Distance

8.7 mi to summit

10.7 mi total

Elevation

5,017 ft start

8,981 ft max

Vertical

4,873 ft gain

Time

7 hr 36 min to summit

8 hr 28 min total

What a fun day! We drove down from Vegas after work on Thursday, getting to the Manker Flats campground a little after 8pm. We set up camp and tried to get some sleep, but the campground was so noisy, we only got a few hours before our 2am wakeup. We were on the trail a little after 3am to beat the crowds. Following Icehouse Canyon up, we reached the saddle around sunrise and took a short break. We continued on to Timber Mountain, Smetana Hill, Rees Point, Telegraph Peak, Thunder Mountain, Gold Ridge and finally Baldy Notch. We thought about hiking the trail back down, but the allure of the gondola was too great. We enjoyed a nice ride down the gondola, but we still had to hike a few more miles down the road to get back to our vehicle at Icehouse Canyon Trailhead. A wonderful young fellow saved us our last mile or so by asking if we wanted a ride.
(the road hike was not included in our GPS track). It was a tiring, but extremely rewarding day!

Route name

Gold Ridge 10.7 mi route

point-to-point/traverse
Obstacles

no info yet

Key gear

GPS device

Other peaks climbed on this trip