I'm amazed how you just run into people like that! - mudworm
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From mtbr NorCal forum:
Coe ride Saturday 4/20. 9:30 @ Hunting HollowMeet at 9:30 and ride.
• Route is undetermined, but will include lots of good single track.
• Pace will be mellow, with much time spent relaxing and throwing rocks into creeks or ponds, and just generally enjoying the park.
Hopefully the creeks still have some water and the flowers are blooming.
-Dan51After arriving at 8:45am, I filled in the extra time with a nice out&back on Hunting Hollow Road, a few flat miles along the valley bottom. I was back to Hunting Hollow at 9:30 and found the group assembling; Dan and Shiloh, mtbr regulars Peter, Carmen, and Jeff. New to me were Matt and Sri (though I have the feeling I’ve seen Sri before).
Dan’s plans are to go up Jim Donnelly Trail to Willow Peak, down the Willow Peak Trail, and take Dexter Trail over to top of the Domino/Cattleduster/Grapevine downhill. 9:50am we began.
Dan, Peter, Matt, and Sri climbing the Jim Donnelly Trail:
The initial climb of the day continues up Steer Ridge Road:
Near the intersection with Middle Steer Ridge Trail, we’re passing a large group of backpackers when in that chaos Gus, a trail runner I’ve seen infrequently at Coe over the years, is running downhill and “upstream” to traffic. I shout his name and get a solid bro-fist to my palm when I try to high-five him.
11:20am we reach the top of Willson Peak, l to r: Shiloh, Matt, Sri, Dan, Carmen, Jeff, and Peter:
Out on a solo ride, Chris rides up and chats with us a while.
He
set 6 KOMs while carrying the patrol radio!
This is about a half-hour (lunch) break followed by the Willson Peak Trail downhill. We had some difficulties with missing turns; slippery, dry, and on some turns the benching has disappeared.
The next step in Dan’s plan is going up Dexter Trail:
Dan, “I don’t remember it being this bad” Ha, we had to work to keep ahead of that Boy Scout troop behind us!
At the top:
The Domino Pond payoff……Dan, Matt, and Shiloh:
Shiloh missed a couple turns descending Domino Pond and Cattleduster…
A few of Peter’s pictures on Domino/Cattleduster:
We decided to take a right on Cross Canyon and think about extending the ride a little. At the intersection with Coit Road we threw rocks at the signpost and weighed the options. Drop into Cross Canyon? Or out&back to China Hole. Dan and the group chose to take Coit Road back up to the top of Domino Pond and repeat the Domino Pond/Cattleduster section. Shiloh redeemed herself
by setting QOMs on Domino Pond DH and Cattleduster DH.
2pm: I watched them ride off and then coasted down into Cross Canyon. What It Was Like Down There™:
Temps were likely mid-80ºs so I’m hesitant to say it was hot but it was the first time riding in such heat in 2013. I was feeling it! Took it easy but still had a big heat headache by the time I got to the other end of Cross Canyon. At the lower end of the Hoover airstrip, there was a nice cool breeze. Looking out at Coit Lake, I rested half an hour and drank water. Gradually the headache subsided. Thankfully. See, I didn’t want to turn back because I was at the top of the White Tank/Rose Dam trails, I’d recently done 3 days of brushing on them and now I really wanted to ride those trails.
Just when I got myself psyched to go, I noticed this:
Ugh. The Racing Ralph Blues. But not a big deal, took about 15 minutes to fix it (duct tape on the inside of the tire).
The White Tank/Rose Dam downhill was great. I tried to focus on what had been cleared but still your eye find what still needs to be cut back. Oh well, it's way better than before and I’m done here for 2013.
4:45pm My plans included stopping at Pacheco Camp for water. A happy surprise was finding
the HuRT group here. Talking to them buoyed my spirits. They’d already been there 30 – 45 minutes. Tom was ready to go and began riding off. The others didn’t seem to be so anxious to go. Within 30 feet Tom’s tire went flat. Jim and Tom worked on that while I talked with Paul, Patrick, and Roy. Check out Patrick’s nice new 29er hardtail. Jim badly cut his finger on the rotor of Tom’s bike and joked that at least now his legs didn’t seem to hurt so much anymore.
There was a second false start when they found something on the road 50 feet from Camp. I rushed over with my camera. It was a dead snake. Hmmmm, didn’t want a picture of that but I did get this photo of Paul, Patrick, and Roy:
Patrick snapped this one of me arriving at Pacheco Camp:
After they left, I filtered water, and ate a little. In total, I ended up spending an hour here but didn’t have any worries because I knew I had enough daylight to get back.
Hadn’t been on Live Oak Spring Trail for a while…full of winter blow-downs, it needs some work:
Riding into the setting sun on the Grizzly Gulch Trail:
A few moments later, just after passing the Rock Tower intersection, I came upon a Bobcat on the trail. Awesome! He scurried off down that new bandito trail there.
7:45pm At the Coyote Creek gate, a couple of bike campers were loading up their bikes and Bob trailers. They were finishing up a Wed – Sat fishing trip. One of them said we had talked last year at Coit Lake. It was Bob “wXman”, the OP of the classic
Best route to Mississippi... thread.
When I rode up, Bob was complimenting someone on his blog. I asked about that and the guy said it was called
DryCyclist. Wow, great trips written up there!
7:53 Hunting Hollow. As I clean-up / pack-up, Ranger Verrrrrhoeven, on a drive-through, gives a wave and a “Hi”.
Start at Hunting Hollow » Out & Back Hunting Hollow Road » Hunting Hollow. Begin mtbr ride » Jim Donnelly Trail » Steer Ridge Road » Willson Peak Trail » Grizzly Gulch Trail » Dexter Trail » Wasno Road » Domino Pond Trail » Cattle Duster Trail » Coit Springs Trail » Cross Canyon Trail » At Coit Road. split from mtbr ride. Cross Canyon Trail » Willow Ridge Road » White Tank Spring Road » White Tank Spring Trail » Rose Dam Trail » Pacheco Creek Trail » Pacheco Camp. Coit Road » Live Oak Spring Trail » Wagon Road » Wasno Road » Tule Pond Trail » Grizzly Gulch Trail » Coit Road » Coyote Creek gate » Gilroy Hot Springs Road » Hunting Hollow parking. 35.40 / 5:13 / 10:56 / 6,186'
Gilroy:
Cordoza Ridge:
