RR: Lower Rock Creek

[Ladd Jasper]

Camped in the Sierras last weekend, and hit this trail on the way out Sunday morning.

Got to the trailhead at 8:40am, and was pleasantly surprised to find smooth, flowing singletrack to start. For whatever reason I'd expected something much more technical/difficult, but wasn't complaining.

This went on for a few miles, through Aspen tunnels and creek encounters, a rock to avoid here and there, but not much more to demand your attention--perfect, as the scenery throughout was spectacular.

A few miles in came the first of two road crossings, and this marked a change in both topography and trail character. The DG of the earlier section gave way to the Sierra dirt that finds its way into every nook, cranny, nostril and eye that comes near, and large trailside rocks became more prevalent--the kind that hide in the tall grass, waiting for an errant pedal to stray too close. Found a few of these, but just got kicked out a bit and never actually went down…gets ones attention, though.

Several rock gardens must be crossed with some tricky sections to negotiate, and there is one rockfall that is not rideable and must be hiked over. Additionally, I walked several places that, after getting to the other side, looked doable, but being alone I decided to err on the side of caution and leave those for another time. These places were all in the same general section of trail, however, and were quite short--maybe 50 yards total if strung together.

Stopped at several places to take photos, and will post a few below. The wife was waiting with the truck at Paradise when I rolled up at 9:45am, making trail time 1:05, saddle time about :50.

We’re planning to do this on the upcoming Mammoth trip, and I’m already looking forward to riding it again. I wouldn’t call this a “destination” trail due to its relatively short length, but it should not be missed if you’ll be in the area.

[mtnbikerdude87]

Nice report. I love doing this trail at night.

[TURNERob]

Cool pics Dale, looks like a very scenic trail.

So will the X-5 be back in action in time for the weekend?

[Ladd Jasper]

Originally Posted by mtnbikerdude87

Nice report. I love doing this trail at night.

An ideal trail for night riding, yeah. Hadn't even considered it.

Originally Posted by TURNERob

Cool pics Dale, looks like a very scenic trail.

So will the X-5 be back in action in time for the weekend?

Thanks, bubb.

Just got the replacement lowers today. You available for some wrench assistance this week? Wound up w/ an extra part I can't quite place, and figure it serves some purpose--could use some guidance, if you've got a spare evening.

[TURNERob]

Yeah I should have time for that, it would be nice to see the internals of that fork since I just bought one anyway

[dstepper]

Nice report thanks...night ride on that trail has my interest peaked.

[killa Cali Kid]

Originally Posted by Ladd Jasper

Wound up w/ an extra part I can't quite place, and figure it serves some purpose--could use some guidance, if you've got a spare evening.

just like when i set up my tent always find some extra parts. ignore and throw them aside

[Chaos]

LJ,
Did you get that write up from a trail book or something? That was a great report and nice pics.
Thanks

[ECOdork]

Nice!=p~

[Ladd Jasper]

Originally Posted by Chaos

LJ,
Did you get that write up from a trail book or something? That was a great report and nice pics.
Thanks

Nope, that was all me.

Any similarity to an existing report/description would be purely coincidental...and embarrassingly difficult to explain away. Better to make this stuff up yourself.

Thank you, though!

[stjunkie]

Nice write-up. LRC is hard to pass up on the way to Mammoth or Tahoe. It's so close to 395 and the first two sections are easy to climb if you don't have a shuttle. The shuttle is always nice though.

[pshloss]

Here's a suggestion to make the ride down Rock Creek a lot longer.
http://www.rockcreeklake.com/biking/sand.htm

I tried to do it a couple of years ago. You start at Rock Creek lake and have to push your bike up the trail for about 1/2 mile. Then you are on a nice plateau and I think it is flat or DH from there all the way to Paradise. I came to a fork on the top of the plateau and both ways were equally travelled. So I flipped a coin and picked the wrong way. Make sure to take the RIGHT-HAND fork. The left fork was fun- root drops and such- but took me almost back to the start. The wife was waiting at the bottom, so we didn't have time to start over. If you want a real epic you could climb it, too. It's about 5000 feet plus of vertical and tops out over 10,000 feet elevation. Needless to say, start early either way- it gets well over 100 degrees in Paradise routinely.

[Von-Skipp]

hmm. that would of been cool to know a couple days earlier...

Heress a couple pics from Rock Creek this weekend.