Windy Gap Trail (Angeles National Forest)
The Windy Gap Trail is a short but important link of the north San Gabriel River valley to the Pacific Crest Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains in California. The trailhead starts at the uppermost parking lot of the Crystal Lake Recreation Area which is about 3 miles (4.8 km) up from State Route 39, 25 miles (40 km) above Azusa, California. The trail is rated moderately strenuous.
In September 2002, parts of the trail were burned in the Curve Fire which burned 20,857 acres (84.41 km2) which included parts of the Crystal Lake Recreation Area. Nearly the entire length of the trail is exposed to direct sinlight due to the fire however new growth has been observed during the trail restoration effort in the aftermath of the Curve Fire.
The trail heads due north up the steep canyon face above the campground and crosses the South Hawkins fire lookout access road twice. The second crossing is near the Big Cienega Spring after which it heads on a right oblique toward the ridge and the saddle which is named Windy Gap. From this vantage point one faces into a seemingly perpetual wind that blows up from the broad canyon below. The benchmark here is posted at 7,588 feet (2,313 m).
The total hike is about 2 miles (3.2 km) and intersects the trails for Little Jimmy Trail Camp, Mount Islip or other mountains east, South Hawkins, Baden-Powell, and the Vincent Gap Trail.
Read more about Windy Gap Trail (Angeles National Forest): Source
Famous quotes containing the words windy, gap, trail and/or national:
“The windy springs and the blazing summers, one after another, had enriched and mellowed that flat tableland; all the human effort that had gone into it was coming back in long, sweeping lines of fertility. The changes seemed beautiful and harmonious to me; it was like watching the growth of a great man or of a great idea. I recognized every tree and sandbank and rugged draw. I found that I remembered the conformation of the land as one remembers the modelling of human faces.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“I peer eagerly into every gap in a fence of a zipper.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey leaving a trail of ambiguous
picture postcards of Atlantic City Hall,”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“Mr. Speaker, at a time when the nation is again confronted with necessity for calling its young men into service in the interests of National Security, I cannot see the wisdom of denying our young women the opportunity to serve their country.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)