Mount Gleason loop

I got this ride directly out of a new book I recently bought, called "San Gabriel Mountains' Best Trails" by Mike Troy and Kevin Woten. I rode this in late July 2001, and started at around 8am. Another hour earlier would have helped as it was already warming up. You have to drive up the 14 leaving LA, and exit at Soledad Canyon Rd. (the second one called this, there are two). Then you go south and turn off left on Aliso Canyon Rd. You follow this until the sign that says you need a forestry pass. Thomas Guide® ref pg 4465 G6. There's an area of dirt on the right hand side. Park here.

You take the dirt road which the Thomas Guide calls "ARRASTRE-ALISO Cut off", and which the map calls 4N32 although there's not one sign to confirm this. This dirt road is super-smooth and undulates for a few miles, mostly going up, but diving down a few dips too. It's used for a mining operation which you pass after around 4 miles and there's evidence it gets heavily used during working hours. You soon reach this junction of dirt roads and make a left turn up the hill, which is the Moody Canyon Truck Trail also known as 4N33. Here the climbing starts in earnest and the lower parts are quite loose and rocky. It grinds up for a few miles and you rapidly gain elevation. At one point you pass a marker indicating "Perspiration Point". I was perspiring freely all the way up this trail! You can tell that at one point this marker had some tools set into the concrete which have long since been removed.

Eventually you round a corner and trees start to appear, and you're on the south side of the mountain. After a bit you reach a junction which is the Santa Clara Divide Road. You take the left which continues on up. You soon come to the Messenger Flats campsite and I saw a few cars and tents there. Someone was also shooting off a gun which was a little unnerving. Continuing on you come to a paved road. Here you have to take the steep left up towards Mt Gleason. The steepness doesn't last long. After 1/2 mile or so, there's a gated (but accessible with a bike) turning to the left which leads to the summit of Mt. Gleason. This was a huge anti-climax for me. It goes about 1/4 mile only, and ends in a flat plateau. It's quite a high peak at 6502ft so you think there'd be more up there.

To continue, you return to the gate and turn left, and start descending rapidly down the paved road. You pass this one large transmission tower. Within a few minutes you've sunk about 500 feet and you're approaching State Correctional Facility #16, which you pass on the left hand side. What a place to be locked up! Very remote. I did a ride some momths ago and hoped to reach this from the south, but never managed to reach it. The road I was on that time (Fall Canyon Road, 3N27) was very rough, and there seemed to be no sign of anyone ever having used it! It didn't help that I had to cross a river to get to it. It's basically an access road for 2 sets of power pylons running north/south.

I saw a couple of vehicles going to the Correctional Facility and wondered if they were staff or visiting inmates. The paved road continues up a little, and then you come to a welcome turning off to the left which is dirt road 4N24. You basically blast all the way back to Aliso Canyon Road on this dirt road. It's long and twisty with a few mildly uphill sections. There are many turn-offs which are for access to the power towers. You also pass the Pacific Crest Trail which crosses over this dirt road near the top. For some reason when I'm doing a long descent my feet seem to get red-hot, and this happened again today. Eventually signs of civilization come into view, a bit of farming going on and a lake, and you can clearly see Aliso Canyon Road. You hit the road, and take a left. Within 1 mile, you're back to the starting point.

Total mileage was 25 miles, total climbing around 3700ft.