Trip to CA - unarmed.

[Jaguar]

I have to travel to Los Angeles in a couple weeks for my company and I will not be able to carry anytime during the trip so I am having mixed feelings. I've only been to SO CAL once before and that was with a friend, this time I'm going alone and the alert factor is going up a few notches.

I have become accustomed to being armed everywhere except work – and then I still have my pistol in a lockbox in my car. I am sure this would not have bothered me before I got my CHL (about 16 months ago) but now I am stressing out over the idea of not having it on me. How do people (how did I) go through life unable to defend themselves (myself) against younger, faster and stronger people who may have evil intent? I think the CHL ruined me as I am no longer blissfully unaware.

Regardless, I will try to enjoy myself. I will be there to audit a company we do business with, and I originally scheduled two day feeling I only needed one, but since late departure out of Burbank was not possible, I went ahead and booked a flight in the afternoon of the third day. This gives me at least a day and half of free time to see the sites and take my time.

Since I will be in far North LA, Santa Clarita area, I plan to visit Vasquez Rocks where they filmed the famous “Kirk vs. Gorn” Star Trek episode, it is out of the way and usually not crowded. Does anyone have any other ideas on what to see in the area? I’m over the Hollywood thing, so sightseeing is mostly restricted to non-crowded, more natural areas.

[cheezit]

take a drive down the 2 (pch) pretty views

[Jaguar]

take a drive down the 2 (pch) pretty views

Um, I'm lost. What/where is the 2 and what is pch?

(who says guys don't ask directions?)

[The Annoyed Man]

take a drive down the 2 (pch) pretty views

Um, I'm lost. What/where is the 2 and what is pch?

(who says guys don't ask directions?)

Highway 2 is the Angeles Crest Highway.........first road I ever dragged a knee on. Runs from La Cañada up to Wrightwood, topping out at a little 8,000 ft at its highest point. A beautiful drive if you've got the time.

PCH is Pacific Coast Highway, also called Highway 1.

Regarding guns....here is a communication I got a while back from a California friend of mine by the name of Frank who is LEO. I had some questions since I had been away from the state for a while, and I wanted to know about driving around there with a gun:

Hi TAM.... not that it's going to be a pleasant trip for you, but welcome back to CA. You ask some good questions so I'll try for good answers.

It doesn't matter whether your chosen gun is on roster or not so far as bringing it into the state temporarily. So long as you don't bring any mags that hold more than 10 rounds (instant felony when crossing the state line) your handguns are fine if otherwise legal where you bought them. The only exception I can think of off the top is a threaded (as in to accept a suppressor) barrel. That would be a bad thing to bring in to California. If you have an otherwise stock M&P 45 or M&P 340, you're good to go so bring them.

You'd only have to report importing a handgun into the state if you establish residence and move here. Otherwise, no worry.

{———snip about Nevada———}

California still allows you to CCW without permit on your own property or place of business. Inside your mom's property would be exempt from the Gun Free School Zone (state and federal) if there happens to be a school within 1000 feet. If you are hotelling it, the law does allow you to keep a loaded, concealable firearm in any temporary domicile, which includes a hotel room. I always have a loaded pistol in my hotel/motel room when I travel, unload it and take it with me in a locked container when I go out.

Ammo... there are no illegal rounds in CA, except tracers and chemical agent rounds. I stoke Pamela's Model 19 snub with 130 grain Gold Dot short barrel 38 +P. Both the rounds you mention are over the counter here. Bring 'em.

Traveling around with the gun.... unloaded and in a locked container is how it's done. The exemption lives in 12026 of the Penal Code. The locked trunk of a car = locked container. Glove box does not = locked container. An attache case with combo lock = locked container. The locked container covers you when passing through the magical 1000 foot from the boundary line of a school.... which are invisible and not marked in any way.

Loaded mags, or charged speedloaders in the same container with the gun, in the car or on your person DO NOT = loaded weapon so long as the gun lives in it's locked container. There is abundant case law on point. You can keep a shotgun in the car with ammo on a sidesaddle or buttcuff and the gun IS NOT loaded. If charged mag is NOT inserted in the butt of the pistol + NO round is chambered = NOT loaded.

There is a great deal of bad info, including still some LEOs, out there on this point about mags or loaders being present = loaded. That is crap, and we spend a lot of time out here educating on that. Case law, good statewide, covers that.

Should you want to try unloaded open carry, please don't. The field is littered with mines and it tends to piss off the po-po even though it's perfectly legal under state law. The gun free school zones are everywhere and there have been a couple of high profile cases, including one in LA county, where open carriers have been racked for school zone violations and convicted.

Hope all this helps and let me know if I raised more questions than I answered.

Cheers!!!!!

Frank

Like Frank said, Cheers.

[RoyGBiv]

take a drive down the 2 (pch) pretty views

Um, I'm lost. What/where is the 2 and what is pch?

(who says guys don't ask directions?)

Highway 2 is the Angeles Crest Highway.........first road I ever dragged a knee on. Runs from La Cañada up to Wrightwood, topping out at a little 8,000 ft at its highest point. A beautiful drive if you've got the time.

PCH is Pacific Coast Highway, also called Highway 1.

Regarding guns....here is a communication I got a while back from a California friend of mine by the name of Frank who is LEO. I had some questions since I had been away from the state for a while, and I wanted to know about driving around there with a gun:

Hi TAM.... not that it's going to be a pleasant trip for you, but welcome back to CA. You ask some good questions so I'll try for good answers.

It doesn't matter whether your chosen gun is on roster or not so far as bringing it into the state temporarily. So long as you don't bring any mags that hold more than 10 rounds (instant felony when crossing the state line) your handguns are fine if otherwise legal where you bought them. The only exception I can think of off the top is a threaded (as in to accept a suppressor) barrel. That would be a bad thing to bring in to California. If you have an otherwise stock M&P 45 or M&P 340, you're good to go so bring them.

You'd only have to report importing a handgun into the state if you establish residence and move here. Otherwise, no worry.

{———snip about Nevada———}

California still allows you to CCW without permit on your own property or place of business. Inside your mom's property would be exempt from the Gun Free School Zone (state and federal) if there happens to be a school within 1000 feet. If you are hotelling it, the law does allow you to keep a loaded, concealable firearm in any temporary domicile, which includes a hotel room. I always have a loaded pistol in my hotel/motel room when I travel, unload it and take it with me in a locked container when I go out.

Ammo... there are no illegal rounds in CA, except tracers and chemical agent rounds. I stoke Pamela's Model 19 snub with 130 grain Gold Dot short barrel 38 +P. Both the rounds you mention are over the counter here. Bring 'em.

Traveling around with the gun.... unloaded and in a locked container is how it's done. The exemption lives in 12026 of the Penal Code. The locked trunk of a car = locked container. Glove box does not = locked container. An attache case with combo lock = locked container. The locked container covers you when passing through the magical 1000 foot from the boundary line of a school.... which are invisible and not marked in any way.

Loaded mags, or charged speedloaders in the same container with the gun, in the car or on your person DO NOT = loaded weapon so long as the gun lives in it's locked container. There is abundant case law on point. You can keep a shotgun in the car with ammo on a sidesaddle or buttcuff and the gun IS NOT loaded. If charged mag is NOT inserted in the butt of the pistol + NO round is chambered = NOT loaded.

There is a great deal of bad info, including still some LEOs, out there on this point about mags or loaders being present = loaded. That is crap, and we spend a lot of time out here educating on that. Case law, good statewide, covers that.

Should you want to try unloaded open carry, please don't. The field is littered with mines and it tends to piss off the po-po even though it's perfectly legal under state law. The gun free school zones are everywhere and there have been a couple of high profile cases, including one in LA county, where open carriers have been racked for school zone violations and convicted.

Hope all this helps and let me know if I raised more questions than I answered.

Cheers!!!!!

Frank

Like Frank said, Cheers.

Thanks for sharing that TAM. Very helpful.
Did Frank say anything about checking in at the airport?
Hate for that to be a NY moment.

[Jaguar]

Thanks TAM, I am now planning a trip down Highway 2. Looks awe inspiring.

As for carrying, a) it is a company trip, on their dime so their rules (however short sighted) have to apply and b) I hate checking luggage - I try to carry everything on when it's only a few days. Computer and small roller bag and I'm good.

Even though the company policy does not carry the force of law - it is something I agreed to when I offered my services in exchange for gobs of cash . Employees are prohibited from carrying a weapon while on-duty or any time while engaging in company related business. I could probably take my pistol and they would be none the wiser, but I would not feel right breaking my word.

[The Annoyed Man]

Thanks for sharing that TAM. Very helpful.
Did Frank say anything about checking in at the airport?
Hate for that to be a NY moment.

No, he didn't say anything about airports, but I was driving on that trip so I didn't think to ask. But I would imagine that some Californians travel with firearms, by air, so my guess is that as long as you follow all the federal regs as well as the California regs for transporting.

From the CA AG http://oag.ca.gov/firearms/travel:

HANDGUNS

California Penal Code section 25610 does not prevent a citizen of the United States over 18 years of age who is not lawfully prohibited from firearm possession, and who resides or is temporarily in California, from transporting by motor vehicle any pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person provided the firearm is unloaded and stored in a locked container.

The term "locked container" means a secure container which is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or similar locking device. This includes the trunk of a motor vehicle, but does not include the utility or glove compartment. For more information, refer to California Penal Code sections 16850.

Here is a USA Today link about traveling in CA with a gun: http://traveltips.usatoday.com/gun-laws ... 10565.html. It says:

Airplane Travel

Flying on an airplane, even within the borders of the state of California, is regulated by the Transportation Security Administration, a national agency in charge of transportation. When on a mode of transportation under the jurisdiction of the TSA, even if you never leave the state of California, state laws are no longer applicable.

Traveling with a gun is legally permissible. Guns and ammunition must be kept in checked luggage. A gun and ammunition may not be in carry-on luggage. Firearms must be declared at check-in, unloaded, in a hard-sided locked container. The passenger must provide a key or combination to the container upon request and remain present as the firearm is being examined.

Thanks TAM, I am now planning a trip down Highway 2. Looks awe inspiring.

As for carrying, a) it is a company trip, on their dime so their rules (however short sighted) have to apply and b) I hate checking luggage - I try to carry everything on when it's only a few days. Computer and small roller bag and I'm good.

Even though the company policy does not carry the force of law - it is something I agreed to when I offered my services in exchange for gobs of cash . Employees are prohibited from carrying a weapon while on-duty or any time while engaging in company related business. I could probably take my pistol and they would be none the wiser, but I would not feel right breaking my word.

Jaguar, more properly if you are coming from either the Los Angeles Basin or the San Gabriel Valley, you will be traveling UP highway 2, not down it. Highway 2 winds through the Angeles National Forest, which is in the San Gabriel Mountain chain. The San Gabriels run east/west between Hwy 14 on the west (which takes you to Palmdale) and I-15 on the east (which connects San Diego to San Bernardino to Las Vegas). Highway 2 is also called SR2 (state route). It originates in La Cañada, on the south side of the mountains, and goes some 63 miles in a generally northeasterly direction, through high alpine mountains to the Wrightwood resort area, and the it comes down into the desert and ends at Hwy 138, which will get you directly to I-15 if you take a right. If you look at Google Maps of the national forest (GOOGLE MAPS) you'll see how vast the last big forest fire was up there, north of the beginning of N-2. I remember my days on SR2 fondly.

Most of the guys I rode with belonged to a club called the two-timers, and all of us were local club-racers at Willow Springs and Riverside Raceway. There was a time when I intimately knew every nook, cranny, crack, crevice, and curve of all 63 of those miles. Every foot of it was familiar. In fact, I started racing on tracks because the highway was too confining if I wanted to stay alive. But it is a nice car ride too. The view to the north at Dawson's Saddle (7,903 ft) is spectacular because you're looking down onto the Mojave Desert like you were in an airliner, and it is little hard to reconcile the nice cool breeze at 8000 ft with the arid blasted hades below you, littered with old extinct volcano craters, and Muroc Lake with a little-bitty thing called Edwards AFB off in the distance. Here's a website about the highway itself: http://angelescrestscenichighway.com/. I love that road. If you have time, stop at Vincent Gap (6,565 ft) and hike the 8-mile round trip to summit Mt Baden-Powell (9,399 ft). There are several ski resorts along the highway, making this area one of the few places in the world that you can quite easily go skiing AND surfing in the same day.

PCH has its own charms, but I don't advise using it to travel on. I use PCH to get to specific locations, but not as a main route of travel until I can get clear of Los Angeles/Ventura counties. It just has too many stoplights, too much traffic, too many radar traps, etc. etc. But once you get far enough away from Los Angeles, it is a nice drive.

Enjoy your trip. Be careful of communism while you're there. It must be something in the water, and I think it is contagious.

[Jaguar]

Thanks for the tips TAM, that is the trip I am planning. Santa Clarita to I5, to I210, to HWY 2, to HWY 138, to I15, to 210 and back to BUR. Should have plenty of time to stop and take photos but I doubt I am up to an 8 mile hike at altitude - old and fat comes to mind.

Glad I booked an extra day even if it means getting home at 12 am Sunday morning. Last time I was there we did travel down HWY 1 on that trip through Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Malibu back into Santa Monica to Hollywood, but with very little time to enjoy the trip. It was hectic to LAX and we had time to look at the weirdos on Hollywood Blvd (not my idea) and head for the airport. This promises to be much more enjoyable.

[RogueUSMC]

Years ago, I traveled up to Chico/Orland to see my mom's family when I was stationed in the stumps. I decided to catch PCH out of Carmel coming back south. I had over half a tank so I figured I was good. I started bouncing on E in that old '77 LTDII and was wonderng what I was gonna do now. I found a little station out in middle of nowhere selling gas for $2/gallon. I said, "you are out of your ever-lovin' mind!" (now look at us...lol). A $20 bill got me down into Malibu.

My lessone learned was "gas up when ya got a chance anywhere below 3/4 tank"...

[Abraham]

I love the drive from Carmel to LA.

Carmel is in my estimation the prettiest town in the U.S.

I was stationed at Fort Ord and would go into Carmel at every opportunity.

[cheezit]

take a drive down the 2 (pch) pretty views

Um, I'm lost. What/where is the 2 and what is pch?

(who says guys don't ask directions?)

Highway 2 is the Angeles Crest Highway.........first road I ever dragged a knee on. Runs from La Cañada up to Wrightwood, topping out at a little 8,000 ft at its highest point. A beautiful drive if you've got the time.

PCH is Pacific Coast Highway, also called Highway 1.

Regarding guns....here is a communication I got a while back from a California friend of mine by the name of Frank who is LEO. I had some questions since I had been away from the state for a while, and I wanted to know about driving around there with a gun:

Hi TAM.... not that it's going to be a pleasant trip for you, but welcome back to CA. You ask some good questions so I'll try for good answers.

It doesn't matter whether your chosen gun is on roster or not so far as bringing it into the state temporarily. So long as you don't bring any mags that hold more than 10 rounds (instant felony when crossing the state line) your handguns are fine if otherwise legal where you bought them. The only exception I can think of off the top is a threaded (as in to accept a suppressor) barrel. That would be a bad thing to bring in to California. If you have an otherwise stock M&P 45 or M&P 340, you're good to go so bring them.

You'd only have to report importing a handgun into the state if you establish residence and move here. Otherwise, no worry.

{———snip about Nevada———}

California still allows you to CCW without permit on your own property or place of business. Inside your mom's property would be exempt from the Gun Free School Zone (state and federal) if there happens to be a school within 1000 feet. If you are hotelling it, the law does allow you to keep a loaded, concealable firearm in any temporary domicile, which includes a hotel room. I always have a loaded pistol in my hotel/motel room when I travel, unload it and take it with me in a locked container when I go out.

Ammo... there are no illegal rounds in CA, except tracers and chemical agent rounds. I stoke Pamela's Model 19 snub with 130 grain Gold Dot short barrel 38 +P. Both the rounds you mention are over the counter here. Bring 'em.

Traveling around with the gun.... unloaded and in a locked container is how it's done. The exemption lives in 12026 of the Penal Code. The locked trunk of a car = locked container. Glove box does not = locked container. An attache case with combo lock = locked container. The locked container covers you when passing through the magical 1000 foot from the boundary line of a school.... which are invisible and not marked in any way.

Loaded mags, or charged speedloaders in the same container with the gun, in the car or on your person DO NOT = loaded weapon so long as the gun lives in it's locked container. There is abundant case law on point. You can keep a shotgun in the car with ammo on a sidesaddle or buttcuff and the gun IS NOT loaded. If charged mag is NOT inserted in the butt of the pistol + NO round is chambered = NOT loaded.

There is a great deal of bad info, including still some LEOs, out there on this point about mags or loaders being present = loaded. That is crap, and we spend a lot of time out here educating on that. Case law, good statewide, covers that.

Should you want to try unloaded open carry, please don't. The field is littered with mines and it tends to piss off the po-po even though it's perfectly legal under state law. The gun free school zones are everywhere and there have been a couple of high profile cases, including one in LA county, where open carriers have been racked for school zone violations and convicted.

Hope all this helps and let me know if I raised more questions than I answered.

Cheers!!!!!

Frank

Like Frank said, Cheers.

tam thank you very much you are correct. both are great road trips.

[FigNewton]

You might take a leisurely drive down Bouquet Canyon, and then over to Lake Hughes road. Makes a nice circle and I used to love making that loop on my motorcycle. It's probably way more fun when on 2 wheels, but it's something to do.

[The Annoyed Man]

You might take a leisurely drive down Bouquet Canyon, and then over to Lake Hughes road. Makes a nice circle and I used to love making that loop on my motorcycle. It's probably way more fun when on 2 wheels, but it's something to do.

Sometimes I would stop along the way in Bouquet Canyon with a Shakespeare Travel Rod and Reel in the tankbag and do a little trout fishing in that creek that the road follows.

But my favorite circuit ride was to take the Angeles Crest up and turn off onto the Angeles Forest highway (N3) at Clear Creek Station just past George's Gap. Take N3 all the way over the top at the Mount Pacifico saddle and down the desert side past Aliso Canyon Rd to Mount Emma Road. Turn right on Mt Emma Road. (A few miles down Mt Emma Rd is were we all did our top-end testing and rejetting the smoothbores because it was long and straight, lightly traveled and even more lightly patrolled, and exactly the same elevation as the track at Willow Springs. I remember seeing well into the triple digits on Mt Emma Rod LOTS of times. ) Anyway, follow Mt Emma Road east until it ends at Fort Tejon Road. By then, you are well down into the Mojave Desert, and it can be pretty hot and dry. A good idea to have some water bottles along for the ride. Turn right on Fort Tejon Road and follow it til it ends are Valyermo Road, at a nice little oasis in the desert. Take Valyermo road a short ways to Big Pines Highway and turn right again. .......it starts getting insanely good here...... You climb through some banked switchbacks up onto a plateau that gradually rises up to alpine forest. The road is insanely fast, full of sweeping turns with a clear view, and it climbs and climbs, going past Jackson Lake, until it intersects the Angeles Crest Highway (SR2), just west of Wrightwood. Stop in Wrightwood for a cheeseburger and a cold rootbeer, then follow the Angeles Crest Highway all 60 odd miles home back to La Cañada. Fill up the gas tank at SR2 and Foothill Blvd at the Union 76 station, then ride home to Pasadena. Round trip was roughly 125 miles if I remember correctly, and I lived just 3 or 4 miles from the beginning of it. For a while there, I flat owned the Angeles Crest Highway. I knew the owners of the Hidden Springs Cafe on the Angeles Forest Highway real well, and dated their daughter for a while. Her dad was one of my most cherished shooting buddies.

I remember some of the people I rode with occasionally were minor and major celebrities in the MC world. Then Motor Cyclist magazine writer Nick Ienatsch was one of my acquaintances. I first met him at Laguna Seca when he first came out from Utah, looking to become a writer. Later, he raced with my club, the ARRA, holding the absolute lap record for motorcycles for a time on a TZ250. Fellow Motor Cyclist correspondent Kent Kunitsugu was along on a lot of those rides. I rode once or twice with then reigning World Superbike Champion Fred Merkel, who was between his two championships ('88 and '89). Keith Code, founder of the California Superbike School was with us occasionally. Man, so many faces, so many memories, so long ago. I love living in Texas, but I surely do miss the mountains of SoCal a lot.

But I'm too old, fat, and broken up for that kind of stuff anymore.

[Jaguar]

Wow, I'm adding way-points to my favorites in my Garmin. Looking on Google maps these are some fun roads. I will be tearing it up in a rental car.

Now I wish I could take my bike, but I doubt I could carry a Suzuki 1400 Intruder on the plane.

Planning on posting some photos here when I get back - if nothing else then to jog more memories from TAM, those are great stories, you should write a book. I appreciate your suggestions a bunch, and the stories even more, you're a national treasure sir.

[cheezit]

hey Tam do you remember were all the hanggliders were off the 2? was it little tujunga cyn.