Ups and Downs

If you grew up in the the San Fernando Valley,  particularly the middle of it,  you might remember a place called the Ups and Downs. The Ups and Downs was right by Sepulveda Junior High where students went after school to settle disputes with other students. In the mid-70s there were periods of time when week after week rumors circulated about yet another big gang fight that supposed to take place at the Ups and Downs. As its name also suggests, it was a popular place to ride bmx. Well, this post has nothing to do with that Ups and Downs.

the West Side Road heading up canyon

I had hoped that RM had completely rendered the trail passable by now, but I still found enough growth to put me on my feet a couple times. All that stuff as dry and brittle as the morning sky, and more than eager to scratch and jab and stab at my legs. Actually though, for all that, I was surprised the way was as clear as it was; there was just the one place really - in the lowest part of the basin, where truck track turned into deer track, turned into... into nothing, and crunching through head-high stuff brought my forward progress to a stop. 

Between the vacation, and the pre-vacation and the post-vacation it has been three weeks since last I made it out there, so it was good to see where things stand especially since cooler temperatures will have me itching to do those rides up the bottom of the canyon again. Ups and downs, where it is the lay of the land, the seasonal fluctuations in the daytime temperatures or, quite frankly, the amount of weekly riding, it is all part and parcel with this time of year. It is all good,  and more than enough to earn myself a post ride Happy Days at CCA. 

the old powerhouse

a part of Stoddard Peak

zigging and...

zagging around the poison oak.

Up through the Spreading Grounds, over the dam, bushwhacking across the basin to the maw, up the West Side Road (aka Old Mountain Ave), and return the long way a round, and finish flourish along Powerline and the dirt TCT. Not too shabby, and I still got to see most of the Rams game.

Hope the weekend was just as good to you, if not better.