Mt. Wilson via Toll Road

Hiked Sunday, May 1. This hike already appears a number of times on this blog, so I'll leave the details of getting to the trailhead and what not out of this post.

I also didn't take many flower shots. I was mainly mesmerized by the clear skies.

In addition to wanting to get some exercise, I picked this one because I wanted to answer a recurring question: Is the toll road open or not? I also wanted to patronize the snack bar up there, because I like the folks who run it and want them to succeed.

The area where the bulldozer was working on March 22 is still covered with boulders, some the size of a car. Motor vehicle traffic is obviously impossible, but walking or portaging your mountain bike across the 20 yards or so of rock fall is possible, provided the bulldozer isn't working (typically don't, on a weekend) or they pause to let you pass.

Skies were unusually clear this morning. It hazed up a little bit later in the afternoon, but was still pretty good. On the way up, the view of Mt. Lowe, Mt. Markam and San Gabriel Peak was comparable in sharpness to a winter's day. By the way, now that the Idlehour trail is open, I'm going to have to try that trail soon, which should take me a little closer to those peaks.

On the way up, downtown L.A. looked unusually close. The Pacific Ocean also looked unusually blue. Normally, it's hazed out or at least made fuzzy and yellow by haze. the blue was rather striking, especially when looking to the west (with the sun more nearly behind me, creating less glare). LAX was easy in the distance, the skyscrapers of Century City and West L.A. were also clear. Also unusually, not only was Santa Catalina Island easy (not the unusual part), but the blue water the separates it from Palos Verdes was also easy.

Shifting over to the San Gabriel Valley, I could easily see the Puente Hills Landfill. Not that the landfill is something you necessarily want to see, but that I could make it out so easily, even though it's south of the Pomona Freeway. The picture I'm posting here is relatively large, so you can enlarge it and poke around there, just for fun.

I'm convinced if I had my telescope up there, I could have found my house. :D

Completely gorgeous day for hiking. About 16 miles for the day.