Mt. Baldy: The Three Ts

It was 47 degrees and clear yesterday morning when Matt, Dave and I set out from the Ice House Trailhead, headed for the Three Ts: Timber, Telegraph and Thunder Mountain.  It is a 3.6 mile steady climb up to the saddle.  The shady trail follows a stream bed much of the way.

After a long hot few weeks, we were prepared for the heat, but it never came.  It was cool all day.  And, the wind picked up when we reached the saddle, and followed us as we turned North towards the peaks.  It was nearly perfect running weather, if anything a bit too cool at times.


Ice House Trailhead is at just below 5,000 feet elevation.  After reaching the saddle, at 7,560 feet,  we turned North along the ridge line, following the single track towards Timber Mountain, the lowest of the Three Ts at 8,303 feet.

Next up was Telegraph, the highest of the Three Ts, at 8,985 feet. By the time we got there, the wind was blowing in puffy white clouds.

Looking East for Telegraph Peak

On Top of Telegraph, the Tallest of the Three Ts

The Northern-most of the three Ts is Thunder, at 8,591 feet, with its dilapidated sky lift.  After that, the trail becomes a fire road and drops down to the Notch restaurant, where we sat at the bar and paid $2.50 each for cans of Coke -- and it was worth it.  

We finished up by running down the fire road back to Manker Flats, then down the road back to the car, just over 16 miles and 5,000 feet of climbing altogether.