Epic fails

… to describe any trip on Samaniego Ridge.

I left home early, pedaling an hour to meet our shuttle pickup. Jose drove us up the mountain, from 2500′ to 9000′. Big shuttle! But then this is a big ride.

Louis strapped a 5lb pick mattock to either side of his bike (!), then took off down the mountain. They didn’t seem to slow him down one bit; he was impossible to stay with.

My hat is off to Louis for organizing the effort to resurrect this epic of all epic trails — coordinating with the forest service, rallying the MTB troops, hacking open the trail. Our goal was to figure out where the trail actually goes east of Samaniego Peak, get it flagged and ready to be cleared by this weekend’s volunteer MTB crews. A GPS is critical here — on his last trailwork / ride with Steve S, they lost the route and ended up too low, costing them hours of brutal scrambling. Luckily I have GPS tracks from before the fires (and subsequent reclamation of any and all trail corridors by vegetation).

The briars are like something out of a bad fairy tale: a never ending bramble choked forest, sharp as razors and tall as a man.

Louis hops over a young briar bush, with loppers attached to pack (!). Sadly, not all patches of briars have jumps conveniently located next to them.

We searched high and low for the original trail alignment, hanging flags when it was found, or ~found. Another way to mark the correct route is to open it up. Steve was a tree clearing machine, and our two pairs of loppers took out briars and bushes alike. Clearing also made it easier for us, once we retrieved our ponies and continued to the next section of abandoned trail.

“Too bad it’s not the old west and you can’t just whistle for your steed.” Time to fight back through still more briars.

Five hours in, we finally hit Walnut Spring, where the route gets a little more straightforward.

To follow, that is. Not to ride and certainly not to walk.

Bicycle mountaineering anyone?

Louis and Steve have a route around the corkscrew/catwalk that is several times easier than the pickle Louis and I found ourselves in June. But it is still hard, very hard, and borderline “safe.” There’s just no easy way around a cliff, you know? Ideas of lowering bikes by rope, and installing chains, have been tossed around.

We finally attained the ridge after the corkscrew, where recently reworked trail awaited us. The forest service did a superb job on the lower half of the trail, but it was amazing how much it has grown in (baby briars! Aahhhhh!) after only one monsoon season.

An amazing piece of trail, it is. It was the utmost pleasure to shred it, all the way down to the gap (modulo a few quick hike-a-bikes here and there).

After the singletrack, the drop continues on Charouleau Gap in all its bermy, ledgey goodness.

We followed Louis through still more bramble, accessing hidden slick rock and free ride lines perhaps best left for days when energy and daylight were more plentiful.

I had hoped to have enough daylight to blast down the 50 year trail all the way to Catalina State Park, then ride home. But I did really enjoy the rock riding, mental challenge and the gorgeous evening light. We made it to casa de Louis just as it got dark. Steve and I hit Rubios for big burritos, and he dropped me at the river trail where I pedaled the rest home.

Thanks for the great day on the mountain, guys. I can’t wait until Samaniego is ready for prime time. Self-shuttling it, from home, and looping back, has long been an unfulfilled dream of mine.