What are you doing on West Fork?

Yesterday morning I headed out to the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. 11am is still technically morning, right? Anyway, I've been wanting to ride up to Angeles Crest Highway from there, so I gave it a shot.

The first six miles of 2n25 are fully paved and seem flat. Lots of folks were out there for a casual ride or to fish.

The graffiti is mostly close to Hwy 39.
Further off the road = nicer.

Some folks were just out for a ride...

There were plenty of people who combined the two activities. And others who thought walking next to the river was good enough sans bike or rod and reel.

If you zoom in, you'll see a pole extending rearward from the saddle.

This kid is taking Mom for a walk.

Even vintage bikes enjoy a little catch and release.

After almost six miles of false flat, there is a campground. Just after the campground the road tilted up and I stopped taking pictures.

These bikes are camping. Did they forget to bring people?

On my way back, I snapped a few. So I'll put them here--all out of order.

After climbing pavement to the top of Cogswell Dam, 2n25 turned to dirt. And climbed some more...

This is really 2n23, but it gives you an idea.
(NOT! That is WAY smoother than most of the dirt portion of my ride.)

Remember how I said it was a climb up to the dam? If you zoom in on the next picture, you can see that way down below is the water in the reservoir. Maybe that explains how I got all out of breath and stuff...

A totally new view for me.

So, after I rode to the very end of 2n25, I took 2n24 just a little ways. When I hit 2n23, I turned north. North is towards Angeles Crest, so that was good. The bad part was, I also turned down...

End of the line.

The reason 2n23 goes down is that Angeles Crest is on the other side of the San Gabriel River. The same river that Cogswell Dam dams. In other words, I lost almost all the elevation I had gained. And then came upon a briskly flowing river that looked a foot and a half deep at least. It did not seem wise to attempt a crossing.

I know these photos don't make it look treacherous...
...but I swear I thought I would be swept away!

This here is the real West Fork.
No pavement, no people...
...and I was positively cross-eyed!

Part of me is bummed that I didn't reach my destination. However, this way I get to go back!
: )

Well, I was looking for some content that truly belongs here. Something that may well make you shake your head in disbelief and exclaim, "White boy be crazy!" It just so happens that my Sunday outing qualifies.

Sunday, the high in Pomona was 95. I don't like 95. So I planned to ride my bike up above the heat. Stay up there for a while. And then come down when the coast was clear.

Yours Truly

My riding buddy, who shall remain Nameless, asked me, "What are we going to do up there till it cools off?" There were some attempts at witty banter, but the upshot was that we'd ride our bikes around up there.

Let's be clear. "Up there" means at the midpoint of a 100 mile ride. A 100 mile ride designed to get us as high (and therefore, as cool) as possible. So what we are really talking about is riding 50 miles and gaining 6,000 feet of elevation to get to the ride.

And here is where Nameless really upped the ante... "Let's explore the trails"

Nameless mountain bike rider

If you're not a cyclist, you may have missed the significance of that statement. It means mountain bikes, not road. Those fat knobby tires on mountain bikes have great traction which they get at the expense of efficiency. Think of it this way: they grip the road. Like "grip and don't let go, not even to let you move forward." Try that for 50 miles!

Well we did try that, starting just after 7am. The main strategy seemed to work. The temperature never got very hot. We, however, did. Fortunately, there was a nice cooling headwind. I'm pretty bad at judging wind speed, but I can tell you the forecast was for "gusts up to 25mph."

That swiss cheese is petrified

After about 35 miles, the scenery was looking pretty good. Freeways and traintracks had given way to strange rock formations. The sky above was much bluer. Life was just about as good as it can get. And then we hit Lone Pine Canyon Road.

Makes me thirsty just looking at it

Lone Pine Canyon Road stretched out in front of us like, I don't know, something bad. Six and a half miles of bad. I don't know how much cycling you've done, but it's pretty rare for a car to honk at a cyclist in order to flash a thumbs-up or other encouraging gesture. But that's what happened...

It just keeps going

The rest of the way to Wrightwood was a breeze. There is a nice little park in town where I dined on peanuts and dried fruit. My buddy gave me a cupcake for desert. Then he proceded to look strange.

This guy is always doing this

I was relieved to find that Nameless had not crushed the local flora with his odd ritual.

This little mushroom survived!

After all the epicurian delights that can fit in a handlebar bag, we proceded to climb out of Wrightwood. First comes the 6,000ft sign, then the Entering Los Angeles County sign, then a Visitor Center complete with drinking fountain and bathroom (both of which came in handy). And then some climbing.

Nameless thinks it's funny that I'm pointing in two different directions!

He wants you to see that he is taller than Mt Baden-Powell!

Inspiration Point is apropriately named. All the best views are between this lookout (circa 7300') and Dawson Saddle (circa 7900'). The only problem is that first we have to lose 800'. I don't have any pictures from that stretch because all the best riding is there too. Okay, maybe I was getting a bit tired by then, too.

I got cold descending from here.

Here I am at the top. Unfortunately, it's around 4pm. No time for dirt. Gots to bail.

Here is a picture of a sign or two

If you are familiar with the local roads, you'll know that those fat tires we had been lugging around really came in handy getting us down to this sign. I suppose we could have made it on road bikes by slowing down. But nobody wants that.

Furry

Odd way to end the post, I know, but I had to snap a picture of the first tarantula I've seen this year. Must be the start of the season. This guy was on Glendora Mountain Road. I don't know if he was climbing up from East Fork, but I sure was. Nameless knew a shortcut to Upland through Baldy Village. Gotta love that in a riding buddy.

All in all, it was a great ride. The worst that happened was I lost the little rubber thing from one of my earbuds. And I had set my pack down on some ants, but fortunately I noticed and got them all off. Or at least, none of them bit me. We also got to experience a little bit of night riding at the end.