Event Coverage New Years Day 2020 So Cal Cruise

Hey B4U,

The route on the Ortega Highway always has to be taken with much caution. But, sometimes it is not enough. The “mountain shadow” curves will be very slick, with possible ice, while the road looks sunny and bright. It is also looking to be very cold.

We were in the Breckenridge Mountain area on Caliente Bodfish Road leading to Lake Isabella. The sun was out and with some snow on the hillsides, it looked to be a good drive to Lake Isabella. The road was dry and clear. There were some blind spots that had ice on the road. The shadow from the hillside caused some anxious moments going slowly, but still the curves and the icy conditions made us go off into a ditch. Our El Camino's right rear tire fell into the ditch, while I was able to keep the front on the road.

Ortega Highway has the same winter sun and blind curve “mountain shadows” causing havoc, so be careful.

Jnaki

This morning, the snow has covered the complete mountain ranges from San Bernardino Mountains all the way to past the Angeles National Forest to the West. With the coming rain predicted to be hitting the coast and the rest of So Cal on Monday, it will bring more snow to those higher elevations, above 4000 feet. So, snow will be somewhere on the hillsides and slopes for days. It will be a cool New Year’s road trip, but cool could turn into cold and freezing…
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Locally, the Saddleback Mountain range got covered again with more snow than last month.

Whatever the route, the title will be to paraphrase Steppenwolf:

Get your "JACKETS" running

"Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way…"

 

Well, just a few days away, time to update this thread. Weather.com is still showing zero chance of rain on New Years Day, though 20% chance of rain tonight/tomorrow. But it looks like the weather is going to cooperate, and even if it does rain tomorrow, our run is at low enough elevation it shouldn't be a problem.

I've finalized the route, it will basically be through Santiago Cyn, down to Ortega Hwy and up and over the Hwy to Lake Elsinore to a cool little brewery/pizzaria for a late lunch, and then everyone can head home along I15. I've got a gas station picked out along Chapman Ave in Orange where we can all meetup, and top off the gas tanks before starting out. A place about half way to stop and stretch the legs, use the restroom and shoot some photos, then 1 more stop at the over look. If you're not familiar with Ortega Hwy, there is a very cool lookout point where you can look out over Lake Elsinore down below. So we'll stop there for a few minutes before zooming down the hill and into Lake Elsinore for the last stop & lunch. And I called and made sure they'll be open.

I tried to start a private message to take this off-line, but the system has a limit for the number of people you can have in a message, so instead I think I'll just shoot a map to everyone individually.

Again, if anyone else wants to join us, post a reply here or shoot me a pm, and I'll get you the map w/ details of where we're going and where we're stopping.

 

Probably good that we’re not doing the Baldy Route this time..

 

Yeah, probably a good idea to stay away from that. That is a cool picture though, nice tint from the setting sun?

 

Ya, it was about 4:40 when taken. The magic light of the setting sun created the cool color tint and drama to the image..

 

cruise going to happen?

 

YES! Definitely going to happen.

We had the ol' Santa Ana winds kick up last night, pretty strong; broke a large branch off the tree in my front yard. But they've calmed down today, and should be gone by tomorrow. Weather.com calls for winds of 3 mph in Lake Elsinore tomorrow, that's nothing. And daytime high temp of 66. Should be really nice. And with the winds having blown all the smog out over the ocean we'll have good visibility for some great views/photos.

So yes, IT'S ON!

 

What a gorgeous morning! Last time to encourage the locals to get up off the couch, turn off the parade and get the car fired up for a nice run on some cool roads on a beautiful afternoon. We're meeting at the Mobil gas station at 4502 E Chapman in Orange at 11:00 (remember, there are 2 Chapman Ave's, 1 in Fullerton, & 1 in Orange, you want the 1 in Orange). Come on, screw the college bowl games, get the car out.

 

I’m in.

 

Well, that was fun! The weather was the best New Years Day in years. 8 of us made the trip in 6 cars, so a small group, but large in spirit. The roads were really nice, only the 1 stop at the over look had some mud puddles we had to avoid (and way to many tourists). The 47 drove so nice, it's a perfect car for this kind of driving, what a sweet heart. Dan, Russ, Nick, Justin, & Joe, thanks so much for joining us for the drive. Maybe we can get a bigger group next year, but if not that's OK, a small group makes it easier to manage. Happy New Year guys!

 

With a beautiful day, clean clear interesting roads, great people, and no breakdowns, what more could you ask for? Awesome way to start off 2020..!

Thank you for organizing this outing Richard..

 

yeah, good people, good times!

 

More photos from the wife's camera:

 

Beautiful scenery .looks like a good time.

 

Nice roadster 32Dan. I heard a rumor that 2020 is the year of the Y block!

 

Looks like a great time. Sorry I couldn't make it.

However, the weather here was good enough that I was able to work in my unheated garage for an hour or so.

Phil

 

Oh yeah...!

 

used to live at Lake Elsinore, in Lakeland Village - Ortega Hwy over to San Juan Capistrano nice ride - Thanks for sharing

 

Awesome way to start the new year. Great cruise, pizza and beer. Thanks again to Richard for putting this together.


Habitually procrastinating

 

Looks like you had fun.

Who's the guy second on the left in the lunch scene? I know that face! Can't recall name though (I'm bad at names!). Used to chat to him at Kiwi Steve's garage nights on the occasions I was there. He's a fellow Brit who's had the sense to stay in SoCal!

Chris

 

That's @Racingsnake He blew 2nd gear in his '60 El Camino the day before the run, so he had to bring his later El Camino, (OT for HAMB).