I have wanted to do this trip since coming to california in the early 1980s.
After much back and forth all concerns where put aside and the date was set.
My main concern was the condition of the road. It has been closed since 2011 and there had been some recent rains.
I decided to set a time limit to three sisters of 2½ hours
We reached Pine Mtn Summit at 5am and got going @ 5:13am. This first segment of Potrero Seco Road is maintained by the ranch along here to Just North of Potrero Seco campground. Here the road is more like the unmaintained road I expected.
Going was slow in places because the road was soft from the recent rain and quite steep in places. Before reaching three sisters the road narrows dangerously at the top of a large landslide. Any vehicle traveling this would need to be very cautious. As we approached Three Sisters mud was sticking to our tires (grrrrr hard enough without this!) We made it there well within the 2½ hr cutoff @ 1hr 50 min.
We agreed to go on. I speculate the origin of the "road" is for firefighting purposes and "improved" in the post war years for military surplus jeeps and other uses to explore the backcountry. The result is an unplanned road that is very steep in places with the resulting erosion making much of it unrideable (for me).
Our time to the next landmark reflects this. The pond below Monte Arido about 7 miles took 2½ hours. Curiously and somewhat ominously There is a locked gate here. The road deteriorates considerably past here probably not seeing maintenance in 30+years.
Probably 90% of this is unrideable to the south side of Old Man Mtn. I crashed on the first part down from Monte Arido. I has on a badly eroded segment on top of a rut when my rear wheel slipped off and my front wheel slipped into the rut on other side and flipped around I went flying and landed on the right side of my upper chest knocking the wind out of me leaving me with a nice painful reminder everytime I breath deeply.
I was a lot more cautious and the resulting time to Murietta Divide of about 3½ hrs from the pond on the other side of Monte Arido with ½ hr for lunch reflects this.
Murietta Divide down to Matilija Trailhead was a dream with ½ hr to the trailhead.
I'm glad I finally did this trip though I won't be doing it again probably ever in my life.
All photos including Google Photo spheres
Three Sisters
Summit of Old Man Mtn and the poor road in the area
