6/18/16
I am a native Los Angelino. That in and of itself is not all that surprising. 
A lot of baby boomers were born in Los Angeles. What is surprising is just how little I know about the history of Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. Take Vasquez Rocks, for example. Until the GPX Region of PCA announced a drive to Vasquez Rocks, I had no idea they existed, though I had seen them many times in films and television shows. Planet of the Apes, Blazing Saddles, One Million B.C., Star Trek, and the Flinstones among many others were shot there. Rin Tin Tin, Rifleman, Bonanza, Six Million Dollar Man, and The Fugitive were shot there. Apparently I knew the area quite well. I just did not know its name.
The rocks were named for a very controversial Mexican outlaw named Tiburcio Vasquez, who, depending on which side of history you were on, was either a hero or a villain. Some say the well educated, poetry wr
iting bandit who was born to an aristocratic Mexican family was the prototype for the Zoro character. While I have no opinion as to that, I do see why he used the various nooks and crannies in the rocks to evade countless posses in the 1870s, thus giving the rocks their name.
None of this really mattered to me when I saw that the drive was planned to visit the rocks. What mattered was the route to the rocks and their location, which is near the 14 freeway by Agua Dulce and Soledad Canyon. The route would be up Angeles Crest Highway and out Angeles Forest Highway, before dropping down onto Aliso Canyon Road and Soledad Canyon Road. I had never been on the latter two, but I cherish every minute I spend on Angeles Crest and Angeles Forest.
The drive out was great. We had 20+ Porsches dri
ving in a group for most of the drive. It was a quite a sight, not to mention quite a sound, as we wended our way to the rocks. Thankfully, there were not too many bicycles heading up Angeles Crest, most likely due to the heat. Angeles Forest is just a wonderful road. It is recently paved and has a long series of nicely spaced curves. The road was made for Porsches of any kind. We exited Angeles Forest and continued down into the valley on Aliso Canyon and then Soledad Canyon. These roads wind thru equestrian and ranch country, and they are pretty empty, making for long stretches of fun driving. The route was crafted with care and it showed.
We arrived at the visitor center at the rocks and made quite an entrance., not to mention quite a cloud of dust, as we negotiated our way into and around the dirt parking area. After a few minutes checking out the visitor center and learning a bit about the site, I walked out to the actual rock formations, which where very impressive. I sat with a small group, and we ate our lunches and talked about the drive and how much we enjoyed it.
When it was time to leave, I had a serious decision to make. Should I head home on the freeways or go back the way I came? Logic said freeway, as I had already had driven miles of twisties. As I headed back down Aqua Dulce, I was still debating which route to take. As I passed the freeway onramp, I just could not get myself to turn on to it. Decision made, I tried to recreate the route in my head. Sounds easy, but I had been mid pack on the way out and really did not take much notice of the roads we were on, just following the car ahead of me. So I wasn’t really sure where to go.
I did okay at first, finding my way back onto Soledad Canyon. 
I either missed a turn or never got to the turn, but either way I found myself twisted around. I pulled off the road and consulted my Nav system. I told it to avoid freeways and get me home. It responded by saying that it could not find a route that matched all my parameters. Huh? This made no sense to me, but it was adamant. After I tried recalculating the route a few times with the same results, I told it to find the intersection of Ageles Crest and Angeles Forest. This was a much better idea, as it could and would plot a route for me.
I went back up Soledad and then turned onto Angeles Forest. On the way back, I opted to get onto Big Tajunga Canyon instead of going back to Angeles Crest. Big Tajunga has tighter turns than Angeles Forest and it has not been paved in some time, but nevertheless, it was a fun ride down the mountain to Foothill Blvd. From there I took the 210 to the 118 to the 405 to the 101, getting off at Van Nuys for the trip up Beverly Glen and down Benedict Canyon and then home.
All told 165 miles for the day, most of them tw
isty back roads. I was beat, but It was awesome.