Angeles Crest Highway

Angeles Crest Highway
click photo to enlarge	Angeles Crest Highway construction was started in 1929 intended as a fire access road for the Angles National Forest. Construction was halted in 1941 due to World War II. Construction by prison labor resumed after the war and it was eventually opened in 1956. The highway is constantly plagued by closures due to weather including fog, snow and ice. During the winter of 2004 and 2005 the road was closed due to extensive damage from all the rain we received. It was not to reopen until May of 2009.
click photo to enlarge	The picture to the left shows our mode of transportation this day. Our destination was just the road. We took a picnic lunch to sit at one of the picnic spots along the way enjoying the views. The road is 66 miles of beautiful scenery and gentle high speed sweepers that are an awful lot of fun to drive or ride. I always avoid it early in the morning as that is when the crotch rocket crowd comes out.
click photo to enlarge	The highway is currently closed again due to the fires in the Angeles National Forest. The picture to the left shows on of the areas where the road washed out in 04-05. They build a new bridge that allows the hillside to washout under the bridge now. Below is one of the crotch rockets out playing. They will be dressed in full race leathers. This guy is kind of tame as his angle of lean is not very extreme but it is not unusual to see them flying around like it is a race track leaned all the way over dragging a knee pad. WRONG. That's why we go in the afternoon.
click photo to enlarge	click photo to enlarge