Ride Report Willy the Hard Way/Rim/Gabrielino (2008-04-12)

RR: Willy the Hard Way (2008-04-12)

Saturday was a pretty warm spring day, even as I left the house at 6:30 for the bus trip. Yes, I took the metro, with my bike on the front of the bus from my house to within a half mile of the OTB meeting spot for this ride.



It was good to see Ron back on a bike, as well as his friend Thomas on a bike one wouldn't normally think of pushing up 5000'... Hector did really well, and Hans, Robert, Uncle Bill, and a new OTB'er, Silus, who showed up unannounced. Silus did pretty well, and not knowing what he was getting into, hung in like a trooper. I hope we see him on more rides soon.

It's a short road ride of about a 1.5 miles from Santa Anita over to Mountain Trail AVe and the trailhead. This is the only ride we do that actually has "hard" in the title... Willy the hard way is the climb up to Mount Wilson via the Mount Wilson Trail (aka Santa Anita Trail). This is the oldest trail in the San Gabriels, first hiked in the 1850's, and made official in 1864. It was probably an old native american trail before that. Did you know Mount Wilson is named after Benjamin Davis "Don Benito" Wilson, Gen. George S. Patton, Jr's grandfather? I didn't either. There's a Mount Wilson Trail race that has been run since 1908, and the next one is coming up this month. There were lots of trail runners out training for it.

This is a tough climb. It's relentless, very rocky and technical in places, with extreme vertical exposure, and the first three miles are all in the morning sun. While many of the technical sections would be easy to clean, the fact that they're preceded by relentless 15 - 20% grade single track, and penalty for error is a fall of a few hundred feet, most of the rock sections are hiked. It climbs about from 1000' to 5700' in 6.8 miles.

Near the bottom:



There are many switchbacks, and several places have wooden steps. I broke a chain and snapped my derailleur hanger off trying to clean a particularly steep section. I always carry an extra, and it took just a few minutes to fix (I'm waiting on my new drivetrain parts now). I've worn everything out pretty well over the past eight months, so I walked more than I would have otherwise, after that.




Don't fall here:



Or here:



Steep Switchbacks:



Trees across the trail (but you could duck and ride them):



Hike-a-bike:




The trail cruises steeply up along the creek bed, and the number of hikers was astounding... probably a hundred or so in the first three miles, many training for the Mt. Wilson trail race. At about the half-way point we reach a slight descent and some tree cover, before the trail heads up a canyon to the left.





From here it gets really steep and rocky.




There's a rock-garden hike-a-bike with 3-4' tall rocks that take quite an effort to get a bike up.







Some of it really nice... a brief respite from the climb:



Don't fall here... note the riders below, one switchback prior:



Eventually we all (9 riders) made it up to the Manzanita Ridge, where the upper Winter Creek trail starts. It's a good resting spot, but there's still another 1 1/4 miles and 750' of steep climbing to get to the toll road.

Manzanita Ridge, trail to the right in the background:



Thomas makes it to the Toll Road on his Orange:



All present at the toll road and ready for the last 750' of vertical:

Another mile up the toll road, then the mount wilson trail veers off to the right, near Mt. Harvard. Most of this section is technical and steep, but doesn't have the exposure. The trail emerges right at the upper parking lot of Mt. Wilson. Some of the group took the fire road up instead of the extra single track, but we all got to the top at about the same time.

Upper Mt. Wilson Trail:



The last switchback, Andres on the Left, and Hans on the right:



Top of the trail:





We cruised around the summit and refilled water, ate, and checked out the observatory as we remembered why we do this only once a year.

The Rim trail starts off contouring around the observatory buildings to the east, then does a dramatic dropoff down the north slope of Mt. Wilson, with several sketchy switchbacks.

A deceptive first mile:





The view to Waterman:



The descent begins:



Exposure:






This is one of the most exposed and narrow trails in the Angeles. For much of it, if you go off trail, it won't be friction that stops you; it will be a rock or a tree. You'll be free-falling some distance, then tumbling quite a long way. Much of the trail is loose, sandy, off-camber and narrow. The best way to get a bike through some sections is to carry the bike on the downhill side, dangling over the side, as you hike and watch your footing. The switchbacks are tight and sandy, and also have a large penalty for failure.



After that the trail descends, mostly off camber, for three miles or so down to Newcombe Pass. There is a lot of poison oak on the lower part of the trail, and in many places it was too narrow to ride around... plow on through.

There were also several small slides on the trail that had to be hiked, and a couple of downed trees across the trail.

From Newcombe Pass the eastern end of the Gabrielino trail one of the most flowing and fun downhills in the area. There are rarely hikers on the upper section, until the Lower Winter Creek/Sturtevant intersections. We saw three, all backpackers heading in to overnight.



This section went way too fast and was too much fun, as always. We re-grouped a couple of times, and took it easy through the bottom section where there are many more hikers.

No photos on the gab, just too much fun to stop (until the bottom):



Then it was a 1 mile climb up to Chantry, followed by a 35-40mph pavement downhill back to the cars. Great ride... good times and everyone safely off the mountain. We had a couple of WTHW virgins who, despite their nervousness about the ride, did really well. And Thomas, who took a 40+ pound Orange FR bike with a 1x9 DH drivetrain up the hill... kudos.

From there I rode back to the Sierra Madre metro station for the public transit ride home... well worth it!

 

Here's what it looks like in profile. 21.2 miles, 6000' of climbing/descent, plus 4.6 miles of road riding to the metro.

 

You know, ever since you dropped a hint on the Zion RR about the ride you're doing, I was wondering what was going to be your way up. The Mt. Wilson Trail head is about 1/8 of a mile from my house and although I've ridden down it, I would never climb it on my bike. It's way too steep and exposed and is full of hikers; especially on a weekend. I hike up it sometimes but only to the first water and head back down. It's all my big lazy dog can handle. Kudos to you guys from making that steep trek up. Last I heard, the rim trail was closed due to slides and lack of maintenance. Apparently not. That's one kick-ass sweet back country trail. I don't think I've ridden it since 01-02.

You sure picked a nice cool (96) day to bag Willy the hard way! Good job Steve and gang!

Thanks for posting the RR & photos.

 

A mighty impressive ride! I would say someone needs to invent a backpack that can carry a bike through those super sketchy areas.

 

Good job guys, tough ride, sounds like Rim Trail could use some trail work. I agree with Joe, I have been down Mt. Wilson Trail, if I climbed it I would have no energy for the rest of that ride. Not smart being tired on Rim Trail.

Dean

 

Most of the OTBMBC riders ride and train like crazy, riding extra credit on club rides and numerous times a week, training in preparation for rides like this. Consequently, they don't get tired.

Seriously, I don't think there is a hill big enough in the San Gabes to stop Kanga, El Pres or Andres from climbing them, since it's in their backyard. They are the Energizer Bunnies of OTBMBC.

 

Rim Definitely needs work. It's one trail that Hal Winton and the AC100 crew don't include in their course, and probably won't do trailwork on. It needs re-benching and some rock slide cleanup. We moved one fallen tree off the trail during our ride.

 

NICE RIDE REPORT KANGA. If anybody wants to do this ride on weekdays and can show me the way, I'm game for it!! :wave:

 

NICE!! Looks like a great ride! I like the look of Thomas' Orange.