THE SOUTHERN PEAKS TOUR Soledad Canyon to San Diego Seven days, 460 miles Many people would be surprised at the notion of quality cycle-touring so near Southern California’s twin monster metroplexes, Los Angeles and San Diego. But local riders know there are wonderful treasures buried up in the high hills surrounding the overdeveloped coastal basin..in the Angeles, San Bernardino, and Cleveland National Forests. This is one of the hilliest tours we offer, with many long, sustained climbs–some of them quite steep–as well as some of the sweetest downhills you’ll ever do. As the tour’s finish is at a lower elevation than its start, you actually do more descending than climbing, with the final day being almost entirely downhill. You won’t have to wait that long for a payback on all the effort you put in on the climbs though, as there are large and small descents every day, and also there is the reward of all the breathtaking panoramas from the tops of the many hills you’ll be working so hard to ascend. The tour essentially follows the north-to-south course of four mountain ranges: the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Laguna Mountains. Along the way, the scenery varies from chaparral and near-desert to mountainous, almost alpine grandeur, to rolling grasslands and charming, hilly orchards and little farms that seem quite out of place in a region commonly considered hot and dry. It’s the altitude that does it: the higher you go, the greener it gets (more or less). You will be amazed at how beautiful and peaceful this tour can be. • Tour packet: 44 pages; 54 photos; 8 maps • Where does it go? Day 1: Soledad Canyon to Big Pines 71 miles, 10,000' up, 4100' down Lots and lots of climbing, as your work your way up to and then along the length of the Angeles Crest Highway. Although there are almost no really steep pitches, it’s hard to hide that 10,000' elevation number. It adds up to a long day. Most of the climbing is long and gradual. Camp at a group site on top of a mountain, amid towering, snow-capped peaks. No showers, but good, modern bathrooms with hot water. Day 2: Big Pines to Big Bear Lake 72 miles, 7300' up, 8100' down Drop out of the San Gabriel Mountains and climb into the San Bernardino Mountains on the way to an overnight at a camp on the shore of Big Bear Lake (above). Includes some really fast downhills and some really tough climbs..perhaps the toughest single ascent of the trip: climbing from Silverwood Lake to Lake Gregory. A great run along aptly named Rim of the World Drive with views to forever. Showers at camp. Day 3: Big Bear Lake to Banning 73 miles, 5500' up, 9300' down After a long climb to the high point on the tour (8443' Onyx summit), begin one of the longest descents in the state: over 30 miles of almost continuous high speed hi-jinx. Skirt the suburbs of Yucaipa and explore the apple orchard highlands around picturesque Oak Glen before descending–another great downhill–to the small city of Banning. Our camp for this night no longer takes tent campers, so we are staying in a motel instead. Day 4: Banning to Oak Grove 80 miles, 7500' up, 7700' down 70 miles, 6000’ up, 6200’ down After leaving Banning, begin another long, gradual climb...this time into the magnificent San Jacinto Mountains on the way to the lovely hill village of Idyllwild. Then descend into a series of beautiful, tranquil valleys on the way to a very remote Forest Service camp. No showers. Day 5: Oak Grove to Palomar Mountain 42 miles, 4000' up, 2000' down Bonus: 10 miles, 1200' Rolling roads through open meadows to start, then a long climb up to Palomar Mountain, overlooking lovely Lake Henshaw. Very scenic: broadleaf forest and sprawling mountain meadows. Bulk up the short day with a run up to the Hale Observatory on the summit of the mountain. Tour the planetarium, then tumble down the hill to one of the nicest camps we’ve ever discovered.Showers. Day 6: Palomar Mountain to Mount Laguna 72 miles, 9000' up, 7900' down Two shortcuts available Perhaps the best day on the tour. Every mile is excellent, beginning with a world-class descent from Palomar and several more miles of slinky downhill across the Santa Ysabel Valley. Then a wonderful meander through another up-country apple orchard region...green meadows, little ponds, and New England-style farms, less than 50 miles from Mexico! Visit the well-preserved gold rush boom town of Julian and then climb in rolling, easy stairsteps up the Sunrise Highway to a beautiful camp on the shoulder of Mt Laguna. Showers. Day 7: Mount Laguna to Alpine 47 miles, 2500' up, 7300' down 37 miles, 2000' up, 6800' down A payback for all that climbing: a day of almost constant descending, and all of it twisting, curling fun. Scenery at the higher elevations at the beginning is almost alpine–in spite of being within sight of the Mojave Desert–but as you descend, the landscape shifts into a mix of chaparral and massive boulders...more what you would expect this far south. The ride ends up at a fun restaurant in the town of Alpine or at a nearby lakeside campground with all the modern amenities. • How hard is it? A look at the elevation numbers will tell you this is a very hilly tour, and while most of the climbs are gradual, a few are quite steep and challenging. This is not a tour for everyone. Only a couple of days have shorter, easier options. You will need to be a fit, experienced cyclist, comfortable with long climbs and with long, sometimes technical descents. That doesn’t mean it’s a death march. Anyone who can do a moderately hilly century ought to be able to do this tour. • When should you do this tour? This region looks its best in the spring, when the meadows are green and the wildflowers are blooming, but unfortunately, there is the possibility that some of the higher roads–Hwy 2 along the Angeles Crest, for instance–may still be closed by snow as late as mid-June. Sometimes the roads stay open year-’round, but in other years, you could be blocked. However, this is a trip that I think can be planned with a relatively short lead time, as I don’t see these campgrounds filling up quickly, except on weekends in mid-summer. (When I did this tour in the first week of June, almost every campground was virtually deserted.) So if you want to try and schedule it for early June, you may be able to wait until mid-spring and check with Caltrans on potential road closures before making your campground reservations. Other than that, I would suggest doing the tour in September. • Accommodations The campground on the first night in Soledad Canyon is part of a slightly funky old trailer resort, but is passable. And we lost the camp near Banning and have had to resort to a motel instead on that night. Aside from that, all the sites are delightful, and sometimes quite spectacular. This tour cannot be easily modified for motel overnights, as some of the designated camping overnights are very remote and far from any lodgings. • Travel..to and from The start in Soledad Canyon is just north of Los Angeles via I-5 and Hwy 14. If you’re coming from northern California, calculate how long it takes you to get to LA on 1-5 and subtract about an hour. The finish is on the eastern fringe of San Diego. It’s possible to drive from San Diego to the Bay Area in one day, but it’s a more pleasant trip if broken into two chunks. The final day–only 52 miles and almost all downhill–lends itself to being a getaway day. You should be in camp early enough to have a shower and a lunch, and then drive on to some point further north to spend the night. Obviously, if you’re from the Los Angeles area, you can skip the overnights at the start and finish. Although not a loop tour, it would be fairly easy to arrange the tour so that cars could be left at the start for retrieval at the end. If everyone can squeeze into your sag wagon(s) for the drive from San Diego back to Soledad Canyon, it can be done. Another option would be to drive north on the afternoon of the final ride day and hook up with another of our Southern California tours: the Condor Country Tour. There is a detailed description in the write-up about how to combine the two tours into a magnificent–and fairly challenging–ten or eleven-day tour. Adventure Velo 7315 Fircrest Avenue Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-823-9807 backroad@sonic.net