I've been daydreaming of riding into the mountains and onto trails to the summits of peaks with a mountain bike, which I don't have built up quite yet, stuff like Baldy in the winter. Whatever I couldn't ride or very easily push I'd pack the bike on my back and carry it. I haven't been on the North Backbone beyond Dawson Peak yet, so that's an objective/project I've got on my mental list for the near future. That's gonna need a real mountain bike. Since mine isn't complete yet, I packed my crampons, axe, tiny REI Flash 18 pack and other bits on my old Cannondale road touring bike and headed off towards Crystal Lake.
My friend Carlynn joined me up until East Fork Bridge, where she had a flat. I helped her change it, and she headed home. I was looking forward to less traffic beyond West Fork, where traffic always dies down significantly, but it didn't register with me until then that it was a Sunday, it was New Year's Day, and people were driving up to 'see the snow', as they say. Thus, there was more traffic than I think I've ever ridden with up here before. Not real big deal but there were a few stupid moves people made in haste to pass me as I crawled up the road.
When one rides up 39 one needn't bring a ton of water, as there's the spring above Coldwater where you can fill up without filtering. I filled all 3 of my bottles there but should've drank a bottle before leaving, as I don't realize I'm dehydrated on fair weather rides until later on. Easy to drink more on hot days when it's obvious and you're motivated to chug some cold bev. I kept on going and made the turn to Crystal Lake past the cafe, and turned up the paved road to Deer Flat, surrounded by people out for a walk. It was super crowded! Never seen so many people up here. There was very little snow at this point, as the storm had been warm, just some minor flood damage and debris, such as where Snowslide Canyon crosses the road. I stopped at the gate next to Deer Flat where the road turns to dirt and heads up to South Mount Hawkins. I put my crampons, water, snacks and stuff into my little pack, then walked my bike up the road a little and hid it up and out of the way a bit. I didn't bring a lock and didn't hide it too far away but wasn't worried because it was going to be dark in short order. Normally I'd be worried about it being dark for whatever reason, but since my mindset was different and I was just going wherever felt good, I was free, and chose the summit of Mount Islip. The weather was clearing, having only dealt with light rain and snowfall up until reaching the cafe, so I stashed my rain jacket in the pack as well and continued up in my down jacket.
The hike up to Windy Gap was as it always is, nice and quiet with a great view until you hit Windy Gap, where the wind hits you. I hiked a little further to see if I should put crampons on and not much further I was slipping around a bit. I could've continued a bit further without em but it would've been more work than it was worth it, and due to not eating quite as much as I should've I wasn't very well coordinated so I turned back, passed Windy Gap, and got out of the wind to put them on.
I was most certainly not disappointed by the view from the top:
I turned back and headed back from whence I came and made it to Windy Gap in no time. Once you hike a short distance down below the gap the wind stops and you're in a different world. I figured I'd keep my crampons on a little bit but I ended up leaving em on for quite a while down the trail until there were more rocks than snow. I got back to my bike, packed my things, and slowly rode down the pavement which was icy in spots. No ice on the road past the top parking lot, just some wet streaks, so I was able to give it the beans a little bit and get low and fast. I still had plenty of water so I didn't stop at the spring to refill and kept coasting down. My phone said I hit 47mph at one point but I feel that was an error and I probably got up to maybe 40ish. Upon reaching the East Fork bridge, I quickly considered going home via GMR. With seconds to think about it, the thought I've been entertaining lately of 'just do it, you're alive' took over and I crossed the bridge and headed that way. Descending 39 below West Fork is, in my opinion, pretty boring, and going via GMR is a little more work but the descent down frontside is my favorite descent anywhere, having done it by fun car or bicycle about a billion times. All those corners are old friends, great memories even if I stuffed my E30 into this tree or crashed my 240 into that berm or whatever. I stopped by the café to fill a bottle and chug around one liter of water to try to make up for my dehydration.
I was colder than usual on account of not having anything in my guts to burn and being dehydrated, so I kept my down jacket on and just slowed down a bit to keep from sweating. I had bonked lightly a couple times today, so I was in a decreased mental state, and my headlamp was low on battery, so I figured I'd take it easy on the descent into Glendora. The road had plenty of rocks and mud on it and I met zero cars on the way up backside, and only saw a couple cars while descending frontside. Since my lamp was nearly dead I missed spotting a rock which I nailed with my front wheel, but thankfully it did no damage and I was fine. I wish I had a dyno on this bike but that's expensive so it'll hafta wait. The descent went smoothly and I started thinking of stopping at In n Out or something, wondering if they were open at 2300 on New Year's Day. They were, so I got a couple Flying Dutchmen and a coffee before heading home.
Twas a great day's adventure! I had a great time despite not eating or drinking enough, and my fitness since my big trip hasn't fallen off so the whole thing felt 'easy'. I covered about 93 miles and did about 11,000ft of climbing. I couldn't find a partner to do it with but I didn't let this stop me this time, reminding myself that I used to do most everything alone for quite some time cause if I had waited for a partner like is often suggested, I never would've become who I am now and I probably would be playing video games and eating cheetos (me right now, sans cheetos unfortunately).
If this sounds fun to you, I wouldn't mind a partner. There are plenty of other peaks to climb by bike that I'd like to do. Hikes that I considered boring by car are completely different when you ride to them. Breathes new life into old stuff.
Cheers
