Kernville/Sequoia Trip Day 2: Summit Trail

Day two of the trip dawned early, and we got underway relatively quickly to head from Kernville to the campground at Quaking Aspens. The drive was about an hour and a half, and we made excellent time. In fact, we even had a chance to stop for a bit at a tourist spot on the way called the Trail of 100 Giants. It was a giant sequoia grove, and was worth stopping for. I may post some pictures from that hike in a different post later.

We arrived at the Quaking Aspens campground around 2:00, and spent a little while getting settled. Once again I was thankful for the RV.

It was very peaceful and remote; we didn't even have cell coverage. This was the view of a nearby meadow from our campsite.

We met up with a good sized group of STR guys who had come up from LA for the weekend to ride. Jeff (from Kernville) and his family were there as well, and we had about 10 or so people that were planning to ride over the next couple of days.

We didn't waste any time, and decided to ride a portion of the Summit trail that Jeff and some others had been doing some significant trailwork on for the last few months. Apparently the trail was once well traveled, but in recent years had been all but abandoned. Jeff had spent several weekends both maintaining the actual trail and building an impressive array of stunts and jumps that proved to be a ton of fun for many of the guys who came prepared to huck.

From the campsite, we threw the bikes in Sean's trailer and hooked it up to Jeff's truck.

All 10 of us piled in and we drove the short distance up the paved and dirt roads to the trailhead.

Once we got to the top, everyone was ready to get riding, and after a few minutes getting geared up, we headed out.


The trail was fun from the get go, and it was clear that it hadn't been very popular in recent years. Even so, Jeff knew where he was going, and even when we couldn't see the trail that well, we always seemed to be heading in the right direction. There were some points where the trail was marked as well.



We quickly reached the first stunt that Jeff had built, which was a gnarly log roll with a medium drop at the end. Jeff nailed it with no problem:

The standard operating procedure for the day became as follows: ride the trail for a couple hundred yards, and then stop and session the most recent crazy stunt for about 15-20 minutes. It was clear Jeff had put tons of hours into the trail features, and the look on his face as many of the riders attempted and cleared his creations was really neat to see. He was definitely enjoying seeing others reap the benefits of his labor, and his pride and excitement were fun to witness.

I skipped all of the stunts and log rolls. My inexperience, combined with my lack of skill and the proximity (or lack thereof) of medical attention made me decide discretion was the better part of valor. And while watching almost everyone else session stuff and have a good time was a little embarrassing (and sometimes boring), I just enjoyed the fact that I wasn't struggling to keep up with the group on the trail and basked in the peacefulness of the surroundings.

Here's another example of one of Jeff's creations:

Sean did several of the stunts, including the one illustrated in the following photo sequence:



Impressive. And he was doing it on his 4" XC 29er, which really impressed everyone on their 7" travel DH bikes.

After almost two hours of sessioning new stuff every few hundred yards, someone realized that it was getting dark, and we were still about four miles from camp. From then on, we rode a little more purposefully, and stopped less.

We did, however, stop at one particularly crazy stunt that consisted of a log roll spanning a small creek. The log was about 8 feet above the ground, and the penalty for failure was steep. Everyone who tried it made it, however, which was amazing.

On the way back to camp we passed through a gorgeous fern grove, and Sean was thoughtful enough to stop ahead of me and take some pictures. They don't even do the scenery justice, it was breathtaking.



Also on the way back, near camp, we ran into a herd of cows that apparently have free reign of the area. One of the guys in the group yelled at them and caused a stampede. In the opposite direction.

We finished with a short road ride back to camp, and I was feeling pretty good. The frequent stops made keeping up with the group easy, and once again the surroundings and scenery were awesome. I did feel a little like an outsider as one of the few that didn't do the stunts, but that's just not my thing, and there wasn't anything I could do about it on this trip, so I decided not to worry about it.

I did have a minor mechanical on the ride that I couldn't explain or adequately fix. My drivetrain started ghostshifting, and despite Sean and Brent looking at it, didn't stop for the latter part of the ride. Whenever I would try to pedal hard, it would shift, which became frustrating. I hoped that it was simply the result of a dry chain (though I had lubed it that morning) and figured I'd look at it later that night.

After getting back to camp we cooked chicken on the grill and Sean made an amazing pasta dish that was delicious. I didn't even mind the sun dried tomatos. We went to be relatively early and dreamt of the rides we'd done and the rides to come.

Here are the stats for Ride #3, Summitt Trail:

Total Distance: 7.03 miles

Total Time: 2:27:26

Ascent: 2126 feet

Average Speed: 2.9 mph

Top Speed: 9.0 mph

Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite

Map:

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RR: Kernville/Sequoia Trip Day 1: Just Outstanding/Dutch Flat

Once we filled up w/ more water and ate a snack from the Unal ride, it was time to begin the descent to Keyesville. It was already 3:30pm, so midday heat wasn’t going to be a factor towards the bottom. But we’d be pushing it on light by the end as we would find out. Just Outstanding is signed, so picking it up was easy off the south end of the Meadows.

Not having any rain for a while made for some dusty and powdery conditions since this is also a dirt bike trail.

The descent was sustained and awesome, with tight turns, rocky patches, and steep white-knuckle sections.

There was even a gorgeous Manzanita archway that we rode through.

After a while, my hands started to hurt from gripping the brakes and holding on during the downhill.

Eventually the sustained downhill abated, and the trail dumped us out on to Wagy Rd. Doug wasn’t feeling well, and the next section promised some sustained climbs according to Sean, so Doug and I decided to descend the fire road to Sawmill Road and wait for Sean and Brent to ride Wagy Ridge.

Doug and I made it to the bottom of Sawmill Road in about 15 minutes, and spent the next hour or so waiting for Brent and Sean. Just as we were really starting to worry, and even considering heading on down to the bottom of the trail by ourselves, they appeared. Apparently Wagy Ridge had been a really rough section, and I was ultimately glad I had skipped it.

At that point we were chasing daylight, and had some real concerns about getting to the bottom of the trail before dark. After meeting back up with Sean and Brent, we continued to push on and up a 4x4 trail until more singletrack bears off.

Although we made our way to towards the final ridge line, it took much longer than we expected. There were several moderate climbs, many of which we had to HAB simply due to fatigue and altitude. As the sun was getting ready to set behind the Greenhorn mountains, finally we reached the ridge over looking Keyesville and Lake Isabella 2,300’ below us.

That section of trail is known as the Dutch Flat trail, and is another steep dirt bike trail with a few sections of gnar.

As we headed down, the sunset on the mountains across the lake was absolutely stunning.

Near the bottom of Keyesville is a maze of trails, but we finally snaked our way back to our finish point around 7 pm. I was wrecked, as was everyone else. It was just getting dark as we rode into the campground where we had stashed the dirtbike before shuttling up earlier that day.

Sean then had to jump on the dirtbike and ride back up the paved road to retrieve the RV, which I couldn’t have imagined doing. Once again, it was a tremendous blessing to have Sean running the show and taking care of logistics. Brent, Doug, and I stayed at the campground and enjoyed an hour or so of resting while we waited for Sean to get back. After the physical toll the ride had taken, even laying on the warm blacktop of the road felt good. I was cooked, but had hung with the group and not struggled that much more than anyone else. I had also gotten a little dinged up as I rode down Dutch Flat on some burned out timber that was jutting out into the trail:

It was just a flesh wound, and didn't really hurt, but it looked good.

Six hours of being on the trail and nearly 24 miles of combined riding was over the top in terms of what I had expected, but it proved to be an epic day. Sean’s GPS (Edge 305) showed us having done just over 7,000’ of descending total. Amazing.

One unfortunate post script to Day #1 was that Doug ended up having to go home because he had been getting progressively sicker over the course of the ride. Apparently his entire family had been sick the prior week, and it looked like it was about to be his turn, at the worst possible time.

After Sean returned with the RV we headed back into Kernville to spend the night. We found a neat campground that had coin operated showers and a campsite right next to a babbling brook. We BBQ’d chicken and had chicken Cesar salad for dinner, and cooked s’mores over the campfire. It was a great end to an awesome first day of riding.

Here are the stats for ride #2, Just Outstanding:

Total Distance: 14.49 miles

Total Time: 3:56:09

Ascent: 1559 feet

Average Speed: 3.7 mph

Top Speed: 24.7 mph

Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite

Map:

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RR: Kernville/Sequoia Trip Day 1: Unal Trail

After the tire episode and our detour through Ridgecrest, we arrived in Kernville in the late morning on Thursday. Sean met up with our local connection, Jeff, who was nice enough to take time out of his work day to give Sean some directions and guidance on the trails we would ride on our first day in Kernville. Jeff suggested we start with a short loop at the top of our point to point starting location known as the Unal trail. He also gave Sean some good information about our second trail for today, known as “Just Outstanding.”

After meeting with Jeff, we began preparations for the ride. We drove the motorhome to the campground where the Just Outstanding trail ended, and dropped Sean’s dirtbike there.

We then drove the RV up to the trailhead, which took about 35 minutes. At the trailhead, we made lunch (delicious sandwiches) and got geared up.

The main trailhead was actually at a ski lift area known as Shirley Meadows.

We parked the RV in the main lot, and took a few minutes to admire the views from the top.

We soon got underway, and the ride began with a short fireroad climb that quickly took us to a singletrack offshoot that constituted the remainder of the trail.

Less than a half-mile into the ride, I was pedaling along and just about to ride through a small meadow when all of a sudden my left crank arm came detached from the bike. It remained attached to my shoe via my clipless pedal, and for a second I just sat there dumbfounded as the crank flopped around at the end of my foot.

Fortunately, Sean was right in front of me and had me take off my shoe. He separated the pedal from my shoe, and put the crank back on the bike while I observed. Fortunately, the bolt that holds the crank on had stayed inside the crank, otherwise this trip would have taken a seriously unfortunate turn for me.

After just a few minutes, thanks to Sean’s help and God’s Providence, we were back underway, with my bike in one piece. We immediately were faced with a short but steep and loose climb, which we HAB’ed up.

At the top of that climb, the views were amazing and we took a minute to enjoy them. We also tried to take an action shot of the four of us using the timers on Doug and Sean’s cameras, but that didn’t really work.

At that point the main portion of the Unal trail began, it was amazing. Almost entirely narrow singletrack, that was swoopy, undulating, and amazingly scenic, it was one of the most beautiful sections of trail I had ever ridden. There were moderate techy spots that were a lot of fun, manageable switchbacks, and peek-a-boo views of Lake Isabella through the dense trees we were riding through.

The early part of the trail was largely downhill, which was a blast. As we shed elevation at the beginning, however, I knew we would be gaining it back at some point, which we did. The climbs weren’t technically difficult, and franking weren’t even that steep, but between the elevation and my lack of riding the last month, I was battling pretty quickly. I had some early HAB, which was frustrating, but I was having too much fun overall to get too discouraged. Also, Doug was mostly hanging back with me, so at least I had some company.

Eventually we reached the end of the uphill section, and rode back down the steep, loose section that we had HAB’ed earlier in the ride. From there we had another short fireroad that quickly dumped us out on the paved road near where we had parked the RV.

As we got back to the RV, I had several mixed emotions. The first ride was absolutely stunning in terms of scenery and atmosphere. And the downhill/swoopy sections were probably the most fun trail I’d ever ridden. But I was also worried about elevation, endurance, and fatigue. I hadn’t been an anchor on the ride, but was concerned that on an even longer and more difficult trail, I could have some real problems. But I had come this far, and Doug seemed to be pretty much in the same situation I was, so I figured I’d be ok.

We hung around the RV for about 20 minutes, refilling our camelbaks and re-stocking snacks for the second ride of the day, Just Outstanding. After everyone was settled, we got ready to head out for ride #2.

Here are the stats for Ride #1, the Unal Trail:

Total Distance: 6.34 miles

Total Time: 1:38:26

Ascent: 1650 feet

Average Speed: 3.9 mph

Top Speed: 29.8 mph

Bike: Specialized Enduro Elite

Map: View Larger Map