I underestimate my trip times all the time, and this Sunday would be no exception..

Got on the trail around 8:15 am. Spent 10 minutes trying to located the climbers path... Then began the slog up the ridge. The climbers path is REALLY steep.. And I mean really steep. It's on very loose soil too, so be prepared to slide a little. An hour or so later I gained the ridge top, which was a really nice change. The ridge traverse was one of the more enjoyable portions of this climb. Lush forest with a gradual slope. Views opened up to Gunn Peak and Merchant. Such stunning peaks and so close! About 3/4 of the way on the ridge the trail descends a couple rocky outcroppings.. A little scrambling involved with no real exposure. Then a short while after this the trail descends next to a rock buttress. You lose about 150-200 feet of elevation then begins Steep Ridge slog Part Deux. It's just as steep and loose as the first, and I was definitely much slower getting up to the Gulley basin. Steep Ridge II is thankfully not as long as the first. Once up this ridge you come out into a clearing and smack in front of your face is the gulley seperating the two peaks of Baring. It is a very beautiful sight to behold.

The Rest of the story will appear shortly...

This mountain kicked my butt cheeks and quads into oblivion. I was so sore the following Tuesday that I ended up taking the day off, and spending most of the day in bed.

4+ hr up and took 3 and half hrs to get down.

When you come to the reader board, you will spy two trails. The one to the left (Descending trail) goes to barclay, the one to the right (Ascending) leads you to the climbers trail. Follow this abandoned road/trail for 300 yards or so until you come to a stream cutting the trail. Others say there was a cairn, but I didn't notice one. Anyway once you see the stream, look up to the right and you'll see the climbers trail. Have fun using hands, branch belays, for the first hundred feet. Keep an eye open for orange flagging, since the first part has the most potential for losing the trail. Once the trail skirts over to the creek, the trail remains pretty obvious all the way up this stubborn, rotten, and steep ridge. About halfway up the ridge, there is a tricky scramble around a rather big boulder that qualifies as a small cliff. When you approach this boulder, follow it to the right a short distance, then you should notice a easy scramble route circumventing this section to the left. There are plenty of branches to ease your way over the rock. Big packs will make it more difficult coming down. After this part it's just up until you finally reach the ridge top. There is a nice log here for you to sit on and a cairn marks the descent for those going down. The Ridge hike is absolutly gorgeous, and IMO one of the more satisfying aspects of the hike. It also allows a breather stroll for what is yet to come. After a half-mile to a mile, the trail will drop down to the right side of the ridge to bypass the cliffy portions of the ridge. The trail then drops about 200 feet below the ridge cliffs, and then levels off. Then the trail gets ugly again with another steep and grueling scramble up the ridgetop. Brush is very minimal compared to the initial portions of the climb, however the soil is looser (Count on sliding on your arse a few times on the descent). I would approximate a 700-800 foot elevation gain here. But once you get to the top, you will feast your eyes on both baring summits and the approach gully between th e two. In winters where there is an average snowpack the gully will be nothing but snow and/or ice which is an obvious avalanche hazard. But on decent it would be a phenomenal glissade because of the excellent run-out at the end. This year there are too many rocks and boulders exposed to cause significant injury if you slid down at a great speed. I didn't have crampons and I wish I would have brought them for the gully. The gully is really icy and I spent most of my time on the rocks. Some areas force you to have to climb the ice. As you approach the saddle travelling gets easier and the ice gets slushier. The views west really open up too and are pretty breathtaking. Once at the saddle the final portion to the north summit begins. And the crux of the climb is also here, which is a very steep snow wall. This year because of the lack of snow it's really a cake walk getting up it, just take care coming down it (I slipped coming down and had to arrest). After this the rest of the accent is a mixture of easy boulder hopping, snowfields, and steep dirt. I just followed other scramblers foot prints and made it to the summit with no difficulty.

It's easy to lose the main trail on the way down due to sets of footprints (including mine now), which were originated by some unfortunate soul who didn't know where he/she was going (Blind leading the blind). The process of getting back on trail was pretty exhausting, due to having to ascend the steep summit block to get back on trail. Stay left on the way down and you will find yourself back at the snow wall. Once back in the gully there is no difficulty staying on route for the remainder of the descent. Be very cautious coming down the gulley if you don't have crampons. If you slip you will slide, and there is high potential of your bones and/or head hitting exposed rock and boulders, which is why I also recommend bringing a helmet (It's better to be overprepared than under). Once down from the gully, the ridge descents are steep and you can expect to fall a few times. The more exhausted you are, the more you are going to fall. Some areas can you can slide down on your duff with no painfull aftereffects due to soft soil. Watch out for devils club on the final ridge descent!