Carl

7/11/03

Upon recommendation of a fellow Forest Service employee, we investigated a trail known as ‘Carl Gulch.’ This ride starts at the back of our living quarters (the ‘bunkhouse’), so if it was any good it would become our staple ride.

From the start things were not good. We lost the trail as soon as we got off bunkhouse property. There was grass everywhere. The roadbed was detectable, so we pushed through until we found the unused trail heading up the gulch.

3 minutes into the ride and we were in granny gear, struggling to keep things moving. The trail did not let up. Instead it became steeper and more overgrown. A few downed trees later and our spirits were not high.

We’re two of the more tolerable to hike-a-bike and we typically relish in granny gear climbs, but, not in the first 3 minutes of a ride and not in a standard loop, close-to-home quickie type ride.

We ended up climbing 1100 feet in the first mile. Most of it was rideable, but at a high cost. The trail traversed over to ‘Bill Canyon’ and even went downhill for a second. Then things got nasty–super overgrowth and undetectable trail. We passed an old cabin site complete with trough carved out of an old log (which we walked across to avoid a huge mud pit). More trees down followed by losing the trail followed by more trees down. Finally we decided to give up on Carl Gulch. It was obvious that no one ever traveled on or cared about this trail.