Mt. Baldy anyone?

If you are thinking of going on a hike in and around Los Angeles, DO NOT go to Mt. Baldy unless you are:
1. An Olympic athlete
2. Contemplating suicide by fatigue, or,
3. A Masochist (without other avenues of expression)

Mt San Antonio, also affectionately called Mt. Baldy by its many fans and lovers, is 10,000 feet high and is no sane place for a human being. The round trip is 12 miles (on foot, of course, you smart aleck) and elevation gain is 4300 ft. Difficulty of the hike is extremely strenuous and scenery is non existant. Four of us started out on a warm Sunday morning from Marina Del Ray. I was late as usual, but not too much harm done. Took the Mt. Baldy exit off the 210 and parked near the beginning of the trail. I will attempt to construct a visual picture, buzz me whenever I lose you.

The hike is in three parts, really. The first of great difficulty, second close to impossible and the third is a killer.

1. The road to El Dorado: is pretty much a walk on a car-travellable gravel road which is fairly steeply inclined. What frustrates you here is the fact this part can be done in the comfort of a car or a ski-lift, but your mojo, friends, id and ego all force your body to keep walking. At the end you reach a ski-hut. This is a hot spot if you want greasy french fries to motivate you for the rest of your journey. Advise: take a break at the ski-hut, its the only sign of civilization you will see in the next five hours.

2. The Velvet Carpet and Circus Loops: Sounds nice, but involves climbing over a 30 degree incline for 2 hours. Velvet colored patches of shrubbery are the only signs of vegetation and the trail is full of medium to large rocks. The velvet carpet involves facing the sun all the time (barely any shade). After you cross the velvet carpet, you are asked by some unquestionable authority to risk your life by going on miniscule trails with a steep fall on both sides. The trick is not too look to the sides, and use waving motion of your hands to balance.

3. Devils Backbone and Mordor: The final stretch is called Devil's backbone because it looks like the hunchback of notredame lying on his tummy. This, surprisingly is the easy part and very luring since you think you have finished the hike. But people going downhill spoil all that by saying "A couple more miles and yer there, my friend." They all look very happy.
The hike ends with the climb into Mordor, the exact same scene as Frodo climbing on the volcano, if you have seen the movie. I felt like Frodo too, except that I had no ring or purpose.

The top is bald, got some tibetan written on it to the order of world peace etc. View is OK. If you plan to go, buy lots of water and cereal bars and refer to start of narrative. In case you are wondering about me, I have always hated myself, so its 3.