It is like spring on a midsummer day at the southern portion of the Mount San Antonio. The portion of the San Bernardino National Forest where the San Antonio Ski Hut is built does not go with the
Old Baldy nickname of Mount San Antonio. Mount Baldy or Mount San Antonio is the tallest of the several mountains of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. At 10,064 ft. elevation, San Antonio hairs had all been plucked out and could not grow it back. The other mountains in the San Gabriel Mountains are Iron Mountain, Dawson Peak, Pine Mountain, Mount Harwood and Wright Mountain, Mount Baden-Powel among others.
The San Antonio Ski Hut was first built in 1935. It burned down in 1936 and was rebuilt the following year. The 79-year old wooden structure was conceptualized by Dr. Walter Mosauer, a professor of zoology at UCLA who was also a skiing enthusiast. The ski hut was built by the Ski Mountaineers Section a year after the group was formed from the Sierra Club. Sierra Club was founded in 1892 in San Francisco, CA by John Muir.
I saw this Steller's jay casually scavenging for left overs near a picnic table while I sat at the steps of the ski hut. The sloping grounds of the ski hut make it look like the ski hut is built right where a caldera drains itself into the mouth of a river when the snow in the summit melts.
Just west of the ski hut is a gurgling stream. Fallen logs, boulders and an array of wild flowers would entice any straggling hiker to just stop and take photos of the flowers. Castilleja, commonly known as Indian paintbrush or prairie fire and named honoring the Spanish botanist Domingo Castillejo, blend in with flowers I have never seen before.
I have seen Columbines before but I never saw them in the wilderness. These flowers growing in creeks and rocky slopes are also known as Western Columbines or Aquilegia Formosa.
Bigelow Sneezeweed flowers are also named in honor of an American botanist. These mother nature suckers are also known as helenium begelovii also named in honor of Helen of Troy. Who the fuck is Helen of Troy?
This unsuspecting flower is called a Scarlet Monkey flower. Unlike the sticky monkey flowers that I have been trying to propagate, I could not in any way fathom the bejesus why these wildflowers are called monkeys.
I found this flower among the lush vegetation of Bigelow sneezeweeds and scarlet monkeys along the gurgling streams of the San Antonio Creek. I did not go to bed until I learned its in the name of bejesus name: stream orchid! Of course, you said so Djeline! This rare orchid thrives in the wilds of subalpine forests, along streams, obviously.
This creepy looking plant is also called a prickly poppy. Known by its scientific name Argemone Mexicana, the Aztecs called them the "nourishment of the dead". If you want to get high as kite without having to spend much, just look for them in the San Gabriel Mountains.
https://www.shamansgarden.com/c-70-prickly-poppy.aspxThe San Antonio Creek becomes a trickle as soon as it reaches San Antonio Falls. Forget about chasing waterfalls for now.
As a reflection and yes an excuse for not making it to the summit through the Baldy Bowl Trail, think of self-preservation if you are hiking your own hike. Since you are not holding anyone and the only people waiting for you are your loved ones at home, know when to turn around. As Ginger, the lady I met on the trail said, the mountains will always be around. They have been there long before God created the world in six days.
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