Ride to Mile High Cafe and Newcomb's Ranch

 OK... so the rest of you can't ride all year round. I had planned a ride to the desert where it would be warm. I woke up Saturday and it was a glorious sunny day. While I was taking care of chores around the house it was getting warmer. I took the bike out and gassed it up and stopped at the bank for some $. It was getting warmer. This is November and back home in Cleveland my bike would have been put away a month ago for the season and here it hit in the mid 80's...

Cajon Pass		 I changed our plan and we headed up the 15 to 138 towards Wrightwood. I had been wanting to drive the Angeles Crest Highway and also Big Pines Highway. I have been on the Angeles Crest before in the Miata. The picture on the left is of some rock formations on the way up Cajon Pass. They are really pretty cool looking and this is the first time I was able to stop and take a picture.

The Bike at the visitor center		 After passing though Wrightwood I was looking for Big Pines Highway and managed to miss it. We stopped at this visitor Center for Karen to do her thing and for me to figure out how I screwed up. The air was cool yet the sun was hot. We are at about 5,000 ft here.

The leaves do change colors here		 This little roadside park was just so picturesque I had to stop and shoot some photos. It is on the Big Pines Highway just a few miles from our first planned stop at the Mile High Cafe.

Mile High Cafe		 Seems this place is very popular with the biker crowd. We ate breakfast with a gentlemen named Hank who told us a lot about the area while we chowed down. Hank lived in Wrightwood and was out doing his favorite loop ride so he was our guide for the rest of the day. I was too busy enjoying the scenery to try keeping up with him so every few miles or at turns he would wait for us. He pointed out a monastery that we could go back and explore at a later date.

Inside Mile High Cafe		 Yours truly and the ever beautiful Karen.

Shot of the Angeles Crest Highway		 Conceived in 1912- the ride was predicted to be "the most scenic and picturesque mountain road in the state". Construction began in 1929 after raising funds for some 10 years. The road wasn't completed till 1956 with multiple fire roads spinning off of the main highway. The drive up here is certainly very beautiful and you go up as high as 8,000 ft.. Later in the day as the sun was starting to go down a little it got cool. As you can see from the picture if you go off the road you are a goner. Most corners are gentle sweepers but you need to watch the pavement for changes in texture or color. It could be sand or rock from the mountain or moisture. We stopped at Newcomb's Ranch, another sport biker hangout, to get a drink and a pit stop.

Old Rt 66 road bed		 On the way down the mountain we drove a part of old Rt. 66. This is a shot of an area where 66 at one time was a divided highway. Actually before this stretch was 66 it was a toll road to go up and down the pass. I guess at one time after the newer highway opened they decided there was no need to maintain both sides so closed one.