Bridge to Nowhere
Quite possibly the weirdest but most satisfying hike I've done to date.
One of the things I find so interesting about documenting your life through something like a blog, or even Instagram, is that, you're essentially keeping a diary of what you're doing. What I noticed, after looking at my Instagram feed, was the lack of nature. I think it's important to reset yourself by connecting with Mother Earth somehow, whether it's camping out in Joshua Tree, scuba diving in Catalina or as like I did in this post, hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The hike to the Bridge to Nowhere is about 10 miles round trip, and it took us just a tad over 5 hours (including spending 30 minutes exploring around the bridge), we're fast walkers so it's recommended to set aside about 6 hours for this hike. The best direction that I can give you is...follow the river! As long as you are following the river, then you know you're going somewhat in the right direction. If you want more extensive direction (and I highly reccomend you do), then visit the Hikespeak's post here. It really helped us out. Make sure you are aware the two permits required, that info is also on Hikespeak’s post at the bottom.
My best friend, MJ, and I had been wanting to do this hike for years, but sometimes it's hard to fit an hour drive, a 5 hour hike, and an hour drive back, into your busy schedule. This year, we make a pact with each other to try one hike per month. More specifically my goal was "Less Instagrammable Pop Ups and more nature". MJ has been my hiking partner for over a decade. There was one year, when we both lived in San Diego, where we would hike Cowles Mountain 3-4 times a week.
Of all the hikes we've been on, we probably laughed about this hike the most. Let’s talk about the trail, or lack there of. It seems that the rains had washed away a lot of the trail and lost people, like us, would try to find the correct trail...only to be going the wrong direction and in turn, create a new...wrong...trail. It was humorous at times, especially on the way back because we would be on a trail that we didn't take originally to get up there...and then all the sudden, that trail would disappear and you’d have to reroute to the next trail. Not to get discouraged, even if you're not on the correct trail, you'll find the right one in a matter of seconds.
The rocks were so interesting. I particularlly enjoyed the ones that were a marble green and white, it looks like you were staring at the earth from space and watching the clouds swirl around. Even the cliffs would have stripes of different colors. I wonder what made these patterns into these stones, they were quite mesmerizing.
I really enjoyed the hike to the Bridge to Nowhere. I hadn’t done cardio in over 3 months, but I never felt out of shape or out of breath. Majority of the trail is in direct sunlight with no option for shade. We were very lucky to have went on a slightly cloudy day. We started the hike around 12:30pm and because where the sun was in conjunction to the mountains, we hiked in the mountain’s shadow for the majority of the time.
I remember getting back to the car feeling refreshed, excited and energized, like I could tackle whatever the world was going to throw my way. Our lives can get crazy, we often feel suffocated or overwhelmed, and sometimes, a hike with no cell reception is exactly what you need to feel at peace again.
