Devils Punchbowl Saturday April 8th

[MTBMaven]

My plan is to finally ride Devils Punchbowl this weekend. I plan to
start near Cruthers Creek, ride to South Fork Campground, and back.
Depending on the snow level I want to try to ride up the Buckhart Trail
possibly to the saddle.

A friend is meeting me in Pasadena at 8:00AM then I'm driving us out to
the desert. We should be out there about 9:00AMish. Post if interested in joining.
I will post trail length tomorrow at the office. I don't have the route on this
computer and don't feel like re-drawing it tonight, sorry.

See link for photos of a recent hike in the area.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mtbmav...2FHrEB3qrte7q9

[dstepper]

Saturday no can do. Sunday and I would do it. Then I would just stay up in the desert, my sister lives in Pinon Hills.

Dean

[MTBMaven]

Sorry I can only ride Saturday. On a plane to Nashville on Sunday.

[ECOdork]

punchbowl looks cool! need to add that place to "the list"!

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

Punchbowl looks great, a definite must ride

[MTBMaven]

Okay so Topo shows the route from Cruthers Creek to South Fork Campground as 6.6 miles one way. Keep in mind Topo has a tendency to under estimate distances by ~10%. The climb up to Buckhart Saddle is 3.5 miles of steep climbing (2,200 feet in 3.5 miles, 630 feet/mile - about the same as Lower Merrill)

I got a PM saying there is a good bit of snow on the backside and we will likely not be able to ride to Buckhart Saddle. It may be cold on the trail in the AM so dress appropriately.

I think these directions from Local Live should work if not follow directions below:
[FONT=Arial]http://local.live.com/?v=2&rtp=pos.34.507047_-118.113166_Exit~pos.34.419447_-117.887292_Cruthers%20Creek%20Trailhead[/FONT]
(BTW: Local Live blows Google Maps (not Google Earth) out of the water! Check out the Bird's Eye View in the city. Very cool stuff for us mapping wonks!)

Directions from Highway 14:
Exit Sierra Highway/Pearblossom Highway
Veer right on Pearblossom Highway
Stay on Pearblossom Highway for several miles (watch signs carefully as the highway changes from street to street)
Right on Longview Rd/N6
Right Tumbleweed Rd/N6, which turns into Devil Punch Bowl Rd/N6
Right Cruthers Creek Rd (looks to be the second left)
Trailhead will be at the end of the road

[pshloss]

I did this ride in the "downhill" direction starting at Buckhorn Campground one time on down to South Fork. We thought it would take 3-4 hours and it took 7. It was summer and over 100 by the time we got to South Fork. Prepare for serious hike a bike on any uphills in that region. It is very loose and steep. Although I will say it was somewhat better around Devil's Punchbowl than further up on Burkhart. The hiking pics tell the story pretty well.

[MTBMaven]

Originally Posted by Epic_Mtn_Biker

Punchbowl looks great, a definite must ride

Epic,

Hope you can make it this weekend sense we didn't get to ride together last weekend. This ride should be pretty good. Seems to be high up on several people's short list of rides.

[Epic_Mtn_Biker]

Originally Posted by MTBMaven

Epic,

Hope you can make it this weekend sense we didn't get to ride together last weekend. This ride should be pretty good. Seems to be high up on several people's short list of rides.

Thanx for the invitation , but i planned an epic for Sunday in the Santa Monica's. Maybe next time