The Bridge To Nowhere

The Bridge to Nowhere trail is a well known trail in the San Gabriel Mountains. I first heard about it in passing several years ago and I've been thinking about making the trek since becoming a photographer.

I have never been on a real long hike before so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into when I started my drive up into the mountains. The most important points to remember are to bring water and to bring something to eat when you reach the bridge. In order to park at the trail head, you'll need an Adventure Pass which, i guess you can buy at Big 5 or on the way at Stop and Go Liquor store on the corner of Azusa and Sierra Madre. It's only 10 bucks or 30 bucks for a whole year, if you want to go again. If you don't get the pass you will get a fat ticket. I also read about getting some type of permit for crossing into a mountain sheep reserve and that you pick one up at the trailhead, but I never saw anything there and nobody else got one either.

The green area in the picture below is a cool little campgrounds right at the actual beginning of the trail head. In that same spot there is another trail for Heaton Flats, which starts by the last restroom before the trail starts.

Below is the last bathroom before either of the trails. I suggest you do whatever you need to do before you go. It took me at least six hours in total. Don't be alarmed, but the toilets here are indeed holes in the ground. Watch out for any flys flying up your butt and bring a roll of paper with you for a little extra comfort.

The story of this trail, I found to be very interesting. Back in the 1930's, an alternate road was being built to the high desert. This area tends to have rock slides quite frequently, especially with the long term closure of Highway 39. There was a flash rainstorm that washed out most of the road going to the bridge which led to it not being completed. Several places along the trail, you can still see pieces of the asphalt road. mostly on the east side of the river.

You have to cross the river/stream at least 6 times. People have tried helping by adding rocks to cross the water as dry as possible, but sometimes you have to just take the soaker and live with it. I found that out twice. Thank god I didn't slip and fall in it completely.

You never know what you will find on this trail. Who even knows how long that jacket has been there.

Just like with the stream crossings, it looked like people added rocks to the side of the trail so it would be very simple to find the trail. With the stream crossings, there was some difficulty finding where the trail was exactly.

I saw several of these along the trail and I could think of only two reasons for them, at one point there were electrical lines going across or they are for hawks and other birds to perch on. I'm going with the latter. 

o.0 almost there!

Would any of you jump? I'm to big of a chicken shit to even consider it.

Here is a view of the river below the bridge.

Hard for me to believe that this was built in the late 30's. This was one of the best views of the whole trail. Worth the two and a half hours to get there.

These were really fun to cross over. I had always seen it done in the movies and they are easier to cross that they look. Just don't slip!

I think this was one of the trail maintenance guys. He was digging rocks out of the river. He was very helpful in giving us directions to reach the bridge.

This little waterfall was apparently a runoff from a mine that was located further up into the hills. It had concrete on both sides of it and drained into the river below.

One last interesting tidbit that I forgot add above, you might have noticed in the first picture, there are several miners along the river. I had read about them when doing some research, but never imagined seeing them. I wonder what kinds of stuff they find or if they find any silver in the runoff. 

All in all, the hike is about 10 miles long. I wasn't tired when I got to the bridge, but I was starting to feel it after I had rested for a bit and then a short time into the hike back to the parking lot. If you don't like long walks or being challenged, this one aint for you. I'm a walking machine, so I thought it was a wonderful trip.

Some last bits of advice, get there early, 6AM-7AM in the summertime and late spring/early fall or around 8 in the wintertime. Don't start after 12 noon because you might not finish before the sun goes down. Take lots of water, some food to eat, a towel, some board shorts/swim gear in case you want to go down to the river when you get to the bridge and cool off. I also had a bandanna that I wet down and tied around my neck to cool me down and to prevent sunburn. Wear a hat and sunscreen as well. Hope you all can try this one. Have fun!

I only picked about 20+ pictures for this post, but you can see the rest of my trip here.

Griffith Park Zoo

Not many people remember that the current LA Zoo is not the original location. When I was looking up hikes in my local area, I actually found that out. I'm only 30, so I wouldn't know it being anywhere different. The only zoos I knew of were the current LA Zoo, the Santa Ana Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

Aparently, some of these "ancient" (does 50 years count as ancient?) exhibits were used in the film Anchorman for the scene at the end where everybody was gathered waiting for the panda to give birth.

This hike kinda creeped me out a bit. I've gone to places where I can keep an eye on my surroundings to protect myself from trouble. Its one reason why I keep coming back to Downtown LA and Hollywood. There was graffiti on most of the ruins, which further developed my concern, and the darkend interior didn't help either. After I took the shot above, my fears subsided, but I remained ever vigilant.

When I first looked up the location, I was under the impression that the former zoo was closed in the early 30s, but they were closed in the mid 60s because of a public outcry of not enough space in the exhibits. The zoo was then moved to its current location, right off the 5 freeway where it intersects the 134 freeway. 

I was completely astounded while walking past the cages. They were still intact to the point where they looked usable even today! I saw some little kids playing inside a couple of the cages. They looked like they belonged. Little bastards......

The old zoo is a part of a couple of trails in Griffith Park. They both come together just above the carousel. The upper trail begain at the fence above. Just a few yards from the end of the lower exhibits.  

This trail did not lack in views. Let me tell ya. There were several vantage points that could impress anybody. On the way up the beginning of the trail, you follow what used to be a stream of some sort, The pipe above went underneath the main trail so you didn't have to walk through any water. The view below is an excellent sight of Glendale. Several cities are in that direction, but the tall buildings are in Glendale.

This trail is walked quite frequently. Many people made their own trails in several different spots. It didn't look like it mattered how safe it was either.

Below is a view of the lower trail. I took that one back to the zoo so I could check out some of the upper level exhibits that were closed off to the public. Somebody cut the fence. If you get out there, watch your step. Its blocked off for a reason. I have no problem trespassing though.

I was very reluctant to take pictures of any actual graffitti. I don't want to spread the haterade which is the whole point of the game. The pink and green used kinda threw me for a loop and I tossed all reason out the door. Well.... If there had been a door out there I most definitely would have tossed it out one.

I think the building below was the old Ape building. At least thats what it looked like to me. It was ALL tagged up.

This last picture is of the end point of a different trail called Bee Rock. I have several different shots from different spots. This one happened to be the best. I'm planning to walk that trail next time.

The Old Zoo trail is an easy walk for anybody. not many stairs to the exhibits and it is a must see!

For more information, check out the info over on Hikes Peak,

To view the rest of the photos from my trip, Visit my Smugmug page.

Gaviota Wind Tunnels

My last stop on my most recent expedition to the Central Valley of California led me to the Gaviota Wind Tunnels. I had been contemplating this minor hike for a few weeks previous and made it my goal to attempt it when I was driving back.

The trail head for this hike is right off the 101 as it turns down towards Santa Barbara. You just exit the freeway at Gaviota Beach Rd and stay right while you go up the hill. Then its the first parking area you cross on the right hand side. you can check out all of the details on the Hike's Peak.

a recurring theme that day. I wanted to show the elevation of the hike.

Gas lines like these are littered throughout. I saw at least 3 vents including one in the middle of nothing.

I'm going to have to travel up this route sometime. Looks like more fun than driving for sure!

Here is the final view from the top..... Or at least as high I was willing to go. My camera ended up out of battery right after that, so I was lucky.

I just want to throw a couple of cautions out to anybody looking to do this hike. It really isn't as long as it seems, so you don't need a boatload of it, but make sure to bring water. I was a real idiot for not doing that. Next. watch the ledges inside the caves. Where I shot #20, the hole is on an underside and didn't have any real place to stand. Just play it safe and have fun out there.

I only used about half of the images I took on this post. If you would like to see the entire set, check out the gallery on my Smugmug page