Santa Ana's trail conditions(Harding/Maple Springs/HJ/Trabuco Rd Update)

Holy Jim

Just wanna say thanks W.S. for the trail maintenance on H.J.:clap: Appreciate it much.

Wow, such a gorgeous day to be in the woods.


Steve

 

Harding is in great condition right now. Earlier this week, it was freshly 'dozed, and quite loose. But rode it earlier today (right before the rain hit), and the trucks were out there packing it down. Nice guys. I made sure it was ok for me to be out there so as not to get in their way or anything, and they let me by and warned me about the gnarly wind up ahead, (and gnarly it was). Hopefully it holds up with all this rain. :-s

 

Holy Jim was brushed from top to bottom yesterday by the WS. We also had a crew of 2 work on the creek crossings to arrange the rocks a bit better so it was easier to rock hop rather than jump 2 feet to the next.

The road crews did a great job on Trabuco Creek Rd.

Here are shots of the before(pic by KWH)


Here is the same section after:


Here's another before(pics by KWH)



Here is the section after:



There was a tree blocking the trail. Too long just to roll over off the trail.


1 cut is all it took.


The creeks are still flowing from the recent rains. It'll be a very difficult and take too long to try a stay dry during these crossings


There were several areas that had low hanging brush.


I cleared all of them on my way up.


From mile marker 3 to 4 was where we did most of the work on Saturday.


This section was eroding away a bit....,


I added some more rocks a soil to shore it up a bit. I'm not sure how long it will hold. I'll be checking on it from time to time.


Lets hope this nice tunnel doesn't get any lower. It a nice little feature as you ride through.


Thanks to this group for braving the rain and cold in the morning to get the trails ready for the Pow Wow.

​

 

Nice job guys! Thanks!

 

I'm thinking of riding on Harding Tuesday (3/22) afternoon - about 5 PM-ish... The forecast calls for a clear day that day but I wonder if it will be ridable given the rain...

 

Harding - Muddy, but Good to Go

Went up Harding trail for an hour - as mentioned in this thread, the crews did a great job filling in all of the previously washed-out areas...especially the first turn after the gate (it's all nice and smooth now). The first 2 miles or so were the muddiest, so it was slow going uphill working through the muddy sections. There were two large puddles that only could be crossed by going through them but the water wasn't too deep to cause any trouble. Great ride! :bang:

 

Thanks you guys. Most people dont realize the amount of work people like you put in to keep our trails in the great shape we find them in. It is appreciated.

 

Maple Springs - Open? Conditions?

I'd like to do a Maple Springs ride on Saturday (3/26) - has anyone gone here recently? The last time I rode was the last rain when snow levels went down to 2500'.

Are the conditions OK to ride? How about the river crossings along the road - are they as deep as they were last month? 8-[

 

With all the recent rains and more coming tonight, you can bet the water crossing will still be deep. The crossings at Trabuco Creek Rd and Holy Jim are still pretty deep as well. Keep in mind, water will be flowing from the mountain for a while with all the rains we keep getting.

I would expect some snow as well if the rain expected tonight brings snow to the lower elevations. There is an 80% chance of rain overnight into tomorrow.

 

Went out there Sunday just before the rains up to 4-corners. Road is clear all the way to the top. Crossings are still flowing consistently over the past month and not going down. Should be more fun this weekend with the low snow levels and waves of storms rolling through.

 

How high up are you planning on going? There will definitely be a lot of snow approaching the peak, even if we have nothing but nice weather between now and Saturday.... which we wont.

 

Probably going to find something else to do this weekend...#-o

 

I did an out and back on MS to Four Corners on Tuesday evening. The snow level was a few hundred feet above Four Corners at that point. Water was following at the creek crossings pretty good, but all were safe and you could still manage to keep your feet dry by going slow enough. The dirt was great all the way up, only one puddle streched the entire road. You are fine going up but be prepared for a chilly descent, 8 miles downhill at 37 degrees for me.

 

the snow level for today's little storm was only 5K. we're doing harding-joplin tomorrow morning (mellow pace). shoot me a pm if you're interested.

EDIT: harding was just a bit muddy the first few miles, great after that. the main divide was in really good shape (freshly scraped?). joplin-stt were in exceptional condition.

 

rode harding-joplin-stt today. harding was a little greasy the first few miles, but not bad; 4 corners was freezing; joplin-stt-luge were superb!

 

I take it the wind was whistling a tune at four corners. How ridable was the snow getting to joplin? I was told it was a bit cold up there from a couple of riders I
came across after coming up horsethief to trabuco. Did you drop joplin in snow? Thanks for report and glad it was superb for you.

Steve

 

I rode Bedford, Motorway, up Maplesprings then back down Bedford. There was a little washy areas between Bedford and Motorway, but it was all manageable. I didn't have to stop to scrub mud off my bike.

 

steve- no snow anywhere (just felt like it at 4 corners). joplin was warm in comparison.

 

Rode blackstar to gate twice last night (March 29). Trail is in good shape - tacky in spots, dusty in others. In the valley, there are a couple of mud bogs that must be ridden through, in the normal spots that retain water. On the climb, the trail is soft in the 1/8 mile below the washout and bypass. At the bypass (we walked the bridge), the creek was flowing nicely and was 6-8 inches deep. Near the top at the intersection of the singletrack leading up to the gate, there is small drainage flowing across the trail that has to be crossed twice.

The trail still has plenty of ruts, mostly at the top and at the bottom of the climb that riders should remember on the way down.

All things considered, however, the trail is in great shape for riding now and the pow wow on Saturday.

 

Holy Jim Conditions? (posted 3-30-11)

I'm thinking of Holy Jim this weekend with out-of-town friends. Can anyone report on current conditions? Are the creek crossings crazy high?