San Juan

viejo tie work - the email said 'rain or shine'. just the sort of foolishness I was looking
for.
a group of 10 of us met at the top of san juan, at blue jay, at 9 AM, to
do a little trail maintenance on the viejo tie and chiquita trails. it had
been raining now for - ever - it seemed, and we were all just driven to
get out into the world we know again. the world of men and machines
had been oppressing us under a gray sky for too long without break.

rain or shine.

rain it was. assembling in blue jay were some of oc's finest. riders,
explorers, adventurers all, shut away too long at work and
responsibility. trail work had been planned for awhile, we were shut
out from the coldwater work, so this seemed like a worthy endeavor in
its place.

gathered at the parking lot in blue jay, grabbing grub axes, macleouds
and shovels, gray and wet falling on us even now at the start, getting
ready to head off, that darling little Sprite brought out some delicious
homemade chocolate chip cookies to augment our breakfasts. in an
adventure where only a few hardy men showed up, this amazing young
lady was out here showing again she's got as much of the right stuff as
any of the guys. her cookies tasted like a little ray of sunshine on a
morning that offered none from above. I pulled on some old powder
pants that hadn't been out of the closet in a decade, and off we struck.

right out the gate, keith leads us 100 yds down a dead end, a short cut
from the campground to the san juan trail that existed only somewhere
in the recesses of his brain. we turned around, grabbed another
footpath heading south and took off. the trailed was tightly flanked on
both sides by shrubs just dripping wet, the ground running with
rivulets of reddish muddy water. a light rain was coming down as we
found jan juan trail.

down we hiked over loose rocks, roots and slick sides of deep erosion
cuts. easy fun conversation made it into the beginning of an adventure.
when we got to the top of chiquita trail we dropped the tools to scour
the surrounding scrub forest for the 4x4 steel trail marker.

a few years back, a series of steel posts marking the trail junctions had
been installed. anybody who has ridden the trails here consistently has
seen them. seems a few weeks/months back, some knuckle draggers
came through and had some vandalous fun ripping them out. they
were either in the surrounding shrubs or adorning some fool's pad or
bedroom now. given the rather hefty weight of the signposts, we were
hoping we would find them somewhere nearby.

well, we spent 20 minutes fanning out through the thick overgrown
native fauna of south oc without success. came up empty handed.
maybe the idiot(s) that yanked it to begin with will one day recognize
their idiocy and think to go back and retrieve it. if you're reading this
post, just fish it out of the bushes where you tossed and set it by the
trail. no one has to know and a later party will plant it. its never too
late to do the right thing.

undeterred, we pushed on down san juan. the place is getting thickly
grown and after all the rains we're having this winter, is going to just
explode with growth this spring when the sun returns from wherever
its been hiding for so long. along the way, we cut a quick puddle drain
here, snapped back a particularly overhung bush and kept on, making
our way to the top of the viejo tie trail.

another of the signs used to mark this spot as well. here the brush was
little easier to push through (but not that easy). so we all forced our
way out into the sage and manzanita, hoping to have better luck here.
but it wasn't to be. despite our earnest intent to locate the signpost, we
came up short again. I've seen these things and I'd wager they weigh in
around 60 lbs and I cannot imagine how - misguided (let's be
charitable) - one would have to be to yank one of these and secret it
away so well.

we set down the viejo tie trail and here we got into some serious work.
building waterbars, filling in erosion ruts, cutting back downed
branches. we put in a couple of good hours here, helping ol' mom
nature along with a little housecleaning. she's given us all so much
with this beautiful land, its nice to give just a little back.

all the while, the skies were gray and the rain came down light, heavy
and in between. everybody was pretty well soaked by this point.
interesting, too, is that large trash bags, by my observation anyway,
provided the best protection. high tech gear, no matter the brand,
seemed to be no match for the steady fall of water from above.

after a few hours of this, and me regretting I had neglected to bring
the ibuprofen along, we struck back up the chiquita trail from where
the viejo tie, well, ties in. even along this march back, we found plenty
of opportunities to make the trail just a little better. for me anyway,
fatigue was starting to set in, it was getting cold, the wind and rain
were getting stronger, and I was starting to think of hot rum drinks, a
hot meal and a hot shower. as we pushed hard back up the long trek to
the san juan campground, the water was running off the trail now in
sheets and small creeks. I walked right up the middle of it, as the boots
and socks were completely soaked, with that squishy feeling as the
water is forced out of the fabric of my socks and sloshes between my
toes with every step.

finally into the campground and back onto asphalt. just a short bit left
to the cars. just enough time for a little philosophical rambling about
the vast masses of people, of which we are not a part, sitting in their
homes bemoaning the rain, while a few hardy spirits ventured into a
day of adventure and mission. going for real where others only
dream......

well, I hope it stops raining one of these days SOON so I can get out
and test our work.
Ride distance: 8 miles Elevation change:
Bobrsta a 50 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a pair of legs today from Aliso viejo
Posted on 01/08/05

He could have condensed that to two paragraphs max if he cut out the sugar!

...the sugar is what it makes it sweet..