Ride Report Sequoia National Forest

let me know when... Looks like a good time

 

Trail work

Hey guys, I had the day off so I went up and did some trail work on this stuff today. The thing needs some work but it is coming around. I started out by driving up to where we lost the trail at the start. We worked our way back to the road and went down that a bit where we saw the trail coming back to the road.



I parked at that spot and started hiking up to see if I could link up the trail. As it turns out the trail stays close to the road the whole time in this section. This is where we almost parked.



I followed the trail up to where we got back on the road. I could not find the section that meets up with the Jordan Lookout road. I don't think it goes all the way through anymore. I decided to hike up the road a bit and check out more of the trail if I could find it. The flowers are still going off.



I didn't find much. I figured I was on the right track when I found a post that looked like it was a trail sign at one time.



A hundred yards or so from the road I lost the trail again. I was poking around trying to find it when I stumbled upon some PVC pipe.



I decided that was my cue to leave so I went back up to the road. I walked back down my newly found section with clippers in one hand and hand saw in the other. We have another mile or so of trail ready to go. It just needs a little traffic.



I got back to the car and ate some lunch. After that I drove down to the Log Cabin Meadow area and loaded up the chainsaw. We had run into some big dead fall South of here so I wanted to clean it up a bit. I didn't get 100 yards from the car when I saw a log that was just begging to become a log ride.





I got to work and in about 30 minutes I had this.





There are a few rocks that lead you up to the log. Those ants were pissed when I started cutting into their home. I left the end alone so you have to jump off of it to exit the log. I can't wait to try it.

I continued on and came to a creek crossing. There is a perfect log bridge here. I rode across it last time but I had to start and stop on the log because there was no way to get on and off of it. I needed to build an on and off ramp.
Start


End


I worked for a while on this, using the materials I had available at the site. I could have used a drill and some screws, but I think everything turned out OK in the end.

Start now


End now




Now you can go across the creek without riding through it. What an environmentalist I am.:lol:

More to come....

 

The big stuff

Down the trail a little further I got to the big stuff. I'm sure Dean, Scott, and Matt remember it well. We had to lift our bike over these huge downed trees. In between there were piles of smaller branches. It was a bit of a pain. I decided to get to work on the first tree.



After 20 minutes or so I had to cry uncle. My saw was just not big enough to cut through this thing, even with two passes. I had to go to plan B which was to build ramps to get over the log. They may be too soft to ride but we can walk across them no problem.





After the first log the trail looked like it had not been cleared in many, many years.


This is the after shot


I didn't even try to cut the second big tree. Instead I got a detour going. It is pretty clear now.






It was 6:30 by the time I got done with this section. I packed up and headed back to the car. After the hour long drive home I was pretty stiff getting out of the car. I am getting old. It was a very satisfying day and I hope to get back up there again in the next few weeks to finish the job.

 

well done Jeff... we'll have to give it some traffic soon

glad you didn't run into any guerilla farmers

 

Thanks for the hard work Jeff.

 

Very nice Jeff, thanks for all the hard work. I will be back up there in a few weeks. Maybe we can set aside some time to do some more trail work. And maybe check out the trail that comes off Jordan Peak as it seems that the Summit Trail on the other side of Jordan Peak Road may not be a good route.

Dean

 

Do you report the PVC pipe or was it no big deal?

 

Great work Jeff. I like your style of trail work.
Mike.

 

I like the look of your work. I've got some landscaping in my backyard that's just screaming your name.

 

I saw Jeff after working on the trail-He was covered from head to toe with dirt and wood chips. You kick arse Jeff. Great work-love to help out some time...

 

Now that's passion and commitment to what you love. Good stuff, man!

 

Jeff,
You are simply "Da Man"! That is such a wonderful section of countryside. It is killer that you added some flow back to the place.

-Bill

 

More trail work

Steve, Scotty, and I did some more trail work on this trail today. We had a big day planned. First we would get a cool ride in, then we would fill our trucks with firewood, then we would do some trail work. We got the first part done by noon.









Next we needed to get some wood. I had found a big tree that was right on the side of the road. I filled my truck up yesterday.


I was not able to get all of it. I was worried that someone else would swoop in and get the rest of the tree. We found that it was still there so we loaded it up. It really doesn't get any easier than this.


Next we drove up to a spot that I scoped out that needed some work. The plan was to clear some dead fall and build a log ride. We would be able to fill the rest of our trucks in the process. Things went just as planned.

This is what we had to start with.






I found this log a few weeks ago and thought it had great potential. The end of the log is just out there in space. The guys were stoked on the idea so the saw dust started flying. After about an hour we had it done and it looked KILLER!!!! Now we had to sack up and ride it.

Steve grabbed his camera while Scotty and I suited up. We were going to try the ramp first, then see about the log. Scotty takes off first and he just didn't stop. He cleaned the whole thing first try.




Now I knew it was doable so I gave it a go.






Sweet success!
Steve got his stuff on and busted it out.






Needless to say, we were happy.


I can't even tell you guys how cool this stunt turned out. It is so satisfying to see it, build it, and ride it. The fact that it all turned out just exactly as planned was icing on the cake. I think Steve was happy he decided to hang around here with us rather than going up to Mammoth.

 

I had a great time riding and doing trailwork... especially when you get to ride what you just built (heart pounding in throat) for the first time! Very cool trail feature indeed.

Videos are uploading to Youtube and Viddler now (you might be able to find them by searching for "now that's a log ride").

I'm heading to bed... I have a 5 a.m. ride planned (four hours from now), but I'll post links to the vids later.

Thanks Jeff for a great, productive and fun day.

 

Here it is in high res:

or:

[youtube]NV-HNcPN0_c[/youtube]

 

Damn Kanga,

That's the first Bionicon Super Shuttle Freeride I've ever seen in action. Those forks look looooooooooong and slack. You should have done Mammoth and Velocity on that bad boy. Looks plush. Even came with some Formula stoppers, maybe an 8" rotor on the front? How's it ride on fresh cut trail compared to your Green Machine, and how does it climb?

 

Great Job Jeff! Hopefully some SD guys and gals will get a run at it before the end of summer.

 

Thank you Jeff, Scotty, and Steve. See you Kernville boys in a few weeks.

Dean

 

Wow!
Nice work there, fellas. About how long do you think that log is?

 

Great videos Steve. Sorry I got right in the way of the video there at the end. I was just trying to get some good pictures of you jumping off of the end. I noticed you left part of it out.

Here is Steve's first attempt at the log. This is proof that he is human.
[youtube]OyfVUpYgbK4[/youtube]

We didn't measure it but I would guess it is 40 to 50 yards. It is long. It starts out pretty wide and gets skinnier as you ride along. It is only about 15" in diameter at the end.