| Sunday Road Trip to the snow |
Did someone say El Nino? No really did someone say
that? Because it certainly is looking like we are in store
for a wild winter. In just the past month we have had at
least 3 good rain and snow storms. Between these storms
we have been either getting strong Santa Ana wind
conditions or abnormally low temperatures. In the past
couple of days down town Los Angeles has been dipping
close to 38 degrees Fahrenheit and surrounding valleys
and mountains going well below freezing
sometime after a recent rain storm came through me and
James decided to head up into the local mountains, up
Angeles Crest Hwy. Its a pretty active 2 lane road that
leads up to Mt. Wilson. We were expecting some ice,
maybe some rain damage but instead ran right into lots of
ice and a good amount snow fall.
We had left sometime after 1am and only saw a few cars
on the road, mostly lowered imports full of post partyers
that look for Quite sections of road where they can stop
and pretend they are still at the clubs .
That night I had a Rental, a Jeep Liberty. Not to go too far
off subject but lets just say it was a 2x4 piece of bulldook
not far from the likes of a Rav 4. But if was enough to get
us past the point where most if not all the other cars that
night would go on the road. About 2 miles from the
summit the snow and ice completely covered the road.
Since it had been covered it looked as though only a few
vehicles had driving the road, all of them taking the same
path in the middle of the road.
Once we made it to the summit of the road we turned off
into a rest stop parking lot. We were somewhere around
6000 feet above sea level with snow still steadily coming
down. Nothing really abnormal with that until you think
about how we weren't much more than a 40 minute drive
from downtown LA. We checked out the place played and
frolicked, did a few donuts and headed back down the
mountain.
that? Because it certainly is looking like we are in store
for a wild winter. In just the past month we have had at
least 3 good rain and snow storms. Between these storms
we have been either getting strong Santa Ana wind
conditions or abnormally low temperatures. In the past
couple of days down town Los Angeles has been dipping
close to 38 degrees Fahrenheit and surrounding valleys
and mountains going well below freezing
sometime after a recent rain storm came through me and
James decided to head up into the local mountains, up
Angeles Crest Hwy. Its a pretty active 2 lane road that
leads up to Mt. Wilson. We were expecting some ice,
maybe some rain damage but instead ran right into lots of
ice and a good amount snow fall.
We had left sometime after 1am and only saw a few cars
on the road, mostly lowered imports full of post partyers
that look for Quite sections of road where they can stop
and pretend they are still at the clubs .
That night I had a Rental, a Jeep Liberty. Not to go too far
off subject but lets just say it was a 2x4 piece of bulldook
not far from the likes of a Rav 4. But if was enough to get
us past the point where most if not all the other cars that
night would go on the road. About 2 miles from the
summit the snow and ice completely covered the road.
Since it had been covered it looked as though only a few
vehicles had driving the road, all of them taking the same
path in the middle of the road.
Once we made it to the summit of the road we turned off
into a rest stop parking lot. We were somewhere around
6000 feet above sea level with snow still steadily coming
down. Nothing really abnormal with that until you think
about how we weren't much more than a 40 minute drive
from downtown LA. We checked out the place played and
frolicked, did a few donuts and headed back down the
mountain.
| 2nd Sunday Road Trip to the snow |
Not too long after our little trip up Mt
Wilson another storm hit us. The
local forecasters actually got a clue
this time and predicted very low
snow and ice levels for the SoCal
area. James, Malcolm, Scott and I
headed out with the intent on taking
Scott's quad up to the local mountain
cities that were curtain to get lots of
snow. After a good 50 minute drive
along rainy slicked freeways we
discoverd that all the major roads to
the mountain areas were closed
down due to weather related
problems.
As an alternative I suggested we try
a remote back forrest road I had
found earlier in the year while
exploring local off road trails. Boy oh
boy did we hit pay dirt. The very
beginning of this trail, about 25
minutes off of the 15 in San Berdoo,
was completely covered in a few feet
of snow. It was surprising because
the area couldn't have been much
more than 3500 feet.
A mile or two up past the snow line
we found a place to stop and
unloaded the quad from Malcolm's
pickup. Scott roared off ahead of us
with a rooster tail of blue 2 stroke
exhaust and flying ice and snow. We
steadily drove up the trail passing
less and less people as the snow
and ice got worse and worse. We
eventually came up on some trucks
on there way down. They confirmed
the story of a few guys had warned
us about earlier that there was a
point in the road that was
unpassable. Now, I could go into
detail of how the trip went down hill
from there, no pun intended, but
most of you who are reading this
probably already know the story.
Wilson another storm hit us. The
local forecasters actually got a clue
this time and predicted very low
snow and ice levels for the SoCal
area. James, Malcolm, Scott and I
headed out with the intent on taking
Scott's quad up to the local mountain
cities that were curtain to get lots of
snow. After a good 50 minute drive
along rainy slicked freeways we
discoverd that all the major roads to
the mountain areas were closed
down due to weather related
problems.
As an alternative I suggested we try
a remote back forrest road I had
found earlier in the year while
exploring local off road trails. Boy oh
boy did we hit pay dirt. The very
beginning of this trail, about 25
minutes off of the 15 in San Berdoo,
was completely covered in a few feet
of snow. It was surprising because
the area couldn't have been much
more than 3500 feet.
A mile or two up past the snow line
we found a place to stop and
unloaded the quad from Malcolm's
pickup. Scott roared off ahead of us
with a rooster tail of blue 2 stroke
exhaust and flying ice and snow. We
steadily drove up the trail passing
less and less people as the snow
and ice got worse and worse. We
eventually came up on some trucks
on there way down. They confirmed
the story of a few guys had warned
us about earlier that there was a
point in the road that was
unpassable. Now, I could go into
detail of how the trip went down hill
from there, no pun intended, but
most of you who are reading this
probably already know the story.
Early So Cal Winter