I went on a 10-mile roundtrip hike, which lasted nearly 7 hours, with my friend Yuan the day after New Year’s in the San Gabriel Mountains along the San Gabriel River to a place called the “Bridge to Nowhere”. The bridge is a remnant of a road that was never fully constructed to connect the San Gabriel Valley in suburban LA to the Antelope Valley in the high desert. The road was washed away during a massive flood in the 1930’s, and besides the bridge, few remnants of that road remain. It was a cool day but sunny day with generally great conditions for hiking.
This was one of the more challenging hikes I had been on not just because of the length but because of the rugged terrain and the numerous stream crossings involved. Although there was only an elevation gain of about 800 feet over the course of the hike, there were a lot of ups and downs along the trail and climbing around rocks on narrow ledges. I really had a sense of accomplishment when I completed the hike, and it was a very enjoyable experience (despite the soreness I and my friend experienced afterward).
Neither of us had been on the trail before or knew what to expect, so we didn’t come quite a prepared as we should have. Nevertheless, we were able to make do with what we had. The stream crossings were interesting. We didn’t have the sort of boots you would use to wade in the water, so we took off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pants and waded across ice cold water that ranged from ankle to knee deep. The water felt very stinging with its coldness (remember it’s winter and the water comes from deep within the mountains). We crossed barefoot about four times, and we crossed the river at least a total of ten times. This would be an impossible hike when the river is swollen after a heavy rain. The other times we didn’t cross barefoot we were able to tiptoe balancing on logs or stones lying across the width of the stream. We picked up branches along the side of the stream and used them to help us balance; life would have been much more difficult without them.
What we found on hiking along the trail was one of the most beautiful canyon settings in Southern California that either of us had ever seen. We heard the crashing of the river during most of the time we were out. The environment was, however, more desert-like than I had expected. The trail was within a canyon in the mountains and reached a maximum elevation of less than 3,000 feet, which I guess was not high enough for pine trees or other sorts of mountain flora. In part of the floodplain that we walked through, there was what I would describe as a forest of yucca plants with sharp, pointy leaves. These leaves even poked us through our clothing. About half the hike was out of direct sunlight and under the shade of the surrounding mountains, and the other half was under direct exposure. This would have been a much more difficult hike during the summertime.
We even lucky enough to spot some interesting wildlife. Most of the area we hiked through was in what is called the Sheep Mountain Wilderness, and when we were hiking back we were treated to the sight of four bighorn sheep climbing down a steep cliff. Yuan commented that it would be nice to have their climbing skills. A pair of hikers we were passing pointed them out to us, and I know that I would have never noticed them if someone else didn’t point them out to me. I also scanned the river hoping to spot some trout but didn’t see any although there were a few anglers wading the stream. They didn’t seem to be having much luck, but I didn’t actually ask any of them how the fishing was.
It took us 3 hours and 43 minutes to reach our final destination 5 miles from our starting point, the Bridge to Nowhere. It was really an odd, beautiful sight. The bridge, which stood alone with no connecting road at either end of it, was in remarkably excellent condition with elegant support arches high above the river below and ending abruptly against a towering mountain. Knowing that it survived the great floods from 70 years ago when the rest of the highway didn’t, we wondered how long into the future the bridge would survive as we rested there a while.
We learned some things that helped us hike more efficiently and shave 43 minutes off the time of our return trip, which took us exactly 3 hours. We knew the trail better and were helped by the general descent in elevation. We carried sticks with us most of the time to help us better maintain better balance during difficult parts of the trail. We ran into other hikers and followed lead on better spots to climb down certain rocks to reach certain legs of the trail and on better points to cross the stream so we didn’t have to go barefoot so much. We also tried to emulate for a time one group’s quicker hiking pace.
What I liked most about the trip was spending time with my friend. I often go hiking alone, but it would have been very difficult to do this particular hike by myself. There were several occasions we had to help each other climb around certain rocks or while crossing the stream (actually it was mostly him helping me). I liked the team effort and enjoyed being able to share the experience with someone I was close to with a mutual interest.