San Antonio Falls looking refreshing as ever
Desert View
mandatory shot from the lodge at the Notch. Baldy is in the background,
partially hidden by the ridge in the foreground
That said, when I reached Desert View and saw that the road down to Stockton Flat was perfectly clear, I did ride down a few hundred yards, before deciding I did not want to climb any more this day, and turned around. I will save the second half of this one for another day, maybe get a group together, that always makes those long climbs pass quicker. Anyway, back to today; the route was typical, a lot of loose stuff, and far too many patches of soft dirt where recent grading had taken place - hopefully the weekend foot soldiers and riders will have it sorted out soon. A nice light breeze kept the air cool as it whispered through the pines, birds were chirping, brooks were babbling their way down the slopes of Baldy; it all made my panting from the effort seem offensive in some way. The squealing of my front brakes coming back down the mountain was downright sacrilegious, and will have to be dealt with soon as I will not tolerate rogue sounds emanating from my bike.
other than a lone hiker enjoying the panorama of Desert View,
Baldy Notch seemed to be abandoned, so I settled for photos of my own legs...
the front wheel on the 29er...
and the bear bell on my camelbak
There was a lot of work taking place along Baldy Road in preparation for the two upcoming biggie events, the L'Etape du California, and stage 7 of the Tour of California. The section of pavement washed away by the winter storms is repaved and smooooooth, a crew and fleet of trucks were busy repainting lane stripes through Baldy Village and all the way up to the bottom of the ski lifts, while another crew was busy changing all the light bulbs (or at least replacing the burnt out ones) in the tunnels, and brush has been cleared from the road shoulders in many places where it had been encroaching, and/or to provide extra parking, because you know a lot of people will drive up to watch, especially during the Tour.
there is still some snow; banks of it on the upslopes along the road down
to Stockton Flat, north side of Mt. Baldy
not the weekend, so they were motionless in the breeze
so cool !
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