We've all, at one time or another, decided to take an unknown fork in the road just to see what's THIS way instead of THAT way. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. Here's a story about a series of such decisions...
I decided to go for a bike ride. It was almost 11:00 AM, but I was bored, so I packed all the stuff and drove out to the Indian Canyon Road, which goes south from Soledad Canyon Road near Acton, California. I was on my bike by 12:30, cruising easily up the first section of road. The Indian Canyon Road climbs about 500 feet, then levels off, then drops 500 feet before climbing about 2500 feet to the Santa Clara Divide Road. I made it this far by about 2:30, and decided (oops) to explore a little. I rode the Santa Clara Divide to North Fork Saddle, where there is a ranger station and an intersection with a nearly abandoned road which goes south into Pacoima Canyon. Here's where I made another decision (oops) and I took this abandoned road down into the canyon.
I got to the bottom of the canyon by 4:00, and found a nice meadow in which I ate lunch. I took a quick dip in the stream to fight the heat, then packed up to go. Here, I made yet another decision (oops) and continued south on this road, which climbs up to the Mendenhall Ridge Road, which links Little Tejunga Canyon Road and the Mount Gleason Road. As I neared the top of the Mendenhall Ridge, the sun was just setting. I figured (wrongly) that the easiest way to get back to the car is to make a loop and ride up to Mount Gleason, then back down the Santa Clara Divide to the Indian Canyon Road and back to my car.
It began to get dark shortly after I decided (oops) to go toward Mount Gleason. The Mendenhall Ridge Road gets very rocky in this section, and trying to ride in the dark was useless. I began to alternate walking and riding. Some hours later, I got close enough to see Mount Gleason in the darkness ahead...way ahead! I decided that since I was already doomed to a night out, I should stop and nap a little. This I did, wrapping myself in my light raingear and putting my legs inside my pack. I finally needed all that useless crap I force myself to carry.
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