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Mt. Baden Powell
Jun. 23rd, 2007 10:03 pmHiked up Mt. Baden-Powell in the San Gabriels today, with a small contingent from the Alpine Club. We covered eight miles (each way) on the Pacific Crest Trail... that's 0.3% of it! The Baden Powell junction is the highest point of the PCT in the San Gabriels.
In fact, the hike was mainly "inspired" by the Alpine club--since I missed their departure from Caltech! I was entering the Caltech parking lot just as they were leaving. Nonetheless, I proceeded to the trailhead (up on Highway 2) on my own. Once at the trail head, however, I was faced with the two directions of the PCT. A boy scout troup arrived and, taking a gander at their maps, I figured which way to go. I met the (surprised) Alpine Club folks at the summit.
Much of the trail really is at the spine of the San Gabriels. Look to the right and there's Los Angeles; look to the left and there's the Mojave desert. Awesome.
After the hike, I stopped at Newcomb Ranch Bar & Restaurant on Highway 2 (between Islip Saddle and the Mt Wilson turnoff). I was very pleased to discover it--driving up in the Angeles Crest, I have a few times wished for a roadhouse like this, serving delicious burgers and beers, such as I consumed on this visit. While I was eating, the bartender answered the telephone. "No, sir, we don't actually have an address. ... Oh [chuckles], no I don't know our GPS coordinates either!"
California's Highway 2 is a great highway. It runs from the beach, through downtown Los Angeles, through Echo Park, and then up into the foothills, turning into the Angeles Crest Highway as it ascends into the San Gabriels and ultimately descends into the desert. The portion that descends into the desert is currently closed, and the bartender at the roadhouse informs me that it's been closed for two and a half years and might be closed years more--it was washed out in a storm. The San Gabriels are littered with abandoned highways. Just at the trailhead there was a route descending into the San Gabriel Valley, blocked off and with plants pushing up through the pavement, labelled on the map as "CLOSED INDEFINITELY." And, of course, there is also the Bridge To Nowhere and its associated abandoned highway.
But the closure of the (otherwise immaculately paved) CA-2 descent has given me the idea of biking it! It would be awesome, and there would be no cars to contend with.
After my delicious burger (generously slathered in Tabasco sauce) and beer (some hefeweizen brewed in Pasadena), I set out to find the Field Day encampment of the Caltech Amateur Radio Club (CIT-ARC), which I understood to be on Mt. Wilson, near the observatory. I drove out there, but failed to locate the CIT-ARC folks.
Tired.
In fact, the hike was mainly "inspired" by the Alpine club--since I missed their departure from Caltech! I was entering the Caltech parking lot just as they were leaving. Nonetheless, I proceeded to the trailhead (up on Highway 2) on my own. Once at the trail head, however, I was faced with the two directions of the PCT. A boy scout troup arrived and, taking a gander at their maps, I figured which way to go. I met the (surprised) Alpine Club folks at the summit.
Much of the trail really is at the spine of the San Gabriels. Look to the right and there's Los Angeles; look to the left and there's the Mojave desert. Awesome.
After the hike, I stopped at Newcomb Ranch Bar & Restaurant on Highway 2 (between Islip Saddle and the Mt Wilson turnoff). I was very pleased to discover it--driving up in the Angeles Crest, I have a few times wished for a roadhouse like this, serving delicious burgers and beers, such as I consumed on this visit. While I was eating, the bartender answered the telephone. "No, sir, we don't actually have an address. ... Oh [chuckles], no I don't know our GPS coordinates either!"
California's Highway 2 is a great highway. It runs from the beach, through downtown Los Angeles, through Echo Park, and then up into the foothills, turning into the Angeles Crest Highway as it ascends into the San Gabriels and ultimately descends into the desert. The portion that descends into the desert is currently closed, and the bartender at the roadhouse informs me that it's been closed for two and a half years and might be closed years more--it was washed out in a storm. The San Gabriels are littered with abandoned highways. Just at the trailhead there was a route descending into the San Gabriel Valley, blocked off and with plants pushing up through the pavement, labelled on the map as "CLOSED INDEFINITELY." And, of course, there is also the Bridge To Nowhere and its associated abandoned highway.
But the closure of the (otherwise immaculately paved) CA-2 descent has given me the idea of biking it! It would be awesome, and there would be no cars to contend with.
After my delicious burger (generously slathered in Tabasco sauce) and beer (some hefeweizen brewed in Pasadena), I set out to find the Field Day encampment of the Caltech Amateur Radio Club (CIT-ARC), which I understood to be on Mt. Wilson, near the observatory. I drove out there, but failed to locate the CIT-ARC folks.
Tired.
