Ride Report The non-shuttled Holy Jim, Upper HJ, Upper Joplin, Joplin ride ;)

Bob, Rocket, and I headed out from The Path up Trabuco wash to the Holy Jim trail head, where we met up with Mike. The weather was absolutely great - the fog had burned off but it wasn't warming up very fast. Funny, we all showed up on Santa Cruz bikes - one Tallboy carbon, two Tallboy LTc's, and one Bronson c.

Holy Jim was in great shape. I like that trail more and more every time I ride it. We set a nice moderate pace, enjoyed the views, shade, and diversity of the trail all the way up.

At the top of HJ, we discussed our options, and for some reason decided to go up Upper Holy Jim. Mike warned us that most of it wasn't rideable going up, but pushing the bike sup that way gave us some nice views and cut off some of Main Divide. Of course, I learned two things from this hike-a-bike...1) I never want to do it again, and 2) I really want to ride down Upper HJ!

Back on Main Divide, and some of us were feeling it more than others, but we were all in decent spirits. Bob was a beast climbing up the divide road...so much so that he was in the lead and missed the turn for Upper Joplin! He came back down to find us waiting and ready to go downhill!

Upper Joplin was a blast. Slightly overgrown in a couple spots, but it's a fun, relatively easy descent back to Main Divide that bypasses the peak and lets you out just yards from the drop into Joplin proper (middle Joplin?)

"Middle" Joplin.....um, ok - here I gotta admit I don't really like this trail. It's just not quite my thing. But, I don't mind it, and I enjoy (usually) getting to it, and I always enjoy what comes after it, so there it is. We worked our way down this trail, Mike killing it on the Bronson, and finally found ourselves at Old Camp. Tired. Ti-erd! (At least I was, and Rocket was having an off day himself.) But we all knew what was coming next - some really sweet single track downhill.

Santiago Truck Trail begins after the brief climb out of Old Camp, and STT is an absolute blast to ride down! In my opinion, it's one of the best multi-use, two-direction singletrack trails around SoCal. Then we had to decide how to get back to The Path. We weighed our options, and decided on a route that probably should remain un-named on a public forum. It was lots of fun, and dropped us off not far from our destination.

Only one flat all day - my rear pinch-flatted on the last section (running tube there for now). No other bike issues, and no injuries.:bang::beer:




Great ride with you guys today! One of the toughest 22-mile routes I can remember doing, but it was so worth it!

Sorry there are no pics - I was having too much fun in the beginning or was too tired near the end. Maybe Rocket can post something he got on camera.

 

Nice job Pat! What's the total ascent? You didn't take lower Joplin out? Btw, you're crazy for going up UHJ!

 

Awesome climbing.

 

Great route (well except up UHJ part )! A few times after climbing LHJ and main divide to top of UHJ, seeing the peak "right there", "can't be that far", but been a long time since I actually went up further 'cause know it ain't easy. Good job :clap:

 

@Jonathan - my iPhone says just over 6000' of gain, but I don't believe that's right (it's been over-estimating elevation for a while I think). As for our exit route, you see nothing! :-$

About the climbing...you do need to be ready for Main Divide after Holy Jim. I believe we would have spent less energy riding MD than pushing our bikes up Upper HJ, but now I know it's there and want to go back and ride down some day. And it's too true - the peak does seem to be right there, and not get any closer. :lol:

 

Nice job!! I do believe HAB UHJ is much easier and less taxing than climbing MD after LHJ IMO. I remember sitting down on the side of MD ready to cry bc the climb was so hard in that loose, rocky terrain. I will NEVER climb that section of MD again!

 

I think 6000' is about right. Dave (dcrfx) and I have dine HJ to MD to UHJ and then down UHJ/HJ and out a few times and will total about 4200'. IMO, I think climbing the MD is easier than HABing UHJ. Hats off to you guys regardless of the route. That's a big ride.

 

Nice ride report.

It's not 6,000 ft. There are several routes of varying elevation on Geoladders. Most are in 4400-4700 range as GPS's vary. Bagging the peak as oppose to taking Upper Joplin aka Buckthorn would have gotten you over 5,000 ft.

Here are the 2 routes to compare:

Upper Joplin(Buckthorn): http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=19178

Taking MD to Peak instead of Upper Joplin: http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=30117
*note: In this description, Upper Joplin is Joplin proper and not Buckthorn.

Just FYI: It's just been recently reported that a rider was stopped by a white security truck/rent-a-cop after they exited Lower Joplin at Rose Canyon Road. They were told they would be arrested next time they were caught there. I guess there's been much more traffic of late. This trail should be kept on DL and it's not advised to have big groups going through this area as it is private property and not a legal exit. The only way to legally ride Lower Joplin is to descend it to the Boy's Camp gate, then climb back up. Much like the only legal way to do 5 Oaks in Aliso is to climb it first, then descend it.

 

Thanks for the info Gene. I was sure we had only done 4500-5000' tops.

Wish it weren't the case about some trails tho.

 

Just rode Joplin this Saturday. What you referred to as "middle Joplin" is in horrible shape. Loose and overgrown. It's in the worst shape as I have seen it. A good rain will fix that.

 

Thanks Jake for the trail condictions.

 

Agreed. The entire top section was like deep beach sand. I was drifting all over the place and washing out. Wasn't the payoff I was hoping for after the brutal +90° climb.