Update on Angeles Crest Highway

[Jon_M]

Disclaimer: Strictly speaking, this is not a ride report, but it certainly has to do with riding for many of us.

 

From the website for the Mount Wilson observatory (http://www.mtwilson.edu/fire.php) I have clipped this report on the status of California Highway 2, Angeles Crest Highway:

 

"I could probably write a book on the events of the last week, but I do want to record a one impression here briefly. The Angeles Crest Highway, California Highway 2 - a National Scenic Byway - is now mostly a path through utter desolation. Many have described it as a moonscape. The best I can describe it is as a landscape in a perpetual, ashen gray winter. There are places here and there where the whimsical nature of the fire has left an acre or two with chaparral in place, but what one mostly confronts - from the arson point a few miles up from La Canada all the way to the Red Box turnoff - is this eery, wintry landscape as far as the eye can see.

 

"By contrast, the Red Box Road is mostly in good shape. In one sense, once this fire is history, we can expect for a very long time to have serious rock and dirt slides on the Angeles Crest, and I expect there will be massive slides during the forthcoming wet season."

 

Contrary to what was reported in several places, Newcomb's Ranch has survived so far (knock wood). What remains to be seen is how long the highway will remain closed as a direct result of the fire, and how often it will be closed by slides caused by winter rains in the near future. A forest service representative said that while the pavement for the most part is intact, the road markings have burned away, as have many of the safety barricades. As the vegetation burned, rocks were released, so there will be a big cleanup for that as well. Many of the Caltrans maintenance crew who kept the highway in shape for much of the year lived at Chilao, and three of the four houses they occupied are gone.

 

The eastern end of the highway just reopened after a closure of five years caused by landslides. Who knows how long this present arson-caused disaster will take it away.

[georgeb]

Looks like Newcombs Ranch may have been spared. the link below is linked to

google earth, so if you have dowloaded this free application it will zoom into

the fireline and you can click on the blue boxes in the image on the right and see where

Newcombs Ranch is. It appears NR might get surrounded but the fire lines to the

south and east have not changed in a couple days, and may have been

extinguished. it appears the fire may reconnect in the north.

http://bit.ly/gMA84

 

 

[Bullett]

Jan clicked the link in the prior post and tried to open it with Google Earth. The result was a complete and immediate hard drive failure. Possible coincidence, possibly not. Asking any computer guru mods to investigate link before anyone else clicks it.

[Twisties]

ok, not a hard drive failure, but some kind of hard crash. Computer restarted itself and is resetting itself to boot from CD, not HD, so it was looking like no HD recognized. Have to interrupt boot and redirect it. HD seems to be ok. Windows says problem with graphics driver.

[CoarsegoldKid]

Sorry to hear about the HD failure, Jan. I didn't open the site after reading Sharon's post.

 

Many years ago, I think it was in the mid seventies there was a fire up there above a small community and the name escapes me now. The following year was a El Nino year. For those reading this not familiar with a El Nino year it's when the Pacific Ocean reaches a certain temperature threshold that brings heavy rains to Southern California. The wall of mud, rocks, and trees came thru the community and removed it. I don't think it was rebuilt. Also there are debris basins in the ravines leading down to the foothill neighborhoods that are supposed to protect homes. They failed and many homes were erased. Some smart folks opened their front doors and rear doors to allow the mud to find a way out of their livingrooms. Others helplessly watched their homes vanish. They rebuilt. It could happen again this year. The winter of 2009/2010 is predicted to be a El Nino year.

Arsonists should be burned at the stake. No jail time.

[Twisties]

Seems reinstall of graphics software and reset of bios has fixed things. Likely not a malicious program.

[Jon_M]

According to today's LA Times, the Crest highway and in fact the entire forest are closed indefinitely. It will likely last at least through the coming rainy season and probably beyond. The burning away of the vegetation will cause a lot of rocks to come down onto the road in the immediate future, and if the rains are heavy that will mean even more damage. We could lose big sections of the road entirely.

 

I live a ten minutes' ride from the start of the highway. At least half of my riding for the last forty years has been in those mountains. We just got the full length of the highway back after a five-year closure, and now it's gone again. Bad.

[Heck]

Link is ok...no problems with malicious code...

 

Sorry about the unluck Jan...

[Tony_K]

We just got the full length of the highway back after a five-year closure, and now it's gone again. Bad.

 

I had been taking my time to get up there and over to Wrightwood since the reopening... not thinking anything as catastrophic as what has just happened... would happen.

 

I mourn the loss of the two firefighters more. The road will be back, some day.

[Jon_M]

I mourn the loss of the two firefighters more.

 

No argument there.

[EffBee]

We just got the full length of the highway back after a five-year closure, and now it's gone again. Bad.

 

I had been taking my time to get up there and over to Wrightwood since the reopening... not thinking anything as catastrophic as what has just happened... would happen.

 

I mourn the loss of the two firefighters more. The road will be back, some day.

 

I don't live there any longer, but I did for 50 years and I rode The Crest routinely if not religiously. And while the temporary loss of that road is something my riding brethren mourn, I would gladly have it disappear forever if we could have those brave firefighters back in the arms of their loving families.

 

My mother served as secretary to the fire chief in a SoCal city for 30 years. Actually she served that function for several chiefs. And I got to know the firefighting family quite well. The ones who weren't married or didn't have family nearby were always invited over for holiday barbecues and even a Thanksgiving or two. Many grew up to become lieutenants and captains, and always stayed close to us. When my dad passed away, they showed up at both the rosary and the funeral, in full uniform.

 

Not that their lives are worth more than anyone else's, but firefighters have a special place in my life.

 

 

 

[vizhip]

 

This picture was forwarded to me from an e-mail message that originated in Irvine in August... unbelievable... You think how large those flames are and the area they are approaching... and the fire fighters still walk out there and stand up to them...

 

Regards -

-Bob