Samaniego Ridge – Trail work and ride – 6/8/03
Map and Pictures from the ride
Sunday was the Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists’ trail work and group ride on Samaniego ridge. I was the ride leader and was pleasantly surprised that there seemed to be significant interest. I needed all the people I could get to help clear fallen trees on these remote and beautiful trails.
There was, however, one slight problem: the ride involved riding back up Samaniego, Sutherland and Mt. Lemmon trails back to the top of the mountain. I’ve never heard of anyone riding these trails without a shuttle. Still, people expressed interest and two days before the ride I had four confirmed participants, plus my riding partner, Odin.
Saturday came and all but two had bailed. Sunday morning MR Sadow of EpicRides called and bailed. At the meeting place I waited in vain for SunDog, who also bailed. SunDog never agreed to the ride as planned either, despite my attempts to convince him he could do the ride without a shuttle.
Update: SunDog did show, but 45 minutes late. A usual policy for group rides is a wait time of 15 minutes. He took a wrong turn driving through town, but I assumed he had bailed like everyone else.
So, Odin and I set off for Mt. Lemmon alone. We started at the base of Ski Valley where it was a cool 60 degrees–a perfect morning to ride. From the ski resort I looked out at Oracle Ridge in the distance. The upper portion of the trail is still closed from last year’s Bullock fire. My legs ache to ride that trail again. But, our fate was on another trail today: Samaniego.
We set off for the 1000 foot climb up the access road to the top of Mt. Lemmon. The parking lot had one or two cars, and I was surprised to see a group of middle aged cyclists (women and men) with older rigid bikes. They were a stark contrast to the group of downhill buddies we were to meet here five hours later on our return trip — but I am getting ahead of myself. The folks were gesturing at the map so I stopped to see if they had any questions. They asked me where Aspen Draw was, or where other good trails were. I told them Meadow trail was an easier and shorter loop they could do, and told them how to access the none-too-obvious Aspen Draw. I love meeting people with enthusiasm for mountain biking, and this group obviously had plenty.
This ride is strange in that most of the downhill is at the start of the ride, which can be difficult to deal with mentally. As we whipped down Meadow trail I laughed as I remembered crashing here this winter when everything was covered in snow and ice. We turned right on Mt. Lemmon trail #5, and continued our descent.
I commented to Odin that I already felt like we cheated getting up here so easily. I always feel that way on a ride that starts with a big descent–like I haven’t earned it. I knew we’d be earning every inch of downhill by climbing back out, but it still felt cheap.
Here is one of my favorite parts of the ride: coasting down #5 you approach the Sutherland trail junction and watch as an incredible view unfolds before you. This is the edge of the burned area from the fire of 1995. With no tree cover a beautiful view of the valley 6000 feet below is now possible. It’s an odd experience to stand in a cool pine forest and stare out onto an endless desert floor that is completely void of trees.
At this junction there was a large group of hikers with dogs sitting around in a strange manner. I hollared over to them softly, “hello, there” and was met with no reply. Some people don’t like meeting others in remote areas and I respect and understand that, so we left them alone.
I readied my trusty hand saw, borrowed from Tommy Titus, and made a mental guess at how long we would ride before we met the first fallen tree. I guessed about 30 seconds, which was pretty much spot on. Odin stopped to saw the first deadfall while I walked further down to scout our next project. A few small trees blocked the trail and I was able to push them off with a little muscle. Next was a good sized log–a foot and half in diameter I’d say. The wood looked long dead so I doubted my ability to saw it, but I pulled out my saw to test it anyway. It was relatively easy to saw and though I was skeptical about sawing through the whole thing, I attempted it nonetheless. I broke the last portion off just in time for Odin to ride through without dismount. I watched him from above to see how far he would make it to the next tree. He rode a switch back and then another, so I decided to hike back to my bike and ride on down.
We were soon faced with a collection of 4 or 5 trees, all piled on top of each other. There was no way to move or saw them all, so we just did what we could. It’s not rideable, but it doesn’t require a dismount anymore.
The broken descent continued as we struggled against the onslaught of more and more trees. We were able to shove a few monsters off the trail using makeshift levers and brute force. I noticed on the way down that my north shore style ramp over a huge tree from last year was gone–the forest service had chainsawed it–yippee!
After trying to shove, rotate and coerce a large log off the trail we finally gave in and starting sawing it. Both of us took turns sawing this sucker to the point of exhaustion. My forearms were already sore from sawing and trail work on Green Mountain the day before. Now, they were on fire. After 20 minutes of sawing we were finally able to break it off and victory was achieved. This tree was key because it was the only one left on a long (for this trail) and very ride-able section.
As we approached the start of Samaniego trail proper, we encountered a few beastly trees where our efforts would be useless — 3-4 foot diameter monsters. We portaged and continued onwards.
At last, we received a brief reward–pristine pine needled singletrack that was free from fallen trees! With forearms burning and sore shoulders I commented to Odin that after two hours of sawing trees I now felt like I had earned this blissful downhill.
From here on the trees were few and the riding spectacular. We took the ridge line option on the way down, sneaking views at Oro Valley between tight turns and steep drop offs. This was the first ride where I allowed myself to drop my seat for downhill riding. Before, I was keeping the same height since I’m recovering from a long run of overuse knee injuries. With the seat down on my Chameleon I was feeling a bit invincible on the descent. I almost rode down a nasty rock section that I usually walk. About halfway down I reminded myself that I have 20+ stitches in my face from a crash a few days ago, so I decided to take it easy and back off.
We met up at the junction with the CDO shortcut trail and started the a
climb along Samaniego Ridge. I dropped my fork and proceeded to battle it out, riding most of it. After this initial grunt the trail becomes incredibly flat and easy. This is the nugget of pure gold everyone seeks for on this trail. The trail traverses the east side of the ridge through stands of ponderosa pines mixed with patches of oaks. Despite being on a rocky ridge in the rugged Catalina Mountains, the area is surprisingly flat. We spun through enjoying the trees, shade and cool air. We popped out a few times to the east to grab a view of Reef of Rocks, CDO and Oracle Ridge, all looming in the distance. We caught sight of Mule Ears–two giant stone pillars sticking out of Samaneigo Ridge. For a moment I was glad I wasn’t continuing on through the hike-a-bike that lay further down the ridge by Mule Ears. But then I realized I had more challenge and, depending on my energy stores, more hike-a-bike in front of me.
We rode to near the start of the “corkscrew”, where the trail dives sharply off the ridge in an overgrown and desperate bypass of a cliff on the main ridge line. This is the start of the hike-a-bike and the turn around point for us.
The mellow “gold nugget” section was a treat to ride again. Soon we were back at the CDO junction, where we took the other option over to the top of CDO proper. For the first time I cleaned the steep hill to the forest service sign here. It’s one of those climbs that seems easy as you approach, then you quickly discover that you have no traction and it’s only getting steeper. Once at this junction, at ~7200 feet, we were faced with a relentless 2000+ foot climb (over 4 miles) back to the summit of Mt. Lemmon on trails that challenge most when ridden downhill. We were scared.
Odin decided to concede early and started walking difficult sections. After venturing deep into the pain cave earlier this week on a 4000+ foot mostly singletrack ascent, he was going to conserve his energy. Meanwhile I burned calorie after calorie mounting, dismounting and grunting up portions of the trail. My heart raced and at times my head felt like it was going to explode. At last, a true challenge–I felt like I was alive and experiencing something real. I was pushing my limits.
I came away without walking too many significant portions, but with many breath catching stops and foot dabs all over the place. I still wonder how different things would have been without the exhausting trail work beforehand. It was an absolute pleasure to ride cleanly through a few of the sections we had spent the most time and energy clearing.
We reached the “top” and the junction with Lemmon trail #5. After being in the remote wilderness that is Samaniego for 4+ hours, it was strange to encounter people once again. Hikers were everywhere. A few noticed the filthy ash covered look of exhaustion on our faces and offered encouraging words. One older fellow asked where we had been and responded with disbelief when I told him.
At the very top there were a group of downhill buddies showing off for everyone. I tried to join in by popping a wheelie, but my shoulders refused. I instead let it go with a “What up guys?”
The final challenge of the day was Aspen Draw. I almost wanted to ride the road back down instead because my arms and shoulders couldn’t take much more punishment. But this trail is a real treat. With the fatigue this normally mild ride provided a bit of challenge. It seemed like the descent never ended! It honestly seemed about twice as long as it normally does. We ran into a few disgruntled hikers. I tried to put things on balance by stopping and being as polite as possible, but I think they had encountered too many mountain bikers already.
Back at last, I collapsed in the parking lot and sipped on a cold gatorade waiting at our cooler in the car. Another Samaniego tree challenge is complete.
I still maintain that anyone can ride/hike these trails without the aid of
vehicular assistance. I’m not saying you have to, or you should, or that you suck if you don’t; I’m merely asserting that you can do it, whether you believe it or not.
For now, the never ending struggle against deadfall continues…
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