Climbing Mt. Wilson has been a long-time cycling goal of mine. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to do this climb. For some reason, I just never got around to doing it.
When I was a kid–about 7 or 8 years old–I would ride in the back of my Dad’s car. We would drive up to Angeles Crest Hwy sometimes on the weekends, often heading up to Mt. Wilson and the vicinity, to hike some of the trails in the area. Along the way, I saw the occasional cyclist, and I was always amazed that they had had ridden their bicycle all the way up there. I grew up in Pasadena, California, and every day (when it wasn’t too smoggy), I would look up at the San Gabriel Mountains and Mt. Wilson, specifically, and remember those cyclists. I thought, “Someday, I want to climb up there on my bike!”
I don’t know why it took me so long to do it. Maybe part of it was just that it seemed so intimidating to me. So, this past weekend, when I was out riding on Big Tujunga Canyon Road with the Rapha Cycling Club, the discussion turned to “extra credit” and I suggested, “why don’t we ride up to Mt. Wilson?” To my delight, the group was generally in agreement, and off we went.
To my surprise, the climb wasn’t near as challenging or intimidating as I had built it up to be in my own mind. But, after we made it up to the top, I felt such a great sense of accomplishment at finally doing this climb.
The Route
On this ride, the group started near the intersection of Lowell and Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta. We then rode up Big Tujunga Canyon Road, and made a left at the intersection with Angeles Forest Hwy, to Upper Big Tujunga Rd, and then over to Mt. Wilson Red Box Rd.
Here’s the Strava activity for this ride:
Looking Ahead
I will definitely be looking for an opportunity to do this climb again, but next time, I will ride up from Angeles Crest Hwy in La Crescenta.