TR - 2023 SoCal Orogenesis Tour

People love to bag on California. Visiting riders will often fit in some rides here as part of a bigger trip, but you don't often hear of people travelling to CA just to mountain bike anywhere not named Santa Cruz or Tahoe. I've always found that pretty amusing considering how good our riding is here. Gabe Tiller was coming down in April/May to do some riding and told me afterwards his expectations had not been high, but he was pretty blown away how good the riding was.

Gabe led creation of the Oregon Timber Trail, a 670 mile bikepacking route across Oregon. He was here to check out sections of a new route a bunch of us are working on called Orogenesis that will connect the Baja Divide and the Oregon Timber Trail for 5,000 miles all the way to Canada. I've been scouting sections of the Orogenesis route for years now and have pretty solid suggested route from the border up past Yosemite. Lots of other scouts have been contributing too, and it was time to check out some sections in person and nail down a preferred route as we hope to launch V1 later this year. Another big part of the trip is meeting with local bike groups along the route and get them on board to work with us. 5,000 miles is too much for any one group to take on, and part of the mission is to use Orogenesis to help spur trail development all along the route. So we would both be joining up with the Lowelifes trail group in LA for a trailwork weekend mid trip.



In the Dig Stoke thread I've mentioned a restoration project I've been working on the last year or so. The trails I've been working on will be part of Orogenesis. The Stagecoach 400 route was able to use them back in March for the first time since 2013 as well.

I went up to Idyllwild a couple days before meeting with Gabe to do some more digging and check out conditions. I hadn't been up here since January.


With the wet winter we've had, streams are still flowing strong even weeks after the last rain.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Hurkey/01.jpg


And still snow on the San Jacinto Mtns

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I spent parts of two days cleaning up storm damage from this winter and cutting a distinct a line across a fire break that the trail follows. Even before the 2013/2018 fires there was never a great line through here. Now there is.

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First swim of the year.

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Went for a ride higher up in the system the first day to make sure the upper trails are passable.

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May Valley Road is not much of a road anymore. Fortunately you can duck into one of the trails just above this point.

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These trails have seen almost no traffic since the fires so they're hard to follow in places. My bike is on the trail here, in case you can't tell. Lots of looking for cut logs and corridors through the brush. I did some trimming where buckthorn was growing over the trail.

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I climbed up to the highest trail called Log Pile. The namesake pile of logs at the entrance is gone but there were enough downed trees that the name still fits.

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Beyond that first patch of logs most of the trail was riding well.

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I checked out another trail called Buena Vista. Last time I looked it was covered in debris, as if USFS had shut it down. It has since been cleaned up. It was harder to follow but still in good shape.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Hurkey/10.jpg


What was already vague trail totally petered out before the road so I just made it up from there. I'd call it solid adventure riding right now. Need to get more traffic on these trails!

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Hurkey/11.jpg

Gabe showed up to camp pretty late so we didn't get to riding until the crack of 10am. Fortunately temps were good.

We opted to check out the Ramona Trail first, a cool backcountry trail off the top of Thomas Mtn. I've never climbed up it before, so I suggested doing that rather than climb the fire road.


Turns out the climb is pretty nice.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/01.jpg


There were a few spots we couldn't clean because of grade and/or tech. But there were also some nice breaks in the climb and good views.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/02.jpg
Pic by Gabe


We cut over to the ridgeline fire road at Toolbox spring and climbed up to the summit of Thomas Mtn. View looking west. That's Cahuilla Mtn in the middle.

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Gabe getting the highest vantage point for a photo

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San Jacinto on the right with its own cloud, and San Gorgonio in behind on the left....Gorgonio is much further away, on the far side of I-10

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/05.jpg


The sticker in the photo below might be seen a lot on the Orogenesis route.

It's the CRHT or California Riding & Hiking Trail, the original long distance trail in CA that never fully materialized. Legislation was signed in 1944 envisioning a 3,000 mile trail from San Diego up around LA in the Socal mountains, north through the Sierras to the OR border and then over and down the coast ranges. 29 of 38 counties submitted trail plans for their areas and development proceeded into the 1960's with close to 1,000 miles of trail constructed. Funding and planning difficulties eventually halted the project, and over the years some sections have fared better than others. Some are awesome trails we ride today. Some sections exist but have fallen into disrepair. Others were dirt/ranch roads we can still use. Some sections were paved as local roads or even highways. There were a lot of easements across private property. Some landowners have disregarded the easements and put up no trespassing signs, others disputed the easements and land managers quit claimed (abandoned) the easements rather than fight for public access. It's hard to even find maps of the trail. But you will still find these stickers in random places if you pay attention. Apparently the CRHT makes it to the top of Thomas Mtn.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/06.jpg


From the summit we continued a bit further on Thomas Mtn Road to the upper end of Ramona Trail. Being early season there were a few downed trees.

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And some patches of snow

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Ramona is a fun descent with pretty good flow and some fun tech sections.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/09.jpg
Pic by Gabe


Back down at the bottom we checked out another section of trail nearby that shortcuts from Thomas Mtn Road to Hwy 371. It's not a great connector and I pushed just enough so Gabe got a taste of the hike a bike involved (steep!). We could improve it with some re-routes, otherwise it's there right now if we want to use it to bypass a few miles of pavement. Lots of choices like that for the route...

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/10.jpg


We did find a new to me singletrack just off the road I hadn't noticed before. It was great up top but dropped into a sandy wash that got pretty miserable.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Ramona/11.jpg


Fun ride. The climb up Ramona is one I'll do again. Challenging and way better than the fire road.

Very cool. Love to see the efforts on big projects like this. Just keep chipping away.

For a second ride we drove up above Idyllwild and would ride back to my truck still parked in camp following the proposed Orogenesis route through the Hub trails, connecting through town to May Valley.



We didn't take a lot of pics as it's all forest riding...and getting a bit late. Had to drop down a bit of forest road to get to the trail network.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...bHurkey/01.jpg


The Hub network is a spaghetti web of trails with a million intersections and no signs. It's confusing to navigate even with gps. I spent a bunch of time figuring out the most climbable route for bikepacking. Turns out there is a descent on that route that is pretty tough to climb going the other way. At least, it's tough when you've already got a few thousand feet of climbing under your belt : ) Might take another look at that.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...bHurkey/02.jpg


We managed to take a wrong turn and got off the bikepacking route, but it gave me a chance to show Gabe a few of the cool rock features out there.

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With the climb and some downed trees the Hub took longer than expected and it was getting dark as we climbed up to May Valley Road.

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We skipped Log pile trail but had to take the lower singletrack Tres Hombres since it bypasses the road washouts. Riding through here the other day was very helpful as I could still remember some of the more obscure twists and turns in the dark.

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Was extra happy to have this log crossing at this point rather than have to wade across.

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That was a long day, close to 40 miles, and we still had to retrieve the shuttle.

Cool name for the project. Orogenesis is geology term for mountains created from compression of tectonic plates.

Yup. The idea was for the name to be more interesting and thoughtful than most long distance trails which tend to be reference location or geography of the trail.... Pacific Crest Trail. CDT. Great Divide MTB route.

The following week we had an suv pull up with US govt plates while we were setting up the shuttle at Devil's punchbowl. Turned out it was two USGS researchers and they had heard of the route. And of course loved the name.

Didn't feel like driving 25min back to where we'd camped the night before and there was pretty much zero chance that spot would still be open. So I pointed us down to a cool spot I know in the Hub trail system that overlooks beautiful Hemet, CA. It's actually a cool spot at night.


It's even more beautiful when you can't see Hemet because of a low cloud layer : )

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...alExplo/01.jpg


Glad we were above the clouds where things were dry

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Thought about doing a quick ride at the Hub but then thought better of it as we had a lot of stuff to check out. I wanted to show Gabe a bunch of different route options so he could see in person why I wanted to go one way rather than another.


First stop was Warner Springs. There is a section of CRHT here that bypasses a ton of paved highway, but the landowner Vista Irrigation District has taken down trail signs, put up No trespassing signs and is trying to eliminate the trail easement on its land. Dead rabbit on the fencepost is a warning?

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...alExplo/04.jpg


CRHT is still the route into Warner Springs from the PCT which passes through the same property. Not a big deal if we can't use this as climbing up to the highway here is not the preferred option for Orogenesis. The plan is for it to stay low through Anza Borrego and go up Coyote Canyon instead, which has more dirt and is way more remote.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...alExplo/03.jpg


Anza Borrego was our next stop. Pointed out Grapevine Canyon and Jasper Trail, two dirt roads that climb up to Hwy S-22 if we did want to go through Warner Springs. Still lots of flowers popping higher up above the desert floor.

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Pic by Gabe


Cacti bloom later than most flowers and there were lots of pink bunches visible on the drive down

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Pic by Gabe


We got tacos and then drove around checking out a few of the sculptures around Borrego Springs. Plan is to take the route past as many of those as possible.

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More bloomage

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It was too hot to ride, probably mid 90s, but we checked out a few more spots and some more flowers. Ocotillo also bloom late, and they were going off as well.

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Tacoma photobombing Tacoma.

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Pic by Gabe


We kept heading south. I pointed out a few other spots and options as we climbed up to Julian and Cuyamaca, then over to Mt Laguna. Looking back down at the desert floor of Anza Borrego 5,000ft below.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...alExplo/11.jpg

We conveniently left a truck at the bottom of Noble Canyon Trail. It was getting a bit late in the day to do more exploring, but with lights we had plenty of time for a ride.


Starting off

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Pic by Gabe


Sun about to go down as we crest the first short climb

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Pic by Gabe


The route turns west here down Indian Creek and heads over to Cuyamaca. None of that for us today.

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Pic by Gabe


Like everywhere, stream crossings were running high. It was dark down in the depths of the canyon

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Pic by Gabe


Cruising along at last light

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Pic by Gabe


Gabe is a good technical rider. He made short work of this spot, taking the higher line on the right. I got sucked into the middle like usual and got hung up.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...5-Noble/06.jpg


Dropping in to the hairpin above Stairway to hell

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Stairway is a whole different animal in the dark. Gabe took the high line all the way and almost cleaned it.

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There was a fire last year just below this spot, and winter storms also wreaked havoc on the trail. So it took us a while to finish. Final descent was interesting in the dark. Great ride though.

One of the more interesting sections of the route is from the US/Mex border at Tecate, north towards I-8.

The Hauser and Pine Creek Wilderness areas, along with private property in key corridors, effectively block all East-West travel on dirt across the county south of I-8. The only publicly accessible dirt route is the border patrol road that heads east from Tecate. That road is a pretty terrible route for bikes, and not just because of the repeated steep climbs. It sees a lot of border patrol traffic and also a lot of recreational OHV traffic especially on weekends. So with some searching I eventually found an ATV trail that splits off the border road and climbs up to Hwy 94 though just a bit of private ranch land. Then another road heads north from Hwy 94 on mostly public right of way, passing through some private land with abandoned homes and RVs, before entering BLM and National forest land. That road drops into Hauser Canyon, where I found a road that climbs up to an abandoned mine which conveniently has an abandoned singletrack that climbs up to a County park where it connects to the park trail system. There are two ways to connect through the park back to National forest land, the more enticing of which takes us over and around a dam and connects into an OHV trail network with some trails that are decent for MTB. Will we ever gain official access to cross over the dam? It is pretty sketchy as is, but dam it would be cool. The days adventure would be to show this part of the route to Gabe.


Setting off south through Corral Canyon we catch up to one of the locals

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Looking over the east San Diego county backcountry

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pic by Gabe


Lots of nice slabs on Wrangler trail

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pic by Gabe

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Dropping down a primitive old forest road towards the lake

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To get around the dam you have to climb over the spillway and then follow it around and below the dam. Getting over the spillway is sketchy in either direction.

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pic by Gabe


Looking down canyon around the end of the spillway

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We connect through the park where we pick up a trail that connects to the PCT

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Where this trail connects to the PCT, the abandoned mine trail continues almost directly across. You can't see it because of spring growth and dis-use, but it's there.

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We hiked down PCT a bit to a lookout over Hauser Canyon. The canyon runs downhill to that reservoir. There is a trail that runs all the way down to the reservoir but I've explored it and found it to be swampy where it follows a stream, and choked with poison oak. And with no exit at the far end, it would be a slog back uphill.

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We head back through the park. Very pretty area that doesn't see a lot of traffic.

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pic by Gabe

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pic by Gabe

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Traversing back down to the dam

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pic by Gabe


Gabe drops in on the only rideable part of the bypass

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The hike a bike around it is no joke.

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Climbing back out. The lake level is as high as I've ever seen it.

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The old road is short but super scenic

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It was getting hot so we took the easy way out on the road rather than climb back through the singletrack moto trails.

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We drove out via Hwy 94 back toward San Diego and then cut down on a dirt road toward the border, just before Tecate. I wanted to show Gabe the ATV trail I'm proposing the route use, but border patrol was actively searching that area with a low flying helicopter and multiple vehicles and officers on the ground, so we skipped it to avoid getting in their way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by evdog

There are two ways to connect through the park back to National forest land, the more enticing of which takes us over and around a dam and connects into an OHV trail network with some trails that are decent for MTB. Will we ever gain official access to cross over the dam?

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The first time I rode at Lake Morena, all I had was a Cleveland National Forest map. The dotted line of the trail went over the dam, so that's what I did. The portage up the spillway was sketchy. I was greeted on Los Pinos Road by border patrol vehicles and helicopters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rippling over canyons

The first time I rode at Lake Morena, all I had was a Cleveland National Forest map. The dotted line of the trail went over the dam, so that's what I did. The portage up the spillway was sketchy. I was greeted on Los Pinos Road by border patrol vehicles and helicopters.

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That's interesting if a CNF map actually showed it as a route.

Was border patrol actually there for you? With how busy PCT is now I think it tends to keep migrants away from this area.

I headed back to San Diego for a day while Gabe headed up to LA. I made the drive up there on Friday planning to ride Idlehour Trail with a buddy, Steve. Gabe was going to join us but ended up having to do work stuff.


Steve lives at the base of Mt Wilson within riding distance to a whole bunch of terrible trails #LAsucksforcycling. We rode a mile of pavement and then started the slog up Lower Sam Merrill Trail. It sees heavy hiker traffic up to Inspiration Point, but is a good climb for bikes with narrow, exposed tread and plenty of challenging step ups and rock gardens.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...dlehour/01.jpg


View from the climb looking over toward Sunset Ridge. From Lower Sam we connected over to the Mt Lowe Railway. A railroad was actually built from Altadena up to the top of Mt Lowe in the 1890s and operated until around 1940. The rail right of way is now a gravel road and key trail connector up to Eaton Saddle.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...lehour/02a.jpg



Higher up we get away from views over LA and can only see mountains

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Starting in on Idlehour. It doesn't see a ton of use because it doesn't connect well for hikers, and for bikes it has a stout climb out at the end followed by a long road descent down through Henninger Flats back to town.

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That's fine because it's an awesome backcountry trail that doesn't need any extra traffic.

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First leg of the descent drops us into a stream bed for our first water crossing, followed by a short steep climb

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Flowers are still out

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Always a treat seeing ferns in Socal

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It was super lush down in the canyon.

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Another stream crossing.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...dlehour/09.jpg


Tempting to go for a swim...but tacos were waiting down in town

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More flowers. Found a whole hillside carpeted with them as I maneuvered for a better shot of the waterfall

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...dlehour/11.jpg


Just like the ferns, waterfalls are a treat here as well

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We were almost done with the descent which ended just after the Idlehour trail camp. That camp is at a cool spot just above the stream. What was not cool was a smoldering campfire someone didn't put out before leaving. I had plenty of water left in the pack and used much of it to drown out the embers.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...dlehour/13.jpg


Steve pointing back up at where we came from

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A bit of cruising to break up the climb out. The climb didn't take long and wasn't as bad as I expected.

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Before you knew it we were down at the taco shop. Great day on the bike. Idlehour is a classic I'll be back for again.



Headed back up the mountain after the ride. Had a nap. And checked out the sunset from top of Mt Wilson before finding a place to camp

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...dlehour/16.jpg


Looking east towards Mt Baldy

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This rules. Thanks for putting in so much effort, it's gonna be such a great route.

I'm a big fan of the Orogenesis project, and apparently need to get myself down to Socal for some riding one of these years. Nice work, Evan!

Outstanding!

Solid stuff as always dude.

Unless we decide it needs some significant bonus climbing, Idlehour from the previous day's ride is not part of the Orogenesis route. Just on the other side of the mountains lies the Gabrielino National Rec Trail, though, which is.

The Gab, along with other nearby trails, has been under USFS closure order since the 2020 Bobcat fire. The Lowelifes Respectable Citizen's Club has been aggressively rehabbing these trails to get them open again. The Angeles NF has approximately zero funds for trail rehab or maintenance for that matter, so all of that work is left up to volunteers. The Lowelifes just last year finished up a multi-year project restoring the Condor Peak Trail just north of here. That trail had been closed since the 2009 Station fire. No way were they going to let the Gab go that long. They have been holding regular public trail work days in addition to focused days sawing downed trees, and occasional trail work camp outs. The campout for this weekend was jointly organized by Orogenesis Collective and the Lowelifes. A group from the Angeles Crest 100 race would be working on a section of trail closer to the trailhead as well.


Gabe gives a talk about Orogenesis before we get going

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Part of the draw for riders in joining these workdays is getting to go into the closure area to check things out

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The area took a hit, not just from the fire but from this winter's storms. This washout continued down over two switchbacks below as well

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We had a 5 mile ride down canyon to our destination, the West Fork trail camp

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...esCamp/04G.jpg
pic by Gabe


We were warned of wet crossings, but most were hardened which made crossing them easy with the right technique

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...esCamp/05G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Lots of small landslides on top of the washouts. Downed trees had already been cleared

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We claimed camp spots and then got to work setting up

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Tools were already staged on site

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pic by Gabe


Most rode in, but a few hiked in to West Fork. Then we hiked a bit more into the work site. We had been split into teams and spread out along the trail

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...esCamp/09G.jpg
pic by Gabe


The big task was re-establishing the bench cut. The San Gabriels are steep so rock, debris and leaves are constantly pouring down the slopes.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...fesCamp/10.jpg


Lots of trees for the saw team to cut out as well

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...esCamp/11G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Yucca is a cool plant, but can be a huge nuisance along trails with sharp pointed leaves often at leg and handlebar height. Matt cuts it way back, but it will regrow quickly.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...esCamp/12G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Finished product. Nice, narrow tread

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...fesCamp/13.jpg


Cool waterfall. It used to have a big swimmable pool at the bottom but that has mostly filled in with rock and debris

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More finished trail

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We called it around 5 and headed back to camp for a swim and some beverages

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No more snow melt in this part of the mountains, so it wasn't cold, but still more flow than normal

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...fesCamp/17.jpg


The Lowelifes do it right with hand pressed tortillas and home made carnitas and al pastor

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pic by Gabe


Good times around the camp fire but most people crashed out not long after dark

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pic by Gabe


We were back at it in the morning. We had left tools on the trail so at least we didn't have to carry those back out.

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pic by Gabe


Day 2 was a bit shorter as we still had to climb 5 miles climb back out.


More finished product.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...fesCamp/21.jpg


It was pretty warm mid afternoon, but the stream crossings provided lots of opportunity to cool off.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...esCamp/22G.jpg
pic by Gabe


I had been wanting to join in on one of these trail camps for ages, but dates had never worked out. The Lowelifes, and the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association who works mostly on the front side of the Gabes, maintain a lot of my favorite trails in Socal. I'll be back for more of these days for sure. I was stoked to find that the forest hadn't burned badly back there. Some spots burned more intensely but a lot of big trees survived. It's definitely not the deep dark canyon that it used to be, though.

This campout weekend was end of April. The Forest Service had been updating the closure order every 30 days the past few months. It was hoped they would reduce the closure area in light of this and other recent workdays, but they did not for May 1. Good news came at the end of May however and the area we worked on was re-opened to the public starting June 1.

Thanks guys!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by springsproject

This rules. Thanks for putting in so much effort, it's gonna be such a great route.

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Well I need something to keep me busy : )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by climberevan

I'm a big fan of the Orogenesis project, and apparently need to get myself down to Socal for some riding one of these years. Nice work, Evan!

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Yeah we definitely have some good stuff down here. Lots affected by fires but everything is slowly getting re-opened.

Having seen a few examples of their work online, seems like a good group to make a donation to:
https://lowelifesrcc.org/donate/

After trail work I did a bit of exploring up top Mt Wilson. There is some cool trail up there.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...9-RimTr/01.jpg


Nice views to the east

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...9-RimTr/02.jpg


Still a bit of snow and some downed trees. Rode as far down as where the closure area starts.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...9-RimTr/03.jpg


Debated dropping down this trail to the first road crossing, but decided my legs had enough already... it would be a 700ft gain to get back out.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...9-RimTr/04.jpg


Enjoyed the sunset instead

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...9-RimTr/05.jpg

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...9-RimTr/06.jpg

The tour continues...


The next morning I met up with Gabe and Rob P, a board member of both the Lowelifes and CA MTB (the CA Mountain bike coalition, formed a few years ago when a bunch of CA groups ditched IMBA and formed our own state-wide group)

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/01.jpg


We climbed up into the clouds. The plan was to show them a number of options to connect across a gap in the existing on-the-ground route. The gap is around 1.5mi depending how we ultimately connect it.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/03.jpg


A rare bit of nice riding

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Acton/04G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Gabe was like a kid in a candy store out there

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/06.jpg


The mountain is crisscrossed by old roads and trails if you look at old maps. You can see hints of them on the ground before they disappear under downed trees, brush, or old fire breaks. You really have to get out there to understand what is going on.

Trying to show Rob a "trail" that supposedly splits off down slope from our current spot

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Acton/07G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Not even sure if this is old fire break or old road. There was an abandoned car down the hill on one side of the ridge.

And according to maps, an abandoned trail wraps around the ridge lower down. I hiked down but could spot no trace of it in the burn area. Nor could I envision where it even came from, given the big rock outcrops out of frame behind me.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/08.jpg


Our way down from there was a fire break that peeled off to the east. It has mostly grown over but there were short sections we could ride.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Acton/09G.jpg
pic by Gabe


We'd get maybe 100ft and then end up like this

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/10.jpg


Checking out a tailings pile in case the miners missed any gold.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/11.jpg


Going got tough about 2/3 down the ridge line and we had to detour down the side to bypass some steep rock outcrops

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/12.jpg


Satellite views show hints of road on the ridge, but you can't spot them on the ground except from a good vantage point like this.

Below you can see what looks like an old road cut just above/left of Rob's head that wasn't obvious on satellite imagery. We came down the face of the fire break instead, which was sketchy but rideable.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/13.jpg


We checked out an abandoned mining road that goes through the canyon below us as well. Lots of mining relics left behind, along with lots of trash.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/14.jpg


I'd like to introduce the Orogenesis hut system! Haha, maybe not. I've hiked what's left of the road in both directions. It's rough. Seems wild this place used to have drivable vehicle access.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/15.jpg


We head back to the saddle. From there, another old trail drops down to the north side all the way into the valley below.

This trail has seen a lot of work by the locals and aside from some snow damage knocking brush down over the trail up top, it's a fun ride

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Acton/18G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Narrow and raw.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...0-Acton/17.jpg


And just keeps going and going

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Acton/19G.jpg
pic by Gabe


We spent so much time messing around up top we were getting close to running out of daylight. But things went faster after the final road crossing where we got back onto regularly used trails. Fun exploration ride.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Acton/20G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Not sure what the best option will be to connect through the trail gap there. It is easier to get permission to re-open legacy trails, even if they are only a line on an old map. On the ground of course, that is not always the easiest option. A new purpose built singletrack would be ideal here, but that can take years to get approved. For now we'll be using one of several forest roads to make the connection around this gap.

Gabe had to work the following day. I took it easy, slept in, did some reading, had a nap, and then went for a ride over at the P12 network near Palmdale.


Palmdale is in the high desert. For some reason I hadn't expected Joshua Trees, but there they were. Cool!

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/01.jpg


Cactus in bloom as well

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/02.jpg


I'd never ridden here before so I just looked at some routes on trailforks and followed one that looked promising

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/03.jpg


Mostly it was pretty good. There was no signage that I saw, so navigation involved a lot of pulling out the phone.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/04.jpg


It was getting on to late afternoon and a storm was threatening from the west, which made for some dramatic light.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/05.jpg

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/06.jpg


Not all of the route was great. It sent me up a few trails in the non optimal direction. I was following trailforks, but my garmin seemed to know what I was in for lol

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/07.jpg


At least it was short lived pain. The trails I took on the way back were pretty fun. I'd ride here again for sure, hopefully with a bit more research ahead of time on the best routes. Fun to get some easier miles in after the previous day's bushwack.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0.../11-P12/08.jpg

The High Desert Natl Rec Trail (HDNRT) from South Fork to Devil's Punchbowl is another trail I want to use for the route. It is habitually neglected and not entirely suitable for bikes in its typical state so I wanted to see what Gabe thought of it. Matt B of the Lowelifes made the drive up to join us.


Gabe checks out a new EZ-up and banner for Orogenesis events.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/01.jpg


The plan was to self shuttle rather than do an out and back so I suggested adding Manzanita Trail as well. If there was too much snow, it's an easy ride back down to South Fork CG where we can pick up the HDNRT.

We could see snow covered slopes as we started the fire road climb but it looked like the snow line might be high enough for us to sneak through. The stream crossings over the road were flowing surprisingly low, and it turned out the road was clear and dry all the way to Hwy 2.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/02G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Matt and I up at Vincent Gap. Mt Baldy in the background

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/03G.jpg
pic by Gabe


We dropped in to Manzanita. The trail condition was promising at first, but we soon found ourselves gingerly carrying bikes over steep angled snow. The nose of the snow banks was just below the trail so we kept going, hoping it wouldn't last long

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/04G.jpg
pic by Gabe


And it didn't. But we did get into a bunch of downed trees in the forested sections on top of the rockfall and other debris on the trail.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/05.jpg


The first wash crossing was in good shape. The others had been rearranged by snow and runoff like usual.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/06.jpg


The iconic part of Manzanita with its retaining walls was worse for wear. A few years back it was almost all rideable.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/07.jpg


More sections of wall have broken or simply been dislodged from the slope with gravity and erosion is doing its thing. We walked or carried bikes for almost the entire section

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/08G.jpg
pic by Gabe


Checking out the carnage

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/09.jpg


The west end of Manzanita sees maintenance by people who live in a small community below the trail. We started seeing recent work above the switchbacks.

Even more work had been done down towards the campground, including a new bridge over a small stream channel. It's apparently an anti-dumb-down bridge with two skinnies, just far enough apart to swallow a 2.6" tire if you're not paying attention.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/10.jpg


High up in the San Gabriels a section of PCT has been under an endangered species closure for a number of years. So the PCT temporarily adopted the HDNRT as its route, dropping down South Fork Trail, across to Devil's Punchbowl and up Burkhart Trail. Even though this is a temporary change they have put up PCT markers and no bikes signs, even though bikes are still allowed on HDNRT. Well, Orogenesis can claim this route too. There was also a Wilderness boundary sign placed far below the actual boundary.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/11G.jpg
pic by Gabe


South Fork creek was flowing strong

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/12.jpg


The first section of trail climbing away from from the creek had been worked on the last year or two and had a nice bench cut. We could see the trail above us and were optimistic it would be in good shape. It looks fine in this pic from above.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/13.jpg


That optimism was short lived and we soon found that mass wasting had swallowed up long sections of bench cut.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/14.jpg


And where the bench still existed it was covered in fallen rock and other debris

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/15.jpg


That was still better than what we found after we crossed the saddle, which was no trail at all for about a hundred feet. From where I'm standing to the corner was crazy sketchy. We weren't sure we'd be able to get around the corner.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/16.jpg


The crux was getting past the overhanging bush. Beyond that where Matt is standing below turned out to not be that bad.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/17.jpg


And after carrying the bikes a bit further we were able to ride much of the descent down into the drainage bottom.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/18G.jpg
pic by Gabe


This section of HDNRT is known for the jagged-looking WWII-era Marsden mats and exposed metal stakes used to hold up crumbling slopes. No one would blame you for thinking it was built by meth addicts with ADHD who only got the job half done.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/19.jpg


We made the short side trip to check out the Devil's Chair.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-HDNRT/20G.jpg
pic by Gabe


It is a cool spot! Most people who visit Devil's Punchbowl County Park do not venture further than this.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/21.jpg

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/22.jpg


The last few miles back to the trailhead were in good shape. It was a relief to be pedaling rather than carrying/pushing.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...2-HDNRT/23.jpg


That was another solid adventure ride that took way longer than expected.

Unfortunately, with the deterioration of the trail we can't send people on it as part of a route until it gets fixed. That section by the saddle was sketchy enough without loaded bikes and packs. With bikepacking rigs it would be downright dangerous. We'll bypass on pavement from South Fork CG for now instead.

This is the sort of thing we'll find often as we piece this route together. Lines on maps that might be poor condition or in many cases non-existent on the ground. A big part of the project will be partnering with local orgs and raising funds to rehab sections like this. And then maintain them.

Lots of stuff left to check out but only one day left on this trip. Gabe needed to be in Tehachapi for another trail work day so we stuck to that general area, heading up just past Mojave to Jawbone Canyon.


Since there are limited ways to get from the Angeles Natl Forest to the Southern Sierras we are stuck following the LA Aquaduct via Mojave for now. The PCT currently uses ~20 miles of Aquaduct as well, though they are trying to win access to move the PCT up into the massive Tejon Ranch property when it is developed. Marketing materials suggest bike access is to be included in the development, but even if Orogenesis is able to pass through that property we will still likely end up on the LA Aquaduct to Mojave due to the huge amount of private (wind farm) land between Tejon Ranch, Tehachapi and the Sierras.


So, finding a good way to get from Mojave up into the mountains was a priority. I found a cool route over the ridge to Jawbone Canyon last year. Now to see what someone things seeing it for the first time.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...Mojave/001.jpg
pic by Gabe


The route climbs from the Aquaduct road just north of Hwy 14, up the LA Water Road / MK72

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/01.jpg


Despite a sign at the bottom warning of "deep dangerous washouts" the road is butter smooth and a very easy grade for climbing by Socal standards

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/02.jpg


It's pretty scenic too, with wide views of the desert and plenty of flowers in early May

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/03.jpg
pic by Gabe


Once the road drops down over the ridge into Jawbone Canyon it is steeper and more torn up from OHV traffic. Not a big deal going downhill, but climbing it would suck. Instead I found a more interesting alternative. Of course you have to pay to play going that way too with a bit of steep hike a bike.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/04.jpg


This is the access road for an abandoned mine up on top of the ridge. Great views looking down over Jawbone Cyn. Hwy 395 is off in one of the distant valleys.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/05.jpg


Checking out the scene up top with long-abandoned vehicles, mine tailings, old equipment and trash

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/06.jpg


A bit more climbing to the top. You can see the old mine on the right. Lots of vehicles down the slope below us.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/08.jpg


Looking back over the mountains we just rode through. The water road we climbed navigates around the entire ridge on the right. I've explored a bunch of moto trails all over these mountains and most are so steep they are sketchy to walk, nevermind ride.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/07.jpg


The route drops down the far side of the ridge to another saddle, where we get a super steep descent for ~100 yards.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/10.jpg


After that the grade is pretty nice. I explored up to the saddle in the background from both sides. The sandstone formations up there are really cool, but it's not a realistic route by bike.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/11.jpg


Magazine worthy shot by Gabe that makes the desert look like high alpine wilderness

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/12.jpg
pic by Gabe


The route traverses down a canyon with a bunch of short steep pitches. It's a bit of work heading the other way. With a very steep final pitch down the nose of the ridge at the bottom.

https://www.habventures.com/photos/0...-Mojave/13.jpg


I like this route. It's got some super steep parts that are sketchy going down and a very tough push going up. But the views and remoteness up top are pretty worthwhile. And after 40 some miles of Aquaduct road hopefully people will be ready for something a bit different : )



More to come....

Could you escape tehachapi via sand canyon to the north and Walker Basin to make you way to Lake I and onto the Sierra NF? Or are y'all trying to stay on the Eastside of the Sierra?

Anyway, nice work, narrative and pics!!