EISPIRATEN

Supposedly the week of May 20th.

http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/forum/in ... c=2997.425

Thanks Tim!!!!!!!

Angeles Crest Highway will reopen on May 20th @ 12:00 noon.
There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony @ Vincent gap to celebrate the event.

I feel a hike from Dawson Saddle coming on...

Or maybe just a quick hop up the service road (my preferred route) to Little Jimmy. Woo Hoo!

Jim,
My preferred route to Little Jimmy is right up the draw to Windy Gap. But I must agree, the hike from Dawson Saddle is so sweet. Have a car at Islip for an excellent shuttle hike.

Opening ribbon cutting ceremony will be @ Vincent Gap, 12:00 Noon,May 20th

I'm wondering about trail conditions along the closed section of highway - is it safe to assume it could it be pretty rough since it's been closed a long time?

Which trail are you referring to?

The trail from Dawson Saddle has been reported as being in decent shape, a couple of minor downed trees and a lot of pine cones on the trail but nothing serious.

The PCT along the ridge top is in good shape and has been used a lot during the road closure.

The trail to Lilly Spring is in disrepair, but that has little to do with the road closure.

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the information. HPS describes a use trail from mile marker 66.37 up the gully to Windy Gap. Any info there?

Don't have any info there. Richard N (about 4 posts up on this thread) might know.

Look at the bottom right corner of this page to see some time lapsed video of the bridge being built:

http://dot.ca.gov/dist07/travel/project ... .php?id=41

Leslie,
The trace trail up the gully to Windy Gap had always been a good quick route to Windy Gap and even Little Jimmy. As far as condition, its what one should expect for a trace trail. But as far as being able to follow it, you should have no trouble with that.

Enjoy your day.
Hike Smart & Hike Safe!!!

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the info - I look forward to trying a different route to Windy Gap next weekend.

Leslie

Richard N. wrote:Leslie,
The trace trail up the gully to Windy Gap had always been a good quick route to Windy Gap and even Little Jimmy. As far as condition, its what one should expect for a trace trail. But as far as being able to follow it, you should have no trouble with that.

Enjoy your day.
Hike Smart & Hike Safe!!!

Cool, thanks Richard. I hadn't been up that way for a number of years and didn't want to guess.

And... they're off!!!

The road is now open. Photos: http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/forum/in ... ic=13858.0 (scroll down).

I'm heading up right now.
Having dinner in Wrightwood and a quick walk up to Throop from Dawson.

FINALLY!!!!!!

Sounds like a nice way to end the day.

I took a drive up the Crest from La Canada yesterday afternoon. The big sign as you get off the 210 freeway as well as the small signs, one just before you enter the forest and one just before Switzers all read Road Closed @ Islip Saddle.

It shows that L.A. County has no idea what San Bernadino County Cal-Trans is doing. As crazy as it is, the section of road re-opened yesterday is in L.A. County but cared for by San Bernadino County. Go figure??? The resurfacing being done by SB County, only goes to the end of L.A. County line??? Now that's crazy!!

The road has been resurfaced, has many miles of new guard rails and, about a mile from Vincent Gap, there is a terrific new bridge. There a really nice waterfall just to the west of the bridge as well.

As I was about to set off on a little walk up Lewis, a car pulls up and its brian90620 and his girlfriend. Nice to meet you both. We enjoyed a little chat and I headed up the hill. When I arrived at Vincent Gap, there were no longer any dignitaries. Good for me eh??

There were many motor bikes enjoying the first day back on this stretch of road. Of course there were motor cars as well.

I enjoyed a nice dinner in Wrightwood and then headed back over the Crest @ 8:45pm. I saw one deer on the road and 2 owls swooped down near the car. Night driving up there is really cool.

The road in great condition. Come up for a drive!!

Photos...
#1 The Sign as you exit the 210 Freeway
#2 Islip Saddle - The Gate is OPEN
#3 Angeles Crest Bridge - BR. No. 53-3029

Richard N. wrote: As I was about to set off on a little walk up Lewis, a car pulls up and its brian90620 and his girlfriend. Nice to meet you both. We enjoyed a little chat and I headed up the hill.

It was nice meeting you too and thanks for all the information about wildlife and hiking in the area. We had an excellent time on the crest as usual except this time was better since the road was open. We drove around for a while and took in all the views of the desert and enjoyed the different views of Mount Islip and Mount Baden Powell as well as the rest of the middle range. I also brought my mtn bike, and rode (coasted) down from Dawson Saddle to Islip Saddle in 15 mins, this was a lot of fun. From there we went to Table Mountian near Wrightwood and I rode my bike on the dirt roads that are hidden behind the campsite while my gf followed me in the 4runner. After we ate Mile High Pizza in Wrightwood which is really good. After leaving Wrightwood it was getting dark so now it was time to start looking for wildlife. We drove the dirt road to blue ridge campground in the dark looking for animals but didn't see anything. So we decided it was time to go since it was about 9 and we drove back down the crest, we were driving sort of slow looking for animals when suddenly a deer ran across the road in front of us near the dirt road for Little Jimmy Campground. We got out to look where it went with our flashlights and we saw another deer with it about 50 feet from the road. After driving a little further we saw another deer in the turn out at Islip Saddle. After that we saw a rattle snake laying in the road near the Snowcrest Ski area, I got out and scared him off the road so he wouldn't get hit by a car. About a mile and a half further we saw another rattler who wasnt so lucky he was already crushed but still alive. We drove through Buckhorn looking for wildlfe but no luck, then we went through Chilao and found a deer about 50 feet from the campground road, we spotted him when I flashed the flashlight in his direction I saw too glowing eyes then we got out and confirmed it was a deer. Well needless to say we had a great time on reopening day on the crest. My new favorite time to be up there is at night since it seems like theres always wildlife around if you know where to look. Total we saw 4 deer and 2 rattlesnakes. 8)

This looks like fun.

Some funny stuff.

It must've come off the USS Walke (DD416): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Walke_(DD-416)

Go to...

http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

and enter "2" for the highway number. Closed just west of Big Pines Highway (west of Wrightwood).

This highway information is the latest reported as of Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 06:44 .

SR 2
[IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
IS CLOSED FROM 2.2 MI EAST OF THE EAST JCT OF I 210 TO
1 MI WEST OF ANGELES FOREST HWY (LOS ANGELES CO) - DUE TO A WILDLAND FIRE
- A DETOUR IS AVAILABLE

IS CLOSED 2.3 WEST OF THE LOS ANGELES/SAN BERNARDINO CO LINE - DUE TO A
WILDLAND FIRE - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

ALL TRACTOR-SEMI TRAILER COMBINATIONS WITH 3 AXLES OR GREATER ARE
PROHIBITED FROM THE JCT OF I 210 /IN LA CANADA-FLINTRIDGE/ TO THE
ANGELES FOREST HIGHWAY (LOS ANGELES CO) - ALTERNATE ROUTES ARE AVAILABLE

So...if I'm reading this correctly, the middle section of Hwy 2 is still open but is only accessible by the Angeles Forest Highway??

The eastern closure: Is this due to a different brush fire that is not in the news?

Forest "kinda" closed too:

Forest Order
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/orders/ ... 082809.pdf

Both Lower and Upper and Big T closed as well:
http://dpwgis.co.la.ca.us/website/roadclosures/main.cfm

Bummer- was hoping to tromp around the high country for my last days of vacation. Wishing safety upon the crews...

(First post- what up y'all!)

But tacodelrio said he would buy a pitcher of 1903 at Newcomb Ranch

edenooch wrote:But tacodelrio said he would buy a pitcher of 1903 at Newcomb Ranch

Taco!
Now we know

Damm just so you didn't have to pay for the beer!

It appears I'll do anything to get out of paying for a pitcher of Springfield 1903...