PAPAS GOOD MOUNTAIN RIDE

[dirt dame 559]

After the broiling hot stage route ride we did a couple of weeks ago, I must admit that I wasn't too keen on going on another summer day ride too soon. But, even though papas ride would start and end in the frying pan Hemet area, it would be climbing to over 6000 feet, to an area that is traditionally pleasant, even in the hottest of summer weather, so I piled the TE onto the Joehauler and off I went.

We met at the Deer Springs exit, Papaalex, XTSteve, Bruce and I, and proceeded to Cranston station, with a brief stop at a quickie mart along the way. After we geared up, XTSteve went over a map with us and we planned (very loosely) a route and took off down the road. We began at Bee Canyon road which at this time of year is extremely silty. We wended our way up, passing a few locked gates along the way, till we got to our first open turnoff. It was a steep, rutted trail, a bit of work and lots of fun, even though at this point the air temperature was pretty warm. The scenery was nice too. There was one steep, silty and rutted uphill that came up right after a blind lefthand turn and it took Bruce by surprise on his big heavy Honda that had a pretty worn rear tire on it. As I rounded the turn I spied him about two thirds up the hill, off his bike and trying to manuever it. Alex walked down to assist him, and soon this exercise turned into an olympic team pig wrestling match. I started to back up, a little worried that I and my Husky might somehow become unwittingly engaged in this endeaver, but the duo finally had everything under control and lined up to bring the bike down for another attempt. Bruce went down around the turn, took a deep breath and motored up and over the top. I followed and we caught up to Steve and went on our way. After a few more miles, we found ourselves at the edge of 243 and the temperature had cooled delightfully. We were now on the prowl for another trailhead, but found it locked, so we turned around and went back down our steep trail and took the Bee Canyon trail east towards Idyllwild. Steve took some pictures deep in the trees, so I hope he will have some photos to post. At our next rest stop, he took his new KTM off to nose around on some of the surrounding trails and came back all excited about this one trail, so off we went to have a look. It was quite nice, all covered in wood chips, winding along the side of the mountain and shaded by by small trees and big bushes. It ended too soon just north of Pine Cove. We headed off to Idylwild for lunch under the gathering clouds. The air was humid and few rain drops hit us as we rolled into town.

Once in Idylwild, I quickly led the group to Jo Anns, where Numbskull and I had lunch a couple of months ago, when I rode Bee Canyon for the first time. The food had been good and you can eat outside and keep an eye on your bike easy. The last time I was there, it wasn't too crowded. Today, at the height of summer with all the easy riders trying to escape the sweltering heat of the flatlands, the place was packed as though there was a rally going on. We all wedged our machines together in a card table sized parking spot that had a direct line of sight to the table we would be sitting at and proceeded with lunch. It turned out that we were in the "barbeque only" section, so you couldn't order off of the regular menu, but the regular area was already full, and nobody in the group disliked barbeque so there we stayed. You could see the barbeque drum smoking away next to the band that was playing up in the north corner of the place. The music wasn't too bad and seemed to fit the event, though the bass player was a bit tone deaf and played out of key from time to time. Everybody in our group quickly ordered ribs, except for me. I decided that barbeque was a little heavy to mix with trail riding in heat, and besides, last time I was here I had some of the best apple pie I'd ever tasted with ice cream, so I decided to walk down to the "to go" window and order up some of that again. First, after a long wait in line, I was informed that the was no more ice cream left and then told that they were out of apple pie, but they had peach. Meanwhile, my companions were chowing down on their mammoth ribs up at the table. By the time I got back to the table with my pie, everybody was almost finished eating. Then I took a good look at the pie. It didn't look anything like the pie I remembered from my last visit. I took a bite and peeked under the crust. I wasn't sure what was in it, what little of it there was, was hidden in the massive soggy crust. Dissapointed, I took it back to the counter, declaring it was the worst pie I had ever tasted and got my money back. I ended up drinking the milk I had ordered and eating a snack out of my fannypack before we mounted up and headed out for our final leg of the ride.

It was still clouded over, but the sprinkling had stopped by the time we had topped of our gastanks and were rolling south on 243 towards 74. Everbody was enjoying the cool humid temperatures, though it never rained enough to get the ground wet. We all agreed that some wet dirt would be nice for a change, but at least there wasn't any lightening. We passed lake Hemet and turned right onto Little Thomas Mountain road, all easy stuff, like Main Divide road, but with better scenery. Once over the top of the ridge, the sun popped out and things began to warm up quite a bit. We kept a somewhat lively pace going for the most part, as we made our way to Rouse Hill road, which took us, without incident back to our vehicles at Cranston Station just after 3 oclock. It was truly a great ride (other than the pie ) and I am hoping that there are still some overlooked trails waiting for us to discover on our next trip up. It wouldn't be bad at all, even in the summer heat. Only Rousehill road and the parking area were really hot. At the parking area, Alex reminded me that we have unfinished business in Jacumba to attend to (the stage road). Now, that is REALLY hot. I certainly want to go finish that trail, but not in the heat we encountered that day.

So, thanks Papaalex for posting the mountain ride, and thanks Bruce and XTSteve for coming along, all good company. I look forward to riding with you guys in the future

This thread is worthless without good pie. It could use some photos too

Anybody else gonna chime in?

[dirt dame 559]

XTSteve, do you have any photos that you would care to share with the rest of the class?

[papaalex 5]

Well, I think DD told you the story (thanks DD ) and I do not have much to add. The trails before lunch break were new to me and I liked them a lot. Crowdady said that there is a technical singletruck trail in that area but, we did not find any and ranger told me over the phone there is none...still unclear about that

Thanks everybody who joined the ride for a great company

Till next one

papa

[XTSTEVE 0]

Hi All,

This was my first real ride on the exc 525. One word: FAST!!!!. It will take a little time to get use to it, but lookout it "smokes".

We had a great time. This set of pictures is of me, The Gang, Dirt Dame and some nice wooden areas. Note in one of the pic's has a pine cone maze we determined was made by green aliens.

http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u185/XT...nt=605fb7ee.pbw

This set of pictures is of the town of Idyllwild. If you look hard at one of the pic's you can see our bikes looking out of place smooshed up to the right of the parking lot.

http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u185/XT...nt=f54d5c38.pbw

Cool Ride, Great Company, Thank's

XTSTEVE

[dirt dame 559]

Yay Pics! Thanks XT or EXC. Now our topic is complete :dance: :dance3:

I especially liked the one of me all breaded in dirt, a silly catpoo-eating grin on my face, giving the ride a two thumbs up

[chickenheart 0]

nice pics looks like there was some great riding this weekend despite the heat of summer. i tell ya the sun just cant keep us down