Reader Photo: A Devil of a hike up Mt. Baldy

Minutes into Eduardo Pantoja’s hike to the top of Mt. Baldy, a layer of clouds started to roll over the valley. It looked “like an ocean,” he said.

Then came the freezing cold wind, and the race to the top began.

Pantoja and friends braved the harsh weather to conquer Devil’s Backbone Trail, a difficult 6.6-mile hike up the mountain, and take photos of the adventure.

At the beginning of Devil’s Backbone, Pantoja captured this image of hikers, bundled up against the cold winds and drizzle, enveloped in fog.

The journey “felt like a movie,” he said. “I saw so many people heading up. We saw dogs, little ones, kids and parents going for the [type of] adventure you almost only hear about. It felt good to have conquered it.”

Pantoja used a Samsung NX2000 with a 25/55mm lens.

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