RR: Southern Sierras

[jfsh]

I guess I might as well get this thread started. We had a big campout up in the Sierras over the weekend. I think we had 26 total counting all the kids. Certainly not that many riders. The campground was almost empty besides us.

People started arriving around 2pm on Friday. I had been working on the Summit Trail a bit lately and everyone seemed interested in checking out the new stuff. We piled in to my truck and drove up to the top around 4pm. 10 riders and bikes thanks to Sean's trailer.

The top of the trail is where I have been doing most of the recent work. The first 1/2 mile or so I hadn't even ridden yet. I was stoked to see that the trail worked as planned. There were many log rides and stunts along this section for people to try. With everyone wanting to session the stuff our progress was slow. That was fine with me because that is what we were there for.

As Art said in his post, he had a pretty good crash. I was standing there when he hit the dirt. I was thinking that he could be hurt. To his credit, he was able to walk/ride back to camp under his own power. Hope you heal fast.

We came to the creek crossing that has the big log going across it. I had ridden this one before so I was the probe for the group. My run went well and 3 other riders cleaned it to.
Dell


Scott




Joel


Sweet runs guys! We finished off the rest of the trail as I was getting dark. I think we got back to camp around 7:30?

The next day there were 3 different rides happening. I have to thank my sister for driving our shuttle for us. My group was 8 strong and we had an awesome day out on a remote trail. Here are some pics.
Sean on a skinny drop riding his 29er.


Crash on the same drop. (He did live up to his name several times on this day but I never had the camera out at the right time.)


Here is Joel making this jump look tough. He ended up on the ground.




Here is Dell making it look easy.


More Dell on a big log ride.




Here is Darin jumping off of the same log.


And Joel


Great weekend of riding guys. I hope we can do it again soon. I think I will be seeing many of you again at Mammoth in 2 weeks.

[kanga]

I wished I was able to be there... I know it was a good time for all. I saw Art's Hike report where he said he crashed, but gave no details. Art, hope you're OK too by now.

[Burner]

Had a great weekend with all of you...

Was using my backup camera, seems most of the good shots were of Maxwell or Joel. On to the pics.

Jeff


Darin showing us how good he is at taking off, and how bad he is at landing.


Joel


Joel


Sean (pre-endo)


Dell airborne


Dell cooling off on a warm day


Maxwell hitting a log ride.


more here

[art23rockpile]

Darin, Joel, and I hit the road Friday morning, arriving at the campground in a little over four hours.
This was my first trip to Quaking Aspens. The place is awesome! I was only able to ride a couple of trails due to my crash, but was very impressed by the overall experience. I'll definately be back!

From what i've been told, it's been decades since the Forestry Service has done any trailwork in the QA area.
Restoring the Summit Trail (with added stunts) is one of Jeff's trailwork projects. It must have been great for him to watch other people riding his handiwork.

Below are a few pics I took. Others also got some good shots, and Sean (GP_pilot) got some nice video footage. I also got some pics from Camp Nelson trail yesterday and will post those on the apprpriate thread.

1) Jeff
2) ???
3) Scenic meadow
4) Jeff

[dstepper]

Steve, Art crashed just before the big log crossing at Smith Anu Failing Meadow.

Great spending time with everyone this weekend, it has become one of my favorite places to ride. Main attraction for me is that I love to explore and the more I explore out there the more I am finding to come back and explore further. Endless system of dirt roads, trails, and cow paths.

New sites for me on this trip where views up on Mcintyre Rock and the Sierra Pack Station. There is much more to do out there besides MTBing.

Pics:

Climbers on McIntyre Rock

Very remote Pack Station near Golden Trout Wilderness, rounding the corner and coming into the Pack Station is like being transported back into the 1800's.

Bike against Sequoia on Camp Nelson Trail.

Dean

[1080P]

Art,
Sorry to hear you got hurt, Healing Vibes your way, hope you are back on the trails again soon.

I've a lot of great memories of that area as a child, camping and fishing around Camp Nelson in the '60's.

Randy

[maxwell]

What can I say, other than WOW!!

I hadn't been camping in close to 10 years, and this weekend lit a new fire in me. I litterally felt like a kid again! OK, I feel like a kid most of the time, but this weekend was different.
We rode, we hung around the campfire telling stories, I made cowboy coffee in my percolator pot, and Burner even had SMORES!!

My $10 tent..


The riding was just freak'n amazing!
As with every other trail here in Ca. it could use some rain to knock down the dust, but other than that, just freak'n AMAZING!

We did the Summit Trail on Friday.
It had some nice log rides, some great flow, and even a herd of cattle. "STAMPEAD"!!!

It took me a bit (and a few crashes) to get the log rides down. After watching Jeff, Scott, & Joel make everything look easy, I started to get the hang of it.

jfsh introducing us to this little bit of Heaven.


Joel on the Diving Board


Jeff rides up onto the BIG log over the creek.


We are deffinietly NOT in Aliso!




Did I mention that it was a "little" dusty? I washed out on an easy section of trail, and did a high speed Superman, sliding head first into home plate.

No injuries, but I got a nice "dirt tan"!


Man, sitting around the campfire after a ride is just plain ol' relaxing!




On Saturday we hit Bear Creek, and it more than lived up to all I'd heard about it!
Nice climb to a nasty HAB, to a freak'n FUN DH!!

I'll let the pics do the talking here......

Climbing....




I got this pic of Burner for the scenic background...


Hike-A-Bike


Point it DOWNHILL!!

jfsh


Joel


Dell


Jeff


Joel


Sean


Joel



Jeff on the run-in to a drop..



Jeff plank drop


Joel


Dell


Joel


Dell


Saturday night we all gathered around the campfire and heard some great storries!
Jeff, it was great to meet your wife. She reminds me a lot of mine. Very cool with the riding thing, even though she doesn't ride herself. Very COOL!

Sunday we did Camp Nelson. What a blast that was!
My camera batteries died after the first few pics, but I did manage to get a couple.

Dell on the first rock jump.


Joel, same jump.


and last but not least.............

Dell decided that with all that gear on, he needed to cool off in the stream!


Like I said at the begining, WOW!

I completely lived up to the CRASH in "Crash" Maxwell this weekend. I'm no worse for wear, and had a GREAT time!

Thanks guy's for the great company, and the great rides! And BIG thanks to Jeff's sister Karen for driving shuttle on Saturday's ride!

[art23rockpile]

Here's some pics from Camp Nelson Trail yesterday (Sunday). Since I was injured, I rode ahead sometimes while everyone sessioned the stunts. Matt (Burner) crashed within the first 50 yards of trail, the victim of a hidden rock, fortunately he was okay.

The trail itself is a gem! It reminded me of if you take a 15 mile long trail at Downieville, compress it down to 4 1/2 miles, add stunts and even more impressive scenery.
Good times!

Photos:
1) Bike resting at stream
2) Dell
3) Matt
4) Joel -log ride
5) Darin -log ride
6) Joel -speed blur

[dstepper]

I don't now how you do it Crash...one of your crashes would have ended my weekend. I stopped counting your crashes.

Few more pics of the weekend.

Dean