looking to beat the heat and get high, got out of town and met up with fellow socal forumite Tycho Brahe at crystal lake.
dropped down from the store (only day closed? tuesdays of course), hung a right on ca hwy 39 and rode the 5+ mile closed section of the 39 to ach/ca hwy 2.
hung a right on ach/ca hwy 2 and rode up to dawson saddle, then descended to wrightwood for a quick munchie.
retraced our route from wrightwood back to crystal lake. not too windy with a little cloud cover so it was warm but not hot. pretty gorgeous day up there...an 8.5/10.
not sure Tycho Brahe actually broke a sweat...it was more like a ride along the beach path for him. 56+ miles with 6,600 or 7,000 feet of climbing, depending on whose computer you believe.
did stop about 2 miles east of dawson saddle on the way back to soak the footsies at one of the waterfalls.
definitely helped for the stretch run because the feet feel/felt like a champ. the legs? not so much.
only saw 5 other cyclists the entire way and traffic was super-minimal. ach/ca hwy 2 is still closed between the big tujunga turnoff and red box/mt. wilson so that discourages the commuting thru traffic.
busiest from wrightwood to vincent gap (lots of hikers out). the water was turned off at the campgrounds (maybe turned on for the weekends???) so if you go, hydrate well beforehand and take the
most water bottles you can reasonably carry. had to descend to wrightwood to refortify but the stretch from wrightwood to big pines is the steepest you'd encounter retracing the route.
probably wouldn't have descended to wrightwood if campground/visitor center water sources were flowing.
i still think the stretch of ach/ca hwy 2 from dawson saddle to big pines is the most scenic stretch of ach. it's a must-do.