Coldwater Canyon ride 4/08

[Pain Freak]

Anybody from STR doing this ride?

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=175416

[Von-Diggity]

I'd like to do it, but am a little out of shape. Sounds like an awesome trail, just remember that DFT is all about the VERT!

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

Anybody from STR doing this ride?

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=175416

[singleSSpeedster]

wow!!!

that looks like one muther of a ride!!!

i haven't ridin' much since the VQ, otherwise I;d be in for it.

looking forward to a ride report!!!

[dukethenuke]

I already planned a ride or else I would have totally thought about doing this ride. Where is the trail head for Coldwater I have never seen it?

[royta]

Originally Posted by dukethenuke

I already planned a ride or else I would have totally thought about doing this ride. Where is the trail head for Coldwater I have never seen it?

The top of Coldwater is off of the Upper Holy Jim Trail. It is on the left as you go down Upper Holy Jim.

I'm supposed to be increasing the feeder size to a sub-panel on Saturday, but I'm going to try and do it tomorrow instead. Then, I'll be torn between duke's ride and the Coldwater ride. Coldwater would take less time, and ITT is less than 5 miles from my house.

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

I'll be messing around Southridge Fontana in the afternoon, if I don't do the Tour De Sewer on Saturday

[RIDE 2 LIVE]

Originally Posted by Epic_Mtn_Biker

I'll be messing around Southridge Fontana in the afternoon, if I don't do the Tour De Sewer on Saturday

whats the tour de soup?

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

Tour De Sewer is a paved fun ride that has a 30 or 62 miler, i've done both in the past, i've done over 10 of those rides since '91

Link: 2006 Tour de Sewer

[RIDE 2 LIVE]

Originally Posted by Epic_Mtn_Biker

Tour De Sewer is a paved fun ride that has a 30 or 62 miler, i've done both in the past, i've done over 10 of those rides since '91

Link: 2006 Tour de Sewer

sounds like fun bro, have a good time. whats the car pool deal?

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

Originally Posted by RIDE 2 LIVE

sounds like fun bro, have a good time. whats the car pool deal?

I sent you an e-mail

[royta]

Well you sissylala's, how many of you are riding this? I put off my panel upgrade until Monday, so I'm in!

[Pain Freak]

I think Mr Royta has thrown down the gauntlet. Any takers?

Sisslala's I like that.

[Pain Freak]

well, it's official Tom (DFT) broke his hand. I'm not sure how long he'll be out, but it'll be a while before he can ride again.

Coldwater has claimed a victim.

[TURNERob]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

well, it's official Tom (DFT) broke his hand. I'm not sure how long he'll be out, but it'll be a while before he can ride again.

Coldwater has claimed a victim.

D'oh! Was it that "last mile" that got him?

[royta]

Originally Posted by TURNERob

D'oh! Was it that "last mile" that got him?

DFT wishes. We were relaxing at the top of Upper Holy Jim, and he pulled a stunt with no leg armor, skinned up his knees, and unbeknownst to any of us, broke his hand.

link to pics.

link to .gpx file. Save Target As... Open file with Google Earth so you can see where pictures were taken from. It wants to save as an .xml for some reason, so rename the extension to .gpx.

Indian Truck Trail isn't a bad climb at all. It's very smooth, and decomposed granite the entire way. It's about 7 miles from the CNF boundary to the gate at Main Divide, 7.4 miles from our parking spot. Compared to Bedford, Indian Truck Trail feels like you're on flat ground. The next 3 miles are spent on Main Divide which is a little steeper and much rockier.

This is where the fun begins. Go down Upper Holy Jim .3 miles where you will reach the entrance to Coldwater on the left. Coldwater is currently very soft, with at least 3 to 4 inches of manzanita leaves, and other tree leaves covering the top of the trail. You really need to be careful when traversing the steeper sections, because it's easy to wash out due to the soft conditions. The more open areas were solid trail made up of decomposed granite. I think the trail would solidify nicely with some more traffic. The first 4 miles of Coldwater are spectacular. We rode through open topped tunnels through manzanita, canopies of tree branches, pine trees, oak trees; it was just beautiful. There are plenty of switchbacks that can be ridden and there were plenty that I had to walk. Of course, I'm not the best at going down tight switchbacks. The others did much better.

Unfortunately, Coldwater takes a turn for the worse for the final mile. The elevation difference between WP 014 and WP 015 (the final mile) is 1380 feet (with zero uphill whatsoever), and it took 30 minutes to go down. Where as the elevation difference between the start of Coldwater (WP 013) and WP 014 is 1918 feet (with 221 of gain on the entire down hill), and took 52 minutes. This includes a short hike-a-bike too. It's like the upper 4 miles and bottom 1 mile are completely different trails. Well, actually they are. If you look at your Franko's map, you'll see the original trail ends at Glen Ivy Hot Springs, not at the rock quarry. I'll definitely ride this trail again, but I'm not looking forward to the last mile.

I know that Warrior's Society put in a lot of hard work to get the trail back in the condition it is in today, and I am very appreciative of that hard work. I wish I would have known about, and could have helped with the brushing on the top part of the trail. I have no idea if the bottom mile was already existing, and WS only brushed the existing non-original trail, or if they actually created the last mile. Either way, I feel the final mile takes away from the trail. Seriously, it's not that fun to fill your riding shoes with rocks because of the slipping and sliding to get down a mountain side.

I feel the trail needs to follow the original line all of the way down to the USFS border with Glen Ivy and then run the boundary to ITT, or at the very least back to Glen Ivy and let the riders do the 2 mile road ride back to ITT. I'm hoping it's easily doable, and it will obviously keep the historic route alive, which the USFS will buy much more readily than the existing 1 mile rut route. There's the option of a new series of switchbacks down the south-facing slope, but a new legal line on that slope probably means red tape with archeological and other surveys and that can take a long time, probably months or even years. It also means lot's of difficult trailwork on the side of that ridge, which would take time away from building the new line needed to get to ITT and make the exit legal. Besides, the original route's line down the North side of that ridge at the bottom naturally keeps cooler temperatures. Afternoon shade is a welcome thing in the Santa Anas.

I'd really like to make re-opening the original trail a reality. Please see my new thread in Trail Talk, HERE. I'm hoping to get people excited about this.