What’s the devil got to do with it?

Mountaineering is a very respectable activity. You’re outdoors breathing clean air. Getting a healthful amount of the sun’s rays. The aerobics involved in climbing mountains can be  beneficial. The entire enterprise merits some positive attention at the proverbial “water fountain” at work come Monday morning.

But there also must be an awareness that climbing can be dangerous. It requires carefully placing each foot. It demands full attention. Don’t do it just for fame, glory, and fabulous selfies. It’s serious business requiring the whole person: Mind, body, spirit.

At the end of 2025 three hikers died while attempting to conquer Mt. Baldy in Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains.

According to news reports, they were on a particularly treacherous section: The Devil’s Backbone. Picture the spinal structure of a human body, knobby and running across a perilous ridge en route to the mountain’s peak. Not everyone who attempts the climb makes it to the top. Add to that extreme high winds, and you have a disaster that not even rescue helicopters can engage. The fierce wind was a definite setback for any hope of rescuing the three late last year.

Over the years, it has claimed many lives.

All of this makes my story even more incredible, especially to me.

In the mid-1960s, while still in college, I successfully reached the top of Mt. Baldy, traversing the Devil’s Backbone.

The recent tragedies there sparked the memory. Even so, I questioned the reality of that. I must be mistaken. Why would I have attempted such a thing?

But, yes, I went at the urging of a college friend of both my brother and me. For awhile, there was hint of a romantic spark between us, but Mt. Baldy more or less quenched the flame. And it wasn’t all his fault.

I’m pretty sure I told him I did not do a lot of climbing. So I complained the entire climb. Are we there yet? People really do this for fun? How much farther?

This was before Google, where I could have looked it up. Or Dateline, which might have offered another possible motive for this trek.

As we neared the peak, I noticed hikers coming back our way. I was quick to comment, “So people actually do return.”

That day was the end of mountain climbing for me, and pretty much the end of anything further for that friendship.

All of which leads me to this conclusion: If you’re out of shape and someone eggs you on to try something you know is beyond your desire and your ability, DON’T GO.