Baldy Mountain and Stormy Mountain share a ridge above Entiat River Road. The vast crest continues up through Devils Backbone and Fourmile Ridge. Meanwhile, Tyee Ridge’s long ridgeline stretches across the river valley.
See more trip photos here.
For Baldy Mountain in the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness, check out this post.
Baldy Mountain at a Glance
Access: NF-5390-310 end of the road
Round Trip: 6 miles
Elevation Range: 4000′-6421′
Gear: none
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Entiat River Road to the Trailhead
We didn’t continue to Baldy Mountain from Stormy Mountain last week due to poor weather, so we returned today. I drove near the end of North Potato Creek Road (NF-5390-310) and parked.
It was sunny and warm when we started walking. The route was visible from below as it mainly hugged the ridge. The traverse was smooth sailing until the massive down trees took over.
See more trip photos here.
Baldy Mountain Southwest Ridge
At 4600′ was a brief section of short bushes plus windfalls. They dwindled before the taller shrubs at 5000′. The steeper west was nearly impossible to bypass the windfalls. We avoid most down logs and dense trees east of the ridgeline.
Our battle with the debris continued to 6000′ before snow took over. Then we went around the big rocks to the summit block before reaching the top from the north. Soon, we relied on the snow for the final 50′.
See more trip photos here.
Bald Mountain Summit Plus Outro
The weather turned worse before we reached the top. It was windy at first, but then the sun offset the wind chill as it grew warmer. There wasn’t a break in the clouds until half an hour later.
There were no west views because of the weather, so I didn’t see the big mountains there. After a short visit, we reversed our route down to the car.
See more trip photos here.