached the open meadow at 12,100 feet at 6:15 and took a breakfast break while the sun rose in a totally cloudless sky. We started up the steep grassy slopes at 6:40 and followed the gentle ridge to the summit, arriving on top at 8:10.
It was such nice weather that we decided to skip our semi-planned climb of Organ Mtn and just relax on Baldy. We noticed a climber descending Stewart Peak, not realizing he was heading over to Baldy until he popped up on the ridge below, and enjoyed the company of Jim Patrick and his dog Jack for the remainder of what ended up being over two hours on Baldy, the longest time I think I've ever been on a summit. Jim filled us in on details of Coxcomb Peak, which we'd be climbing in less than a month.
We departed Baldy at 10:15 and descended the drainage instead of the grassy slopes. This was easier and would probably be an easier ascent route on Baldy (by leaving the Stewart Creek trail at 12,200 feet, near where the trail descends and crosses this drainage on its way to fourteener San Luis). The hike out went fast and we arrived at the trailhead at 12:45.
Trailhead to summit- 3 hours 45 minutes
Summit to trailhead- 2 hours 30 minutes
Start to finish- 8 hours 20 minutes