See the 2003 page for more details and pictures. Here is a description of the hike from email sent to Mike Vermeulen the next day:
So Wednesday is back to my hiking day, and nearly
exactly a year after the
first time I did it I hiked up Mt. Baldy yesterday. I love the hike and
think it's the perfect way to start my season--this will be my tradition. I
did the same route as last year and even got lost in the same places, but I
found I'm getting better at reading terrain and getting back on the trail
again.
I set my alarm for 4am and went to bed at 10:30 or so but slept very poorly
(as I seem to do usually before such hikes) and wound up getting up at
3:30am. So I left a little earlier than usual. I was out of the gas
station at 4:25 am, arrived at the trailhead around 5:50 (not remembering
where I should park), and started the hike at exactly 6am. Again the
weather was terrific--nice and cool and even a little overcast. I didn't
feel strong at all but tried to pace myself better up the steep sections.
No pictures this time, so that plus being in clearly much better shape than
last year (thanks to my road bike!) resulted in me getting to the top at
9:04am, over 45 minutes faster than last year! Time down was a little
faster too: 2:36 versus 2:50, but that could be accounted for just by not
taking pictures. So I was done at 11:46, over an hour faster than last
year. Nice to feel a little progress. I drove back to Santa Monica, picked
up a couple bicycle tires at Supergo (my hybrid is missing one since I stole
one from Kyoko's bike to replace one that was worn out, but had to replace
it when Kyoko wanted to try cycling again now that Kyle has a bike) and was
home before 2pm. A very nice day.
Distance up: 5.1 miles
Distance down: 6.8 miles
Total distance: 11.9 miles
Time up: 3:04
Time on top: 0:07
Time down: 2:36
Total Time: 5:46