Ride Report Grand Tour/Adventure in Mt Lowe Area

RR: Grand Tour/Adventure in Mt Lowe Area

Since I ran out of time last week and my buddy from Switzerland was in town, we decided to go back to Mt Lowe and do a big tour. Started with the same start as the non-gravity team did last week (Lower Sam Merril/Mt Lowe Railway/Inspiration Pt/Middle Sam/Sunset/Millard CG/El Prieto). Then the bonus "fun" began. Climbed up Brown Mt fireroad to the summit, then down Ken Burton trail. Ken Burton was really overgrown and in some spots thick with PO. Had to literrally crawl through what at least looked like a PO bush covering the entire trail in one spot. Other than that, it KB was pretty fun. Then we got to the Arroyo Seco portion of Gabriellino Trail. The trail crosses the stream/river many times and right now it was an average of about 2 feet deep and 30 feet wide. So we were doing constant slogging. No big problem, but the trail was hard to follow (See it coming?). At one point we come to a trail that looks blocked off but see no alternative. So we follow it (always a bad idea). We end up at the top of a waterfall that is literally 100 feet high with no way down or around. ](*,) So we go back to the spot that was blocked off and this time cross the stream. Thankfully, there was the trail. It went up and around the waterfall. No problems after that. The entire ride took 7 hours, with 6-1/2 hours in the saddle. Figure about 6000 to 6500 ft of elevation gain. Not sure of the mileage. Pretty exhausting, but a good adventure. I don't recommend Ken Burton or Arroyo Seco right now, though. Got home and did a thorough bath in Ticnu. Hopefully it will do the job.

 

Thanks for the RR.

Yes, I have heard that Ken Burton is not a good idea right now. That section of the Gabrileno (Switzers to JPL) has been bad for two years now. Great riding in that area.