I got off into a new area today and found plenty of rocks ... Most were embedded in the road so they were not too big a deal ... Some were rollers though... Yep this is a road that has not seen a dozer in a few yrs ...This is a pretty remote area in the mountains west of Carmen
Got a road like that in Mammoth, really rocky and some are big. The road itself is a bit wider as Jeeps are on it going about walking pace. I saw a small MX bike just blast up the road while hiking it. the payoff is pretty good, a nice lake, with fish. 3000 ft of altitude climbing in about 4.5 miles. I plan on doing it this summer. Might be easier than I expect but
You just gotta get up some speed and don't loose your momentum ... If the rocks are embedded, you can bounce straight over them ... I had to do most of this in 1st as it was too steep for 2nd unless you were carrying more speed and feathering the clutch in many places ... a 12T FS might allow me to shift to 2nd and still be able to pull the uphill ... That place has lots of hidden stuff in the grass ... you gotta stay in the clear most of the time to avoid taking a big hit ...
Good idea ... So what is the 12/50 bike? That is along climb (4.5) and that altitude is plenty high ...I was at 2290' on this ride and I was really down on my air ... I'd be taking a break along the way if is very gnarly ... Here is the some of the the bike coming back out to the road ....
Bike is 2008 TE 310 (Athena). I'm going from 7000 feet at the bottom to over 10,000 feet at the lake. It's called Laurel Lakes and there's some video of Jeeps crawling up there on YouTube
That 310 will chomp that stuff up .... You've got efi (right?) so no sputtering when you go over the top at 10000' ....
I'm gonna expand the scope of what is here to include a larger area of riding, same trail as an entry point but after I crossed the rocky stuff here, the trails and roads available grew into a much larger area ... Including some creek riding and more gnarly roads ..... And it provides access to more trials heading further north on the island .... This point is staged just in front of that gnarly uphill ... I've tried twice and failed both times to climb it in a single try ... I de-rocked the part I keep falling at so next time I climb it, success should be expected ... This point is good spot to rest before that small gnarly climb ... This is the start ... Totally doable and really cool climb ... twice tried, twice failed ... ... A little further down the trail ....
Here are a couple videos made from my Playsport camera in some creek where I got blocked when riding through them ... This creek is at the very bottom of this very big, flat valley ... That's probably why it is so ride-able ... It's in a bad tile displayed by google earth so I can't really get a feel for it rather than to just ride it out ... But it is key to this area and makes looping trails around here possible ... Here are a couple more pics of the creek area ... This area would be really cool looking after a big rain ... To the upper left in this pic, a small ~3-level step-down waterfall feeds into this creek just behind that log jam ...
Here is some video that is heading down into the valley from the south (Carmen) side... The dirt section starting at ~4:14 point and ends at about ~6:00 is really gonna be cool coming back out of and heading up the hill ... There are 2 walking paths at the very top of hill that allow going over the top ... One weaves over towards the home there and has some baby switch-backs and about all rocks ... The other routes goes pretty much where I roll down the hill ... It even has a rock face part way down on it ... The coolest route is to the far left, away from the home ... One really big step-up (8') followed by another smaller one and then straight climb to the top ... This route allows logging some air time... This video shows some of the creek riding ... At the entry point of the creek, you can go either way ... Not sure where the water is coming from unless it is still run-off from the recent days rain... I'm amazed it is so clear and clean looking ... I'd guess the population is so low pollution levels are lower ....
My pleasure on the videos .... Yep always cool to ride here and this area ESP has alot to offer with the different terrain types ... 2-3 different small loop arounds might be found here with a little exploring ... too many rocks but if they are embedded, it's easy enough to deal with them... And all ridable in the rain except the creeks and a couple small climbs might be a pain ... Here is the valley .... Looking back south at the opposite end we are going ... There was a small village here ... Lots of cement down-town and grass growing here .... Probably the same creek I was riding in earlier ... It just snakes through this area and the roads flank it to some degree. Pool Hall .. I had to stop to get a drink and take a rest ... My chest protector might be causing me to overheat out there but no way I'm riding without it ... Just feedin' the chickens
Second attempt at climbing up the 1st gnarly small hill climb ... I gotta more aggressive on this one for sure... ----- Disclaimer for this one: I'm out here really scouting and trying not to miss any of the roads and just absorb the terrain there ...So.. the places where it sounds like I'm on a honda ... and even in the wrong gear ... It's just due the scouting aspect of the ride ... I'll be back out in this AO before the end of the week and I'll see if I can't resume my normal, respectable old-man speed across the scouted areas ...
