Saturday 9/8 Lake Arrowhead ride

[Joliet 0]

You missed a good ride yesterday, the weather was great. Not too much dust and even the remnants of a few puddles. It was just the three of us Doug, Mickey (aka rooster, wheat grass, mohawk boy, and I have added a new one, Marvin the Martian).

I was not ready for the ride. I threw my bike together Friday evening. I didn't find any left over parts so I figured I was good. I had to run back to the shop Sat morning for my skidplate that I forgot to install. We got to the staging area I forgot to hang my Adventure Pass and got a ticket. I have been practicing for weeks with my new camera that I bought for rides, forgot to bring it.

I can't say enough good things about my Rockgardn body armor. I had my first get-off on my KTM. I was standing going downhill and my front end washed out, it happend very quick. As I was going head first over the left handlebar I was looking for a nice soft place to land, I spotted a nice 15" to 20" diameter rock and I thought that looks good . I managed to get my head almost out of the way and took the blow with my shoulder. The rock was pretty round and right on top of the dirt, it gave (rolled about 2 feet) when I hit it, probably saving me from serious injury. If I had not had my body armor on I seriously doubt I would have been riding out of there.

Thank you Doug and Mickey for letting me tag along, I had a great day riding with you guys and look forward to doing it again. Ken

[DigDug 0]

Dang... Joliet beat me to the punch on the write-up.

Like said, it was a great sunny, but not too hot day in the mountains. Besides Mickey and I, only one other taker - Joliet. Sorry for the late posting to anyone that wanted to go but couldn't because of the late notice.

Anyways - enough words, on to the pics!!!

The route was the same as our Arrowhead II route, made slightly (ok, maybe more than slightly) more difficult by the weather effects. Apparently, they'd received a bit of rain up there, changing the face of some of the trails. It was a day of avoiding nasty ruts and rocks that had been unearthed. GREAT STUFF!!!!

We met at the good old Deer Springs Park-N-Ride and caravanned up to the Pinnacles staging area.

At the staging area:

Joliet showing off his new camera:

 

We took off on the same single track near the staging area. Great conditions, good group to keep the speed up. I had to BLAST as fast as I could to get ahead of the others so I could stop, get the camera out in time and snap some shots. Here's Mickey rounding the corner:

 

And Joliet at the same spot:

Joliet coming down one of the loose, rutted hills:

Mickey and Joliet working their way up the lower waterfall:

 

Joliet winding his way up the upper waterfall:

 

Mickey catching some air with Joliet in hot pursuit:

 

We headed up to Crab Flats CG for a quick rest and water top off:

From there we headed off to the Redonda Ridge trail. Since Mickey was in the lead, our pace was pretty quick. No major incidents on the first 5 miles or so of the trail. Here's "heart attack hill". You can just barely see Mickey about 2/3 the way up:

 

Mickey made it to this point when he stalled. No dropped bike though. A quick kick and he climbed the summit. Here's another shot of the hill from a different angle:

Joliet took his turn and had pretty much the same level of success as Mickey (except with a button press instead of a kick). At the top we took a quick water break and noted that it really wasn't that difficult a hill (or even trail) without having to bulldog. I guess hiking hills and pushing bikes at 7000'+ elevation is tiring work.

At this point the trail turned more difficult, due to the rains there had been last week. The trail was dry, and therefore powdery and slick as snot, but the runoff had dug trenches and unearthed loose rocks. FUN STUFF!!!!

Mickey at one of the earlier, easier washed out areas:

Joliet at the same spot:

Mickey later on the trail. What trail?:

Joliet below one of the monster ruts:

 

Taking different lines in the washed out spot. This is quite a bit steeper downhill than it looks:

 

It was on this downhill that Joliet got to test out the impact resistance of his helmet. Sorry, no pics, but I heard that he beat the rock into submission. Now, for the riders that want a challenge, you HAVE GOT to get up there and ride this trail in the reverse direction (from Big Pine Flats CG southwest to Crab Flats CG). The washouts on the final hill will make this a BLAST of a climb!!!! We thought about it, but decided we wanted to include Devil's Hole so we'll be doing it on another trip.

From there we rolled into Big Pine Flats CG for a quick snack/lunch and another top off of the camelbacks. Then up the hill to the Johnson Valley overlook:

 

Over White Mountain, and down the backside. The road wasn't too much changed from last time, just hold onto the bucking bronco and don't try to make any line changes or you'll go down. I don't think anyone did. At the bottom with White Mountain in the background:

 

We did a little poking around on the side trails, and then decided it was time to head on back. Mickey and Joliet on the single-track down into Devil's Hole:

Another shot:

Mickey negotiating the boulder field prior to the crossing at Devil's Hole:

 

There may have been a stall or two, but no bulldogging for the SDAR group. These guys were doing a bit of pushing however:

 

Hey Joliet, you ready for your turn? (Two thumbs up was the answer):

 

Joliet splashes across the stream - ahh.. that feels good!!!

From there, we tore up the fire roads back to the truck. 58 miles on the day and it was close to 4pm. Time to pack up and head down the mountain.

Great time gang. Joliet, thanks for coming along. It's always more fun with a group to share the day with. Arrowhead SDAR III was another successful trip on the mountain. We ARE going back. Stay tuned for Arrowhead IV.

Edited November 19, 2022 by dirt dame

[dirt dame 561]

Ya gotta love ridin' Pinnacles and ya gotta hate workin' on Saturday and thinkin' about your ridin' buddies ridin' Pinnacles while yer workin'