Generally speaking GMR Friday's tend to be out and back rides. I get more miles that way. Today though I decided to turn it into a loop - home to Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road, to Baldy Village, and down Mt. Baldy Road back to home. Somewhat shorter, but considerably more climbing. And the way some of the locals have been piling on the climbing lately, I feel like I have been slacking in that department.
Needless to say, it was glorious up there - everything green, the wildflowers in bloom - but only up close. All the distant views were veiled, like looking into a murky witches cauldron. The bulk of Baldy peak never made its presence felt. I knew it was there, I have seen it too many times to fail to realize where I should have been seeing it. But it wasn't there. Not today. Today the mists, the dragon's breath, was stirred up, and the view was confined to the narrow ribbon upon which I toiled. On occasion the mists would stream across the road up ahead of me, and I would watch almost transfixed at this ethereal flood flowing over the ridge from one side of the mountains to the other. My approach was cautious lest I be swept up and over in the tide, lost to this mortal world. The closer I rode to Cow Saddle, the murkier the mountains became. I came to realize it was from the other side, down in San Antonio Canyon, that the mists originated, their tendrils reaching over the ridges, searching across the road, swirling up over the higher peaks. Ceaseless. Seeking. Stopping at the side of the road and looking down, was like peering over the edge of the world, into a bottomless void. And into the abyss I must plunge.
It was as close to mystical as a routine ride could get. At one point a small fox ran out from beside the road and even though I was able to pull the camera out in time to snap a portrait, it wasn't until I got back home that I realized I failed to get it framed in the view as I rode past. I conclude that it was appropriate on a day when the mountains endeavored to hide their secrets from view.
edge of the world
What I didn't realize is that good climbing weather is also good b&w weather. I like the photo of the dead trees, especially.
ReplyDelete