Placer County Highpoint Trip Report
Date: September 22, 2008
Author: "Dingus Milktoast"
So a bump on a shoulder of Mount Baldy on the north shore of Lake Tahoe is
deemed the high point of Placer county? What fun! We have to go climb it ASAP,
of course! The trailhead could have been hard to find. Instead, using a 3
sentence approach description it was easy.
The trailhead itself isn't a trailhead, as the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) uses
old logging roads
and what have you, where appropriate.
The back side of the
sign reads,
"<- TRT
FOLLOW DIRT ROAD
STRAIGHT AT FORK. AFTER 1/4
MILE, TRT RESUMES ON
LEFT."
The trail
is a real hiking pleasure. It sees plenty of foot traffic as well as
mountain bikes so it is worn pretty smooth.
It weaves through
red fir and mountain hemlock groves,
offering tempting views of the lake.
I deemed this spot
to be the likely HP location.
Lacking high technical tools and Von Schmidt chain-surveying equipment,
I had to guess (with compass and map in hand). Another hiker with a GPS (who also
visited the new HP on the first day of fall, about an hour after me) thinks the same.
It’s just off the trail and is the only rocky outcrop of its kind like it
on the entire hike, just to the right of the
dead trees and overlooking the canyon.
Heading on up the trail to the summit of Mount Baldy I examined other potential
hp spots but kept coming back to that first one – pretty sure the forest service
stake marks the state line too.
This sign marks the end of the mountain
bike trail. I was pleased to note there were NO bike tracks beyond that sign.
This also marks the cut off to the final use trail to the summit of Baldy.
The final push to the summit is very demanding. With all the dead mule ears,
the crunching noise of dry leaves
underfoot was very unnerving.
The views from the summit
are stunning and make the hike well worth it for that sake alone.
It was a windless afternoon, first day of Fall. I could actually hear traffic
down in King's Beach some 3000 feet below.
Standing on the summit of Baldy,
looking south.
There is no register on Baldy. The other hiker said he left a small one at the
HP but I doubt any such monument will last. The HP is very frequently visited.
It’s clear many folks take breaks there.