I know the area. When I was 17 I made the run from Crystal Lake to Azusa in 40 minutes, and that was stopping at the SG River bridge to allow my passenger to have a cigarette.
(I was on a motorcycle.)
I remember going camping/off roading with friends in Azusa canyon-but that was years ago. I bet they don’t let anyone off road there now.
.... Holy cow 40 minutes .... darn good time ..... heck .... takes me that long to hit the area on my 10 speed LOL ... bet you ran during the cool season otherwise you woulda fried. I was floored when I saw how low that fire was. Where I used to live there are a lot of horse owners and even breeders in the area. At any sign of fire within a five or so mile radius a lot of them would go to all of the trouble to load critters and prepare to flee as a precaution. Major headache but fires can move very fast when it’s dry and the wind changes direction.