Baldy-Iron traverse

This is a classic trip in the San Gabriels.

Description of the hike

We ascend Baldy by the ski hut trail, travel San Antonio Ridge west to Iron Mountain, exit at Heaton Flat, and car shuttle back to Manker. Here are two descriptions of the hike:

http://www.summitpost.org/route/263376/iron-to-baldy-traverse.html

http://www.dankat.com/advents/sanant.htm

There is class 3 scrambling and exposure. You should not come on this hike unless you're comfortable with cross-country travel and this level of scrambling. I have traveled the San Antonio Ridge in both directions (without actually connecting Baldy and Iron), but I am not a professional guide, and you need to judge your own level of experience, fitness, and willingness to take risks. If you read the descriptions above, you'll see that people have often been known to take one look at Gunsight Notch and turn around. This was also my own experience, when 3 out of 5 people turned around. If you turn around, your only really good option is to hike back out to Manker the way you came, and this will be a long hike on which you'll be responsible for your own navigation.

Although I haven't actually strung together the parts of this hike before, experience traveling the different parts of the route leads me to expect that it will take about 13-14 hours. This is the reason for the very early start; coming down the steep ridge from Iron in the dark would be Not Fun. But you may very well finish the last few miles to Heaton in the dark, so bring a headlamp.

There is no water on the route after the ski hut. There is buckthorn, so wear long pants. Don't bring a pack that's too heavy or bulky, because it would make the scrambling portion very difficult.

Conditions

I'm posting this hike a long time in advance because a couple of people I know expressed interest in doing it on this date. Of course it will be difficult to predict conditions so far in advance. Since this has been such a light snow year, I don't expect problems with snow or ice on San Antonio Ridge. I know someone who traveled the ridge in February this year and reported no snow. If we get a big storm between now and the end of April, we may need to bring microspikes for Baldy, or even cancel the trip completely if it looks like there would be snow or ice on the ridge.