From Valley to Valley and a bit more
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666-The Beast
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:08 pm
Kept on procrastinating the the departure time from the Valley to the Markham Saddle. Finally around 10:30, I got going on to the Big Tajunga Cyn Rd then to Angeles Forrest Hwy (also known- along with the ACH section to Clear Creek Junction- as the Palmdale 500) a left turn at the CCJ and on to Red Box and finally to MS. I was greeted at the parking lot with a great panoramic view of the Baldy area but a close up focus revealed a bunch of heavy duty construction equipment parked at the saddle. Large signs at the start of the fire rd, I did not bother to read and kept on walking to my last minute desired plan to hike the triplet peaks of the area. Loud construction noises greeted me as I got a glimpse of the tunnel, then I figured I would just invisibly pass by all this construction mess. To my bad timing some dude drove his truck from the site and he stopped to give me the usual scare tactic- can't have you walk by the work site cause of the insurance bla-bla-bla. Gracefully I obliged and returned back to the saddle with the tri-peaks walk up in smoke!. As I was glancing at the Baldy vista I noticed a small sign at the start of a trail!, wow,hiking day saver!. Valley Forge here we come!, 3 downhill miles of canopy,acorns,zig-zag turns,a nice kept trail with a constant view of the high-country. At the Gabrieleno junction I went right towards the Kenyon Devore junction, as a newly desired plan to go up to Wilson and hitch a ride to MS, thus completing a nice 7 mille loop. After a mile or so on the narrow,challenging at some spots GT, I decided to turn back as the time was getting late. Stayed at the huge VF camp to have a snack and enjoy a few serene moments in this bug free camp. The uphill trek was bit more challenging but with Gabriel and Markham in sight motived me to get back in less than a hour. This is a great time to be at the Gabes and enjoy the late fall show.....666
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666-The Beast
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:08 pm
Hike-Up,
Concerning the Tunnel project, they are working on the east side and they hope to get it done by end of Dec and then they will move on to the west side!. If we have lots of storms this winter, it won't matter cause all the roads will be closed... The way around this mess is to hike Gabariel-Dissapointment from the Red Box side or the long way up from end of Lake Av and from the Millard Cyn fire rd via Chaney Trail Rd in Altadena.
The Ze Trek way-if a section wasn't closed- you start from Lake Av sign, up the ridge to the fire rd, down to the Dawn Mine, up to Tom Sloan Saddle, bag Brown Mt ,back to the saddle then up to the fire rd to bag Mt Lowe,Mt Markham, San Gabriel Peak, Mt Dissapointment, then back on the fire rd towards Wilson, bag Occidental Pk. Lunch break at the Cosmic Cafe on top of Mt Wilson. After the pig-out, down the Mount Wilson Toll Rd to bag Mt Harvard then on the Idlehour Trl to Inspiration Point to bag Muir Pk, then down to Echo Mt, then via Sam Merril Trl exit on Lake Av! An all day fun hike!!!
Concerning the Tunnel project, they are working on the east side and they hope to get it done by end of Dec and then they will move on to the west side!. If we have lots of storms this winter, it won't matter cause all the roads will be closed... The way around this mess is to hike Gabariel-Dissapointment from the Red Box side or the long way up from end of Lake Av and from the Millard Cyn fire rd via Chaney Trail Rd in Altadena.
The Ze Trek way-if a section wasn't closed- you start from Lake Av sign, up the ridge to the fire rd, down to the Dawn Mine, up to Tom Sloan Saddle, bag Brown Mt ,back to the saddle then up to the fire rd to bag Mt Lowe,Mt Markham, San Gabriel Peak, Mt Dissapointment, then back on the fire rd towards Wilson, bag Occidental Pk. Lunch break at the Cosmic Cafe on top of Mt Wilson. After the pig-out, down the Mount Wilson Toll Rd to bag Mt Harvard then on the Idlehour Trl to Inspiration Point to bag Muir Pk, then down to Echo Mt, then via Sam Merril Trl exit on Lake Av! An all day fun hike!!!
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666-The Beast
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:08 pm
UPDATE: I was around the area today, so I went by the tunnel to investigate the progress. No one being there I managed to go close to the work site and I saw the work is going on the west site. There is this rock and roll gully in the making so when something gets dislodged from up high, it all comes down near the west side of the tunnel with a destructive force on the road. It looks the road will probably open around the new year, not that it really matters though,lots of bike tracks along with some foot traffic, even with the large do not enter signs and a large earth moving machine parked at the gate. I must say, I would not want to hang around at the west side of the tunnel after a storm cause its going to be bombs away!
