Ride Report 6 hour, 6000 feet HAB, 3 hour down, chunk!! (Part 1 & 2)

Yep, that was the plan. Wake up at 5:00 am, hit the trailhead at 5:30 am, leave at 6:00 am. 6 hour Hike A Bike to 6250 feet rest for 1.5 hours and a 3 hour downhill. Yep, that was the plan.

Plan Executed!

DFT, Terry and I met at the trailhead in the dark; 11 hours later we were back on the pavement, exhausted.

We knew this was going to be a Hike a Bike, Chunky, steep, slidy, techno, tight switchbacks. Terry emailed us the night before suggesting not wearing a chamois on the way up and wearing hiking shoes. Good Advice! :clap:

Perfect Temps, low 60's in the morning to high 70's in the afternoon.

And off we go!

Preparing our packs in the dark. Notice my hiking boots.





Semi-dark



The HAB begins



See you in 11 hours Barty



Sunrise



Chunky



A few hikers. See how fast the trail rises?



35 lb AM sled or anchor depending on which way you're traveling.



Pedals On



Pedals Off





Ladies and Gentlemen introducing the Inimitble DFT!



And the Affable Terry!



I don't have a knife, I don't have a candle, I don't have matches, I don't have good hiking boots, I don't have a whistle, I don't have a space blanket, I don't have a flashlight, I don't have extra clothing, but I am with someone who has done this route before. Oh, wait...it's DFT.

Crap. I'm screwed.




HABers and Hikers getting along.



Stash for later



Someone had a GPS



This is what 2600 feet looks like




To Be Continued -- I have too many pictures to post. Look for 6 hour, 6000 feet HAB, 3 hour down, Part 2 here:

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/for...6000-feet-hab-3-hour-down-chunk-part-2-a.html

 

CRAZY!!!!!!:clap:

 

Thanks for posting. Great pics of an epic HAB/ride. Still trying to work out the location though.
Great idea to remove the pedals.

 

you guys are lucky to make it your first try, IIRC it took denny three attempts to do it.. huge props to you guys for doin it

 

NICE!!

I got the e-mail, and was still in Az. Sorry I missed this one! I'm looking forward to the pics!

 

is this that desert to the clouds trail?

 

denny who?
it was my 5th time doing it, 1st for MJ/terry. this was the best one yet! nice pics mouse jockey. first year i've pushed up a 40 pound freeride bike, it was nice on the descent. i've made it to within 400 feet of the top 2 years ago (dark to dark start to finish). this year we decided to ONLY do 6000 since heavier bikes (plus its just so hard to have enough water for the very top, it gets REAL steep/slidy the last 2000!).

if anyone has ridden iron mountian in SD, its iron on massive steroids, 8 stacked on top of each other! for the 3 of us, we carried, 130, 150, 170 ounzes of water (and downed lots of water right before starting), all ended with no water or a small amount left. the descent is uber technical. (steeps, relentless chunk, overgrowth, flowy sections, exposure, etc). one EPIC descent!

 

6 hour, 6000 feet HAB, 3 hour down, chunk!! (Part 2)

Part 2, Part 1 is located here:

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/for...6000-feet-hab-3-hour-down-chunk-part-1-a.html


Sometime after 2600 feet I started to realize my hiking boots were rubbing my right achilles wrong. I needed some moleskin, but I had none. Oh, crap! I'm a gonna be a hurtin' fool if I don't get some. So I asked some hikers passing us who looked nice enough and well prepared. 2 minutes later I was bandaging my foot with some skin from a mole! Thanks, whoever you are! You shall reap what you sow!




Yea, that's the trail somewhere.




Still HABing






I can't wait to be heading down that!





Weapons of Choice. Look Ma, no pedals.






Aw crap. More Troubles with 3000 feet to go.




Destination Rest at 6250 feet!







Here's what 6250 looks like.





After 2 hours of rest, pedals are on and we are off.




Long Way Down.




DFT, king of steeps and chunk.




T, learning from the master.




BLING!




Drop




Chunky, tech, and steep.













Tight Switch with exposure. If you fall off to the right you are done, seriously.




How much longer??







When we got to our stash at 2600 feet I was over, blown out, kaput, fini, wasted, bonked, hallucinating, are those angels singing? I had nothing else left. I was like a ping pong ball bouncing off of rock to rock hoping I didn't hurt myself or my bike too bad. If I had a choice to stop at 2600 I would have stopped. Whatever skill I had...left me.



Finally after 9.5 hours of trail hiking / riding and 1.5 hours of rest we made it back to our cars. Pavement never felt so good!





Yea, we were somewhere up there.



Hardcore.

 

We missed you Crash! There were some scary sections and a lot of overgrowth that cut our legs on the climb up. (need more mt bikers on this trail to brush back the overgrowth with use, yea!)

 

EPIC DAY!!
still stoked and riding high.
the descent is almost as tiring as the HAB, best day in a long long time!
(great pics again tom)

 

Totally impressed...as always. Did you see anyone oyjer than 1 hiking group?

 

Yea, we came across 15 or so people. We actually met another hiker I came across last month when I did this trail, her name is Tina. All the hikers were amazed and astounded at our mad skillz. :lol:

 

Do you live in PS?

 

Nice work guys and great writeup Tom. Looks like the weather worked out perfect for you guys.

 

Good stuff guys. The pics of you both at the end are telling.

 

Nope, but I have family who live there. I was there last month and I did a training HAB up alone. I went up to 2700 feet and turned around.

Yea, I was hobbling and stiff that night. I need to stretch more.

Hey Craig, I wasn't thinking when I posted the thread in two parts. If you want you can merge them.

Thanks!
tom

 

Killer way to spend a day. Nice job, guys :beers:

 

Remind me to "just say no" to this trail

 

Man, that's just freak'n HOT!! :bang::bang::bang::bang:

 

can you say 'Helo-Drop'?

Nice ride boys. You are all insane.... i like it!