RR: Chantry Flats - Mt. Zion, Sturtevant Camp, Winter Creek

[ThinkFast]

I have been wanting to get up to Chantry Flats area and ride for quite some time. With the long weekend and recent rains I thought it would be a good time to go. Our group for the morning included Hippydude, Mark W, Hermit, Winger and myself.

The view on the drive up Santa Anita.


Since none of use had ridden here before we decided to rely on GeoLadders courses downloaded onto our Garmins. We decided to do the Chantry Flats: Mt. Zion - Sturtevant Loop first. After that we would do the Chantry Flats: Winter Creek Loop.

After reading some Ride Reports here and reading comments on GeoLadders like, "Very technical and difficult climb on Mt Zion. Difficult to get speed on the decent. Sharp turns and if you miss the turn you are pretty much dead." We knew there would be some exposure but the reward would be worth it.

The climb up to Mt. Zion had some steep sections and as expected the exposure in some sections was not to be forgotten. We ran into some trail runners at the top of Mt. Zion. It didn't take much convincing from them to go the extra 1/8 mile up to the lookout.

The view from the lookout point.


The trail down to Sturtevant Camp was a welcome reward after the steep sections climbing to Mt. Zion. We almost missed the camp. If it wasn't for some of the Ride Reports here we may have gone right past it. When we arrived at Sturtevant Camp the director (Chris?) invited us in to check out some of the cabins and give us a little history on the area.







Back on the trail.














We almost missed the waterfall. If it wasn't for the trail runners, who we ran into earlier at Mt. Zion, asking us if we had seen it, we would have ridden right through.

On the trail back to the waterfall.


Not a lot of water but it was nice to see the falls.


Hippydude and Winger


Looking down after one of the switchbacks.


The scenery on this trail is beautiful.


This is an amazing area. In many ways this area is still quite similar to the way it was 100 years ago. The trails do not allow for much time to look around and take it all in on a mountain bike. jpanicich on GeoLadders had commented "Hey my buddy fell off the trail and landed in Hoegee Camp Ground. There was actually a search and rescue guy there waiting for somebody to fall off the mountain. He fell (and rolled) about 100ft elevation and scooted the last 100ft elevation into camp. He went to the hospital in a helicopter. The trail was beautiful, but its one those that you want ride 2 gears lower than what you can push because of the exposure. It's more of a hiking trail."

So, if you are not comfortable riding semi-technical singletarck, with very little margin for error, this would be a fantastic place to hike. If you don't mind the exposure, and enjoy semi-technical singletrack, this area is incredible.

[mr.plow]

awsome!! ive been meaning to get back up there. camp director chris will talk to and give a tour to ANYONE that happens across that area. but he's a nice guy.

[davidB]

Chris is da man. a liitle cooky, but still a great guy. I saw him up there a couple friday's ago cleaning up the camp for some scouts coming in.

[MTBMaven]

Yeah Chris is a great guy. He restrung the phones up both canyons a few years ago. Next time you are up there open the phone booth up and pick up the phone. You hear this little crackle. Chris says it's the sound of the earth. Don't crank the phone (unless it's an emergency) or else you will call the pack station. I don't know all the technical details but the phone is a single "phase/circuit" system. It is literally grounded by the ground. And I think communication is uni-directional like a walky-talky, not like a regular phone. Talk to Chris he will tell you all about it. Pretty interesting stuff actually.

We used it a few years ago to call the pack station to tell the to start cooking our meat. They were nice enough to cook us food the day we finished the trail maintenance on the Zion section of trail.

[VTVic]

Originally Posted by ThinkFast

These two pics are awesome IMO, this is by far the best time to visit Chantry. Thanks for the RR.

[ShinKen]

danngg them are somm sweet pics ehh!! thanks foo sharing BRo!!

[project_d]

Great to hear you rode the trails. Although I ride frontside (Mt. Lowe) a lot more, those trails are sooooooo much fun!

Chris is one of the rockinest people I've ever met. The first time I rode up there, my group got lost after we started at 6:00pm. Long story short, he could tell we were lost, and gave us directions and a flashlight.....SINCE IT WAS NOW 11:30PM!!!!! I've seen him a few times since that, and he's Uber nice!