Images of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument – Southern California, taken in May 2019.

Maintained by the US Forest Service, San Gabriel Mountains National Monument was created in 2014 to protect the wilderness area directly to the northeast of the sprawling Los Angeles basin. The park represents two very distinct areas; the rugged dry desert mountains to the west and the snowcapped and pine covered mountains in the east.

On my first trip through the park I drove the Angels Forest Highway from north to south which snakes its way through the dry mountainous region ending up near Mount Wilson where I took a side trip to the peak to look out over the cloud covered Los Angeles basin and to visit the Mount Wilson Observatory. But the most interesting thing I saw on this day was the Chaparral Yucca blooms; towering 15 foot stalks, 6 to 8 inches in diameter, dotting some of the hillsides created an impressive show. These plants live for approximately five years, bloom spectacularly and then die.

Taking on a trip through the eastern mountains was a little more difficult as a “landslip” had closed some of the Angel Crest Highway. Because of this I had to drive almost 80 miles around the northern boundary of the park to see whatever I could get to. Unfortunately the road was closed at the Islip Saddle, much further to the east than I had anticipated. As disappointing as this was I was still able to see some impressive views of Mount Burnham (9,001 ft) and Mount Baden-Powell (9,407 ft).