Riding the Crest
 

Angeles Crest Highway extends from La Canada (near downtown Los Angeles) to the Mojave Desert, crossing the San Gabriel Mountains. It's a playground for motorists, motorcyclists and bicyclists alike, and the springing off point for a lot of other outdoor adventures.

A bud of mine wanted to ride across the entire length ... all the way to Highway 138. That's about 130 miles. It sounded like a good training ride, so I was in. With all the climbing we had to do (it ended up at 14,300 feet), we thought an early start was a good idea, so we clipped in at 6:30 and took off.

Nothing on Angeles Crest is steep ... it's pretty much 3-7% the whole way. And it's not one of those simple up and down routes. There are several ascents and descents to get to the high point at Dawson Saddle (7900 feet) from both directions. The weather? Frankly, it was perfect. And as it turns out, almost NO traffic all day. I have no idea why.

Here is the route:

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2822957

We got to the top of the first big climb at RedBox pretty quickly.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps227fc553.jpg.

From there, there is a lot of up-and-downing, but mostly up ... until we arrived at Newcombs. God, I love this place. It's one of the few places along the Crest for food and rest. It came this || close to burning down in the Station Fire a few years ago. Pete doing the dog thing at the faucet:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps023e27f6.jpg

From there, there is a longish climb up to Cloudburst Summit. Great name.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps8b27df0c.jpg

From there, there is another short downhill, then a longish climb up to Dawson's Saddle. We stopped for a photo op:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps5c1bce9c.jpg

Great view of the desert on the descent:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps977a8bb9.jpg

From there, a longish descent and another climb to Grassy Hollow at about 7100 feet, where we met some friends:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psd745697c.jpg

And from there a loooong descent down through Big Pines, Wrightwood to the desert floor at about 4500 feet. Ugh ... now time to turn around and head back up over Dawsons ... that was gonna hurt. And it was HOT.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps778e469e.jpg

We stopped for lunch at the Grizzly Cafe in Wrightwood ... that was fab.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psc773ee79.jpg

Check out the burger. Yum:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps3bc33dcc.jpg

Long climb back up to Big Pines and eventually Dawson's Saddle.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps1a5a6177.jpg

And from there, a lot of up and downs (but this time, mostly downs) to the bottom. The roads were EMPTY, so we really enjoyed the descents.

In the end, we did about 130 miles and 14,300 feet of climbing ... more than enough for this old man, but what a great day!

Looks just like Central Indiana except completely different.
Great pics and words. Thanks for sharing.

That is an incredible ride! Congratulations.

Nice pictures.

Outstanding ride and report. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Great ride and pictures. Only my dreams can do something like but, someday I will actually do it.

Thanks for sharing.

Fantastic report and pics, as usual, Vic. Nicely ridden and presented.

Bill

Nice report and pics.