RR: Idlehour Bikepacking Trip

[MTBMaven]

This trip has been in the works since early January, see link. Four of us ended up going on the trip: Kanga, El Presidente, Donky, and me. The original plan(s) changed many times due to weather, i.e. snow. Kanga and I checked out the Strawberry Peak trail from Red Box to Strawberry/Lawlor Saddle. That section of trail had way too much ice to ride so we decided to stay on the front side of the Angeles to avoid snow.

The plan was to ride up Lower Sam Merrill, to the Mt Lowe Fireroad to Upper Sam Merrill, down USM to Idlehour Trail to Idlehour Campground on the first day. After that plans were somewhat up in the air.

The weather was beautiful on Saturday morning. We met a the end of Lake Ave and were rolling by 9:00AM. Climbing Lower Sam with a 1x9 Niner and roughly 15 pounds of camping gear was difficult to say the least. Let's put it this way a runner beat me to the top. Kanga and El Presidente were pulling BoB trailers on AM bikes. Those guys really worked hard to get up there. I don't think Donkey broke a sweat, he had the lightest kit of us all and climbs like someone's chasing him.

El Presidente on the cut over trail.


The climb from Echo Mt. to Inspiration Point was...well like every other ride on that trail. After the Inspiration Point cut off, and just a bit past the big u-turn heading to Upper Sam Merrill we hit snow. Well it was snow for a bit but then was ice, pure rock hard ice. Traction was basically non-existent yet some how we were able to ride. Riding on ice like that was one of the coolest biking experiences I've had to date. It was effortless and totally silent. However if you torqued it a bit too hard or got the slightest bit off balance you were going down. A few of us went down pretty hard going up.



Kanga finishing the icy climb


We were told by a group of hikers that the upper section of Upper Merrill was too icy to pass due to a 45 deg ice sheet on the trail. Riding Upper Sam Merrill was out. We headed back down the ice fields to Idlehour Trail and camp. Riding back down the ice was interesting. I tried a wall ride and snow which was cool, so I decided to try it again with more speed. Unfortunately this time the snow was ice and I went out. I'm sliding on pure ice at a good clip and my bike is sliding too but towards the edge of the road and faster than me. I lunged for the bike and grabbed the seat and came to a stop. Once I stopped and realized I was safe and started laughing at myself. Good times!

Here is a little video of Donkey riding on ice, I call it Donkeys on Ice.


We also put up signs for the trail maintenance planned for March 9th on Middle Merrill. Please come out and help work on one of the best trails in SoCal.


Rather unfortunately El Presidente went down pretty hard on the ice and pinched a nerve in his back or something. He decided to head to the chiropractor as he is riding the Tour of CA next week and a bad back is not something you want to have going into that event. Now there were three.

El Presidente was nice enough to share the Shushi he hauled up with up before he left! Man that stuff hit the spot


We descended down the Idlehour Trail to our campsite for the night. This is a fun trail that see very little usage. There were several downed trees but nothing too bad.

Kanga motoring down the Idlehour Trail




Sweet little section of trail. Looks like Ireland


Awesome downed tree the trails goes right through.




We found ourselves a great campsite on a bluff near the stream. We set up camp, purified some water, and went looking to the cabin TedRoy gave Kanga directions to. After much looking we threw in the towel...next time.







Great stream behind camp with a nice waterfall.




All three of us had freeze dried food, which we either made good selections or we were really hungry because everyone liked their food. The night was short and we were in bed by about 8:30PM. Temps were in the upper 30, maybe low 40s. I slept in every piece of warm clothing I had: two thermal bottoms, two socks, Patagonia R1 top, REI Primaloft vest, arm warmers, leg warmers, wind jacket, fleece liner gloves, and wool balaclava. Even with all that and my 35 deg down bag I was cold most of the night.

Morning temps were pretty darn cold as well. After breaking camp and heading out we had a fun 1 mile hike-a-bike section through the canyon bottom. The next 2.5 mile climbing out of Idlehour Campground were pretty difficult for me first thing in the morning. I think my toes finally had feeling about 1 hour into the ride.

Donkey decided not to ride Middle Merrill due to a bad crash a month ago on the trail. Kanga and I headed down Middle Merrill, camping gear and 1 BoB trailer. WOW was a fun ride.

Kanga on Middle Merrill. Kind of hard to tell but the trailer is in the air!




This is on the really rocky and exposed section of the trail. For those that don't know this trail, this section is hard to ride not matter what and Kanga is pulling a loaded trailer.


After Middle Merrill we rode Sunset and then El Prieto to JPL and the back to the vehicles on pavement. Singletrack with all the gear was a blast and awesome extra challenge.

Kanga droppin the steps on Sunset!


In conclusion this was an awesome trip with some great people! I hope more people can make it out when we do another one of these. Not sure when that will be but I definitely want to do another.

[Pain Freak]

I hope after it warms up a little. I was thinking about your trip while I was out on the double. I kept telling myself, I should of gone with Brian. Well, you know how I hate the cold, so now I'm okay with it. Great RR and good pix. Maybe next one can be on the backside? Burkhardt or one of those.

[Rob]

Wish I could have gone! Looks fun.

[sdyeti]

Wow! Awesome RR...you guys are hardcore!

[dstepper]

Good job men, Hans I hope you are OK.

Saturday AM when I got up and the temp was 40 in Laguna...I thought of you guys.

I used to have a wood stove like that when I lived in Gualala.

Dean

[maxwell]

Man that look's really freakin' cool!

Great pics, thanks!

[Endo Verendo]

sweet!

[allison]

Great RR!!

Thanks for the pics.

[stjunkie]

Sounds like you guys had a good time. Hope you're OK Hans. Wish I could have made it. Can't believe Kanga rode the "turn of death" with a trailer and with you as an obstacle on the inside filming. That turn spooks me out every time I ride it and sometimes when I walk it.

[donkey]

Now that was a good time. We definitely need to organize another one of these.....perhaps something in the SART/Barton Flats area.

I was really pleased with my gear choices for the trip. I didn't weigh the final selection of gear but it was definitely one of the lightest kits I've ever carried for this type of thing. I really can't think of anything I could have left behind.....but I definitely had too much food......and I probably could have done without the summer sausage.

Store bought sushi never tasted soo good.

B

[Fishysticks]

Awesome ride review. We actually saw you guys up at Echo, I was going to say Hi but I wasn't sure that you guys were STR till I saw this post.

[kanga]

Originally Posted by stjunkie

Sounds like you guys had a good time. Hope you're OK Hans. Wish I could have made it. Can't believe Kanga rode the "turn of death" with a trailer and with you as an obstacle on the inside filming. That turn spooks me out every time I ride it and sometimes when I walk it.

I rode it a bit more cautiously than usual, and stopped right after to get that thing out of my throat... I think it was my heart!

Very cool couple of days, my RR and pics are on their way.

[Flat Broke]

Awesome RR!!!!!

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by Fishysticks

Awesome ride review. We actually saw you guys up at Echo, I was going to say Hi but I wasn't sure that you guys were STR till I saw this post.

Yeah you should have said hi. Who were you? (if that makes since).

[MTBMaven]

Stats for the ride from my Edge

Day 1: 16.4 Miles, 3,920 Feet Total Ascent, 3,000 Feet Total Descent
Day 2: 17.9 Miles, 3,485 Feet Total Ascent, 4,320 Feet Total Descent

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by MTBMaven

Stats for the ride from my Edge

Day 1: 16.4 Miles, 3,920 Feet Total Ascent, 3,000 Feet Total Descent
Day 2: 17.9 Miles, 3,485 Feet Total Ascent, 4,320 Feet Total Descent

Donkey does that getting back and forth to work...

[kanga]

Mine were pretty close:

Ride Stats:

Saturday: 16.06 miles, 3:28:23 moving time, 4008' ascent, 2957' descent
Sunday: 17.77 miles, 3:05 moving time, 3495' ascent, 4302' descent

Still uploading pics... I'll add them to the thread tomorrow....it's gonna take a while.

Originally Posted by dstepper

Donkey does that getting back and forth to work...

It showed

[KBL]

You guys qualify for some big-time manliness points! Those are tough trails without camping gear and cold weather.