I did the climb up hwy 39 to Crystal Lake on Sunday, and was disappointed to find no sources for water refills along the way/at the Crystal Lake park.

One of the riders with us refilled from a stream, but since Crystal Lake is considered too toxic to swim in, I think that was ill-advised.

Are there any water spots I missed? That descent to the bottom (which included more climbing than I remembered) was pretty painful dehydrated. I really hate climbing with a camelbak, and would like to avoid carrying more water weight than necessary.

Thanks.

Be careful up there, we've gotten pissed off city employees and park rangers threatening us with tickets, arrest, etc.

As for water, there isn't any up there, so you're on your own. If it's a hot day, I'll carry two on my bike and two in my jersey pockets. 4 should be plenty for the ride to Crystal Lake. On your way back, you can hook a left @ East Fork and get water from the hose bib out front. That is the only place I know of to get water.

Where exactly is the hose bib? Just over the bridge?

I carried 3 bottles, and that was all I could manage - since it was cold at 7AM at the base, and hot up top, I needed all my pockets for storage (and had my leg warmers rolled up and stuffed in the legs of my bibs.)

As for city employees and park rangers, we saw nobody on the ride up there.

The park rangers, et al. will stop you from time to time, but sometimes they are MIA. I would think with it still being fire season, however, that they would be more vigilant. They merely threaten though, and you just have to turn around.

its at the camp ground/cafe/store bout 4-5 miles past the bridge on East Fork.

Is it closed or what seems to be the issue?

Yeah, it's a road that is closed to traffic. There are signs up there that say "No Bicycles" but I really don't understand why?

It's not like we're doing any harm

Actually, there is somewhere on a government website (Vertical Bob will have to chime in here) a disclaimer that states that those roads are open to mountain bikers and the like. Bob carries it with him when he rides to show the rangers. I'm not sure it would be helpful now, though, if they are keeping us out due to fire hazards. That's a whole other issue.

I didn't see any "no bicycles" signs. In fact, there weren't any signs advising no entry. There were hikers, hunters, etc. parking at the gate and walking up from there. Including a group of 3 people doing some strange video...

Thanks for the tip on the water spot- I'll keep it in mind when I'm riding that way, or if I'm going to Crystal Lake via GMR. A 10-mile detour to refill bottles won't work if I'm taking 39 up. I guess I'll just have to lug more water up the hill.

Last time I was up there, I saw a white sign posted on the right side of the gate where the road is closed. They may have taken it down since then, it was probably two months ago since I did that climb.

The white sign on the right side of the road at the gate was still there a few weeks ago, and the 2 streams at the side of the road are spring fed, not lake run off. I don't know what the forest service considers to be toxic in Crystal Lake, but the forest service has been advising against drinking water from Sierra lakes without some sort of treatment for 40 years because of some micro organism.

https://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/cond...ons-road.shtml

you are too funny, Bob.