Mount San Antonio

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Mount San Antonio
Postcard image of Mount Baldy circa 1910
Elevation	10,064 feet (3,068 m)
Location	California, USA
Range	San Gabriel Mountains
Prominence	6,224 ft (1,897 m)^[1]
Coordinates	34°17′20″N 117°38′45″W / 34.28889, -117.64583Coordinates: 34°17′20″N 117°38′45″W / 34.28889, -117.64583
Topo map	USGS Mount San Antonio

Mount San Antonio, better known to most in Los Angeles as Old Baldy or Mount Baldy, is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, USA and the highest point in Los Angeles County. Mount San Antonio has two summits. The eastern summit is higher at an elevation of 10,064 feet while the west is at 9,988 feet. In winter, Mount Baldy's snow-capped peaks are usually visible on clear days and dominate the view of the Los Angeles skyline.

The peak, which marks a boundary between San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County [1] is called Baldy because of the absence of trees around the summit. The Tongva tribe call the mountain Yoát or Joat, which means snow, and the Mohave call it Avii Kwatiinyam^[2].

The peak may host more hikers than any other mountaintop in the western United States (of those inaccessible by car), or so guesses San Gabriel Mountains historian John W. Robinson.^{[citation needed]} Hiking trails access the summit from three sides of the mountain, and one route is assisted on summer weekends by the availability of a running ski-area chair lift.

It is considered to be a cosmic spiritual "recharging" site by the Aetherius Society.[2] The Mount Baldy Zen teaching centre was founded on Mount San Antonio in 1972 [3].

Mount Baldy, along with the nearby peak known as Thunder Mountain, is currently home to the family owned and operated ski resort Mount Baldy Ski Lifts, the closest resort to Los Angeles. Nearby lies Mt. Baldy Village, a small seasonal community. The village has its own fire department, church, visitor's center, and one-school school district; Mt. Baldy School (the abbreviation is the standard usage) has about 88 students.^[3]

Mt. San Antonio's southeast face, including Baldy Bowl, February 2008.

Between 1922 and 1927, American physicist Albert Michelson performed a number of experiments involving bouncing a beam of light onto a reflector at Lookout Mountain, a prominent bump on the south ridge of the mountain 3km SW of the peak, from the observatory at Mount Wilson some 22 miles distant. The exact distance was very accurately surveyed and using the measurements the speed of light was calculated to be 299,796±4 km/s.

Nearby is San Antonio Creek, the location of San Antonio Falls. The creek cascades through a gorge about three times, the final of which is about a 75 foot drop.

Mt. San Antonio, Ontario Peak, and Cucamonga Peak as seen from Montclair, California at Arrow Highway, about 500 feet east of Mills Avenue (the county line between Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties)

The peak from the southeast, showing "Baldy Bowl" just below the summit. West Baldy is on the left and Mount Harwood is on the right. The lowest point visible in this photograph is about 5,000'.