Mt. Disappointment
Overview
A nice variation of the Mt Wilson ride is to climb one of its nearest neighbor: Mt. Disappointment. The ride is slightly shorter but quite a bit steeper near the top. A challenge with a rewarding view at the summit!
To get there, follow the directions as if you were going to ascend Mt. Wilson until after turning onto Mt Wilson road at the Red Box station. About a quarter of a mile up, you will see a wide turnout on the ride with a gated road going up. (it's a ~170° right turn onto that road) Go around the gate and start climbing for about 3 miles. The last 1/4 mile is especially steep.
Distance: 26 miles each way.
GPS info
The following data was acquired with a Garmin GPS with the West Topo map. Screenshots from Garmin Mapsource software for the map and elevation graph and GoogleEarth for the 3D view.
Download the Google Earth file: caltech-disappointment.kmz
Zoom on the actual climb: (from Mt Wilson road to the top)
Last updated June 20, 2006.
