Up early again,
passing up the local stake house,
out with John to
Augies, then back up the
Yucaipa Grade,
returning to views of the
Crafton Hills and
Mt. San Bernardino to the
scene of
Oak
Glen
Station.
The walk, in the 4800-5000 foot range, progresses through land now saved by the Wildlands Conservancy, in the environs of
Pisgah Peak,
Mt. Wilshire, and
Los Rios
Rancho
(named after the Rivers Brothers,
rather than the local drainageways),
where land preservation is still the
hot topic, complete with a
free direct line to the
Los Angeles Mayor's Office to voice concerns,
to which we avail ourselves
(also making a donation at the Preserve Headquarters).
Adjacent is
Oak Knoll Park for
another look
down
Little San Gorgonio Canyon, then
winding up at the Conservation Camp
Gate.
Next walk will be down towards the canyon,
but at this point it must be driven,
back to that notorious narrow divide with the Wildwood watershed,
recapitulating the
San Jacinto and
Wilshire/Gorgonio views,
Jacinto now closer from
Highland Springs Avenue and the
I-10 onramp.
West back into the Greater Los Angeles Basin,
north on Central with the three graces of Mounts San Antonio (Old Baldy), Ontario, and Cucamonga, to lunch under the
warm sun of Claremont's
Mongolian
Barbeque.
Mountain Avenue
north,
back on
I-210 through
Baldwin
Park,
Altadena,
La Canada-Flintridge, the
Verdugos and
La Tuna Canyon beckoning,
with some vistas reminiscent of the
Mexican Highlands.
This high country, however, leads below the face of the
Tujungas in the
San
Fernando
Valley,
beyond which are the
I-5 ascent and
descent (including Gavin Canyon's
big cone Douglas fir and
cliffs), to the diminishing
oak
hills of Santa Clarita.
The human-natural symbioses of Rye Canyon and
Castaic Reservoir fall behind in the ascent of
reverse-road
Violin Canyon, where the
alterations are
fewer
and
far-betweener.
Up
and
over Tejon Summit,
down into the Frazier Park area,
past Lebec,
Ridge and
Valley,
plummetting down
the Grapevine
into the foggy
San
Joaquin
Valley --
it's hours home, but it's
enough.
