RR: Grizzly Flats to Clear Creek via Hoyt Trail

[kamaekia]

Located at about mile marker 30.60 on the Angeles Crest Highway is the Grizzly Flats fireroad turnout. It is a pretty large turnout. This trail is a trail I do with regularity, given I have the extreme privilege of living in Glendale, at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Earlier in the year I had done a trail condition report on this trail, but now I have some photos to show.

The first 2/3 of a mile is a climb on the Grizzly Flats fireroad to a T-intersection.

The fireroad:


The fireroad is in excellent condition as they were using it when the Mount Lukens fireroad was washed out last year:


The T Intersection where you want to go right if you want to hit the Hoyt Trail. Going left gets you up to Mount Lukens:


In the few years I have been riding this, I have never seen any vehicle tracks, in fact, I have never seen anyone on the trail. I do see some footprints and bike prints, so at least a few other people are on this trail too. Once you have gone to the right, you notice almost immediately that the fireroad has not been maintained in some time. As nature has started to take back the fireroad, you get a nice singletrack feel to the route. The next 1.25 miles of climbing will be on pretty much singletrack.





At about the 1.3 mile mark of climbing begins a nearly quarter mile of technical climbing. You slide around rocks and over some landslides.





Once you reach the saddle, about 1.8 miles from the beginning, you have a nice view looking north towards the Angeles Forest Highway.



There has been a surveyor up here recently. On my last ride up here with Ross, he explained that this marker means that the fireroad will eventually be bulldozed and made nice again. So enjoy the climb while you can before it becomes just another San Gabriel fireroad climb.



Now begins the downhill goodness. I find this trail to be super fun to come down as it is challenging and since no one is ever on it, provides a much valued relief from being around people.



The trail winds around the mountain.



For a portion of the trail, you are riding on small rocks from the decomposing granite. At times, you feel like you are riding on ice or on ball bearings as it can be quite easy to lose control.



About 1/2 mile along the Hoyt Trail, there is a washed out section that has been there for a couple of years now.



If you aren't careful as you go down, the penalty for not paying attention can be steep. At times the trail will turn abruptly away from a climb and it would be a real bummer to miss the turn.



The trail starts to mellow out about 1/2 way down and you are soon in a tree lined part of the route with the a nice canopy over you.



A few years back, there was a fire in an area near the end of the trail. Although the trees are still gnarled and blackened from the fire, some of the brush cover has come back. In fact, the trail still needs some brush work done on it.



Once the canyon bottom is reached, you begin a climb out, but not before looking back on the trail I had just come down on.





Taking the fireroad out of the canyon brings you up to the Angeles Forest Highway. From here, I will often ride the quarter or so mile over to The Pines picnic area and then take the singletrack from there over to Clear Creek station. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of that today. From Clear Creek, I usually throw in the singletrack track that takes me down to Switzer's campgroup and then I climb back to the Angeles Crest Highway and then ride the highway back to my car, trying to see how fast I can go down the highway.

I usually make this a loop from Grizzly Flats, but this trail can be easily added onto a longer excursion, such as starting at the Angeles Forest fire station and going up the Mount Lukens fireroad and the dropping down the Grizzly Flats fireroad and then hitting the Hoyt Trail and then dropping down to Switzer's and taking the Gabrielino back to JPL.

It is a fun route, but has some exposure and, I would surmise, is not for a beginner. The trail itself is in pretty good condition. I have done some minor trail maintenance on it over the years, mostly removing boulders and the like, grooming it to my tastes!

Here is a link to a map of the route:
http://mtb.lo-lands.org/grizzly_flat...via%20Hoyt.JPG

A motionbased link ride I did with Ross recently:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6460475

[Burner]

Did you do this on Sunday (yesterday)? You didn't happen to find an ipod and headphones on clear creek st did you?

STjunkie and I, did this route as part of our longer loop on Saturday, starting and finishing from JPL.

[kamaekia]

Actually, I did the route this morning, Monday, the 18th. And I did not see an ipod anywhere. Sorry.

[Pain Freak]

I haven't done this route but one time when I first started mountain biking. I'd be interested in seeing what it'd be like riding now. We had a big group that day and it was brutally hot. Still I remember it as a fun day.

[Burner]

Originally Posted by kamaekia

Actually, I did the route this morning, Monday, the 18th. And I did not see an ipod anywhere. Sorry.

ahh, well... i think a branch took it off when it hit me in the head on the backside of clear creek.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/591130
(not sure if that works, also not sure why there's a hiccup in the gps track)

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by Burner

ahh, well... i think a branch took it off when it hit me in the head on the backside of clear creek.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/591130
(not sure if that works, also not sure why there's a hiccup in the gps track)

I sometimes get those "hiccups" when I first turn the GPS on. I get a clean tracklog by: turning on the unit, let it get a signal, then clearing out all tracklogs before the ride. Or wait until I get home and edit it out.

When you told me of Scott's and your route, it did not sound fun in the heat. Last time on that route someone in our group bonked hard, at the power line tower before you drop down into Clear Creek. I walked/rode with them back down to Grizzly Flats and we took the Highway 2 back down. Gets hot out there.....

Dean

[kanga]

Hoyt is a very much under-utilized trail... I've only done it as a part of a much longer loop from JPL up and over Mt. Lukens to Grizzly, Strawberry, Redbox, and back down the gab. Makes for a long (42 mile) hard day, but this is definitely the least travelled trail of the entire route.

Thanks for giving an update on conditions there. CORBA is currently preparing our trailwork schedule for the fall, so perhaps we can include some of the washed out sections of Hoyt.

[kamaekia]

Steve, I agree, it makes for a nice interlude on a longer ride. But during the week, I only have 1 to 1.5 hours to do a ride, so this fits the bill nicely and provides some selection on the various local rides I do during the week.