No matter where you are in Los Angeles, the snow-capped, towering mountain loom overhead. It’s rare that we get this much rain in such a short amount of time here in Southern California and at the higher elevations, that translates to snow. Over the past few days, there’s been snow and ice as low as 1,800′ in the Angeles National Forest, yet with the warmer weekend temperatures arriving, we weren’t sure just how much we’d encounter once we reached the 5,000′ mark.

On Saturday, Cari and I drove up Highway 2 into the Angeles National Forest, parked the car and began riding a loop I’ve wanted to take her on for a while now: we’d climb Mt. Disappointment and cut through to Mt. Lowe via an unmarked trail, resulting in a short, but scenic ride. As we pedaled up the mountain, on the icy road and through all the people building snowmen and taking selfies, it was apparent even with the warm temperatures, the north-facing sections of road would be entirely frozen. The theme for the day was “go slow, and avoid sliding out” on the black ice and slick roadside.

The views did not disappoint, nor did the riding conditions. That’s the beauty about the wilderness here, you’re only a short jaunt back to civilization…