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| Yeager Mesa |
Adding the distance in and out on Trabuco Road, this ride clocks in at about 28 miles, with roughly 5,400 feet of climbing. I rode with Josh and Dan on a cold, wet and foggy morning. Certainly not beach weather, but I prefer climbing in the cold weather, so the grind up Holy Jim was not too bad. Holy Jim is in fine shape and there isn't much to report there. (If you haven't done the trail, there is plenty of info on this blog and on other sites. )
After a short break atop Holy Jim, we headed through the fog on Main Divide. Brrr. I kept my head down and pushed through the fire road climbs. A long steady climb ensues just after the Indian Truck Trail turnoff, a section that some riders refer to as "The Wall." (But there are several "Walls.") The worst part about this wall, and many of the long climbs on Main Divide, is that, typically, you see it coming, you rue over it, then while you are climbing, you keep looking up at the whole damn incline ahead of you, and rue it more. One benefit of the fog was that none of this was possible. I just kept climbing along, surrounded by my white room until, miraculously, I reached the top. One other note, the section of Main Divide from Indian Truck to W. Horsethief is not as loose and rocky as it was a few years ago, making for easier riding (particularly the climbing sections).
After passing W. Horsethief, we kept rolling across Main Divide to the Los Pinos/ Trabuco turnoff. The climb to the Pinos Peak consists of one long hike-a-bike climb and two smaller climbs, sandwiched around a few short drops. Los Pinos was oddly constructed atop the ridge line, so the whole trail is a series of drops and climbs - steep, fun drops followed steep, mostly hike-a-bike, climbs. For most trails, this type of fall line construction leads to constant erosion problems, and there are some of slight erosion issues on Los Pinos, but the trail benefits from the rocky consistency of its terrain. The ridgeline is littered with small - golf ball to tennis ball-sized - rocks. Riding Los Pinos is akin to rolling over ball bearings. And it's fun. Really fun about now because the Warrior's Society group just brushed and repaired the entire trail. Superb.
To get to Yeager, we turned off of Los Pinos at Pinos Peak and headed down Bell Ridge. The first descent on Bell is one of my favorites, a steep plunge through a canopy of Manzanita, scrub and small trees. After the rain, the ground was and tacky, a bit loose in spots, but heavy enough for traction. After the initial drop there are a few rolling sections on Bell, the trail traverses through larger trees on the north side of the ridge and then makes a couple climbs. The second climb, a pretty steep hike-a-bike, leads to the Yeager Mesa turnoff.
Yeager is one of the most challenging descents in the Santa Ana mountains. It is also one of the most scenic. In tight and steep S-turns, the trail drops down the north facing slope to Trabuco Canyon. The canopy is lush, with mature Pines and ferny undergrowth. The experience is akin to tree skiing on your bike. And it's challenging. I found myself tripodding in spots and walking in some others. A couple spots are very difficult: There is one steep arroyo which used to have a bridge, but now the bridge is gone, so the approach and the escape are ridiculously steep. Past the missing bridge, the trail drops less precipitously to the Mesa itself.
In the past, the trail crossed the mesa and then plunged straight down a rocky escarpment to the creek. There is now (Yay!) a new reroute. A much less sketchy and imminently ride-able reroute, so be sure and take it. The new route still needs to be ridden more and packed in, but the construction seems fairly thoughtful, and I hope the line is sustainable.
At the base of the hill, the new route traverses along the bank of Trabuco Creek till it reaches the terminus of the former route. It was difficult to ride all of the creekside portion of the trail, but I didn't mind dismounting a few times, eying what might be one of the most scenic spots in Orange County (and I'm sure one of the only year-round natural waterways in the region).
At the current water levels (this is certainly a dry year), it is easy to get across the creek. There is plenty of poison oak, so use caution when crossing. There seems to be one optimal spot to cross and climb up the opposing bank. Look for the route that others have taken, however, this is really the least developed portion of the trail. The best place to cross (that I know of) is about 30 feet upstream from end of the old trail, the climb up the opposing bank isn't easy, but if you look around you should be able to find a path away from the poison oak.
(One note from Josh: He and Dan, who descended after I did, kept walking down Trabuco Creek until they reached the Trabuco Trail. Josh says they never crossed the creek or made the difficult climb up the opposing bank. I have to go back and investigate.)
The rest of the ride consists of heading down the remainder of the Trabuco Trail, rocky in its own right, but not nearly as steep or technical as Pinos. The trail runs along the verdant waterway, whipsawing through the trees and, on occasion, coursing across the stream bed, until it reaches Trabuco Road.
The ride out on the dirt road is a fast six miles. Even faster these days after a thorough reconstruction. However, the improvements on Trabuco Road seem to have encouraged more traffic. Watch out for cars and trucks!
This entire route took about 5 hours with breaks.
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| Trabuco Creek at bottom of the Yeager Mesa Trail. |
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| Single track deluxe |
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