dirt dame 554 Posted July 10, 2011 It seems that it has been ages since I have had an all day dualsport ride, and even longer since I have gone on one with DSfox, so I jumped at the chance to get up to the mountains to ride for the day, yesterday. I chose Trajan the TE for my trusty vehicle, since the poor machine has barely even seen daylight, let alone dirt in the past 6 months. The battery, which is the original that came with the bike new four years ago was pretty much toast....but at least there was the kickstarter. As I drove up the the winding highway 38, I started to get excited....the forest was quite green and fragrant from the extra heavy amounts of precipitation we got over the winter and spring. I met up with Maniac and DSfox at a yellow stake campground not too far from the Coon Cabin campsite. It was a lovely sunny start to the day, but I could tell the clouds were fixing to bunch up and storm on us later in the day. After consulting the map, we rode up to Coon Cabin camp. And took a very nice trail that went up behind the campsite. See? There are those clouds sneaking up on us. By the time we reached Onyx peak, the rain began to fall. We never saw any lightening or heard any thunder, and really though it rained hard in areas that we went through, it never actually rained hard on us. Okay....admittedly, I managed to chop off our feet in this picture....something I really hate doing, but well that's what happens sometimes when you try to make do with natural "tripods" in the surroundings. Then we went on our way down this steep and gnarly trail through the gentle rain. I managed to take a nap on the way down, so I was pooped after lifting the 450 and trying to kickstart it's flooded engine all the way down the first part of the hill. Finally, I got it fired up and we proceeded to a flat meadow area and had a blast running the fireroads on fresh rain soaked earth. As we headed on our merry way, Ian spied a road off to the right. He wanted to have a closer look see. Deb and I were less than enthusiastic about exploring it....but as it would turn out, it probably wasn't any worse than the the trail up to Tiptop, which was our next venue. I started up the trail just fine, the TE navigating the rocks in splendid fashion, but by the time we had gotten about 3/4 of the way up, I was so out of physically out of shape (haven't ridden enough lately)that I could barely catch my breath....so I stopped right here (the photo never seems to look as gnarly as it actually was in person) and took a break. The other two went on to the top. I let my breathing and heart rate return to normal, drank some water and GU, then turned around and headed down to the bottom to wait for the others to come back down. Then we were off again, winding through the hills and some water crossings that finally led us to pavement and lunch at a small Mexican restaurant in Big Bear. After lunch we were going take a route that would lead us to see a big pine tree. More to come. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 554 Posted July 10, 2011 It was a nice ride after lunch, but it hadn't rained much if at all on this part of the mountain, so dust was our constant companion, causing me to fall back a ways for the rest of the afternoon. I'm such a dust sissy and I forgot to bring my new dust mask that I bought on line. So, we meandered over to the big Lodgepole pine and hiked the half mile down to see it. It was big around, but not so tall. I only managed to get about half a smile going before the shutter released. This was another smaller tree, but it was impressively tall, so I took a picture of it instead. Our boots weren't made for walking, but that's just what they did. Actually the Fox Comp5s are pretty soft, much like knee high tennis shoes....but they still felt heavy on the climb back up to where the bikes were parked. By now, we were into the return part of our loop and had a rather scenic and uneventful ride for the remainder of the afternoon. It was so nice to ride with Deb again, and equally so to meet Ian. I think that we made a pretty good trail trio. I can't wait till we get together for another ride. I left those two at camp around 6 in the evening to make my way back home by about 8. I'm sure that they will have plenty pictures to post and a full write up of their weekend trail adventures by this evening or tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkug 145 Posted July 10, 2011 Wow it rained a lot--look at those puddles--good job on the report ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beezzz 6 Posted July 10, 2011 Beautiful photos. thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrophyHunter 15 Posted July 11, 2011 Glad you guys had a good ride. Thx for the great pics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KTMrad 507 Posted July 11, 2011 Nice write-up and pix ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maniac 0 Posted July 11, 2011 It was great to meet you and ride with you Mimi. Had an awesome day! The "tree trail" which I rode alone was the icing on the cake for me. And you should have seen the trail Deb and I rode this morning! It was really something. I'm sure she will have a report soon. All I have are camera phone pics because my camera broke. By the way, ask Deb about the animals in camp as we went to sleep. Lions amd tigers and bears, oh my. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 554 Posted July 11, 2011 By the way, ask Deb about the animals in camp as we went to sleep. Lions amd tigers and bears, oh my. See there....this is one of the reasons I don't like to tent camp. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
christi20 0 Posted July 11, 2011 Looks like a wonderful ride! Can't wait to go back up there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robertaccio 405 Posted July 11, 2011 Thanks for Posting DD!! very very nice outing!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 554 Posted July 11, 2011 Thanks for Posting DD!! very very nice outing!! It was, and I only went on about a third of the adventure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dsfox 0 Posted July 11, 2011 I was lucky enough to enjoy a pretty full 3 days of riding up there....It was great fun..nice to have so much green and water running in the mountains too.....I'll download pics and write more later...(busy at work lately) I actually rode Friday day with my friend john, as well as the weekend.....It felt good to tackle some of those black diamond trails and Big Bear Run "hard ways" and actually NOT be scared...much nicer to attempt them without 200 bikes running me over too!!!.....I must be getting better, or crazier perhaps.. .I did LOVE the "tree trail" which I rode friday, (which only has one tree left btw)....onyx peak, tiptop mt, and coon creek mountain north side were very cool also......the Coon Creek "track and a half" on the south side was much harder than most of those, but I managed to run it without falling...(always a nice plus) ....more later.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 554 Posted July 12, 2011 I was lucky enough to enjoy a pretty full 3 days of riding up there....It was great fun..nice to have so much green and water running in the mountains too.....I'll download pics and write more later... Yeah, we need your write up. Gotta hear about all the adventures that I missed on the other two days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dsfox 0 Posted July 13, 2011 Here's a few pics: Friday was clarkes, tree trail, and 7 oaks area.....my first experience 'TOWING" another bike, as my friends bike died at the top of clarkes grade....we didn't crash or dump it, so guess I did ok... Saturday (mimi covered it), few more pics on onyx peak, and then Tiptop Mt. (2n91 north off 2n02)....fun rocky trails....where trials tire rocks!!! Sunday: found some cool trails/roads north of coon cabin, up over the hill towards onyx peak...some hadn't been used in many years, so more like trails....found the "Coon creek Tree Trail"...I'll call it.....also rode the "track and a half" off fish creek....fun rocky climbs, that really do look worse in person than on film, but were alot of fun anyway.... TREE TRAIL SATURDAY: TIP TOP MT CAMP: Yellow post off coon creek road SUNDAY RIDE: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 554 Posted July 13, 2011 Wow, the next day after I rode with you guys looks like fun....for a smaller bike than my 450. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites