Saturday, January 15, 2011: No Balloons

Saturday, January 15, 2011

No Balloons

I decided to Coe it alone. I went balloon hunting, and got skunked. But that's the way it is sometimes when you are after big game like balloons.

[Most of us are familiar with the phenomenon of feral mylar balloons coming to their final resting place somwhere in the mountains. These airborne emmisaries of greetings past represent a serious contribution of unwelcome trash in Henry W Coe State Park. A steady trickle of birthdays, and seasonal mass releases of Mother's Day and Graduation etc. balloons rain upon Coe Park. It seems there are vorticies within the park determined by prevailing winds interacting with topography, where balloons may be found, gassed out, and laying upon the hills and amongst the foliage of oaks, pines, and brush. One of the spoken missions of the patrol person in the park is to seek and retrieve these balloons for disposal.]



This was actually my first mountain bike patrol ride of 2011. I'd let my fitness slide in the days after Thanksgiving until now. The ride felt difficult for me. And that's another reason why I went alone, so that I could go my own pace, etc. Also, I just wanted to find a little solitude.

Got started as early as I could. Got out of bed at 5:30 am, and needed to work on my bike a bit, service on the main pivot bushings too, so that by the time I got to Coe, it was 8:30 am already. I grabbed a park radio, and did not log in with central until about 9:30, after climbing out of the canyon. It was my first ride with the new patrol long sleeve jersey and the patrol wind breaker. on top of the regular short sleeve jersey, it was the perfect combination for the cool morning.

Rode up Coit Rd to Mahoney Rd, and Lost Spring Trail, to Los Cruzeros. No trees down on the Lost Spring Trail. Great. Someone has improved the drainage a bit at the top of Lost Spring Trail since the last I saw it, and the trail is excellent. I stopped at the spring and checked it out. Just a trickle. I expected a better flow. (Video of peaceful spring below:)



At Los Cruzeros I took a break by the big pools near the step-up trail section and hiked up a small rock knob. I noticed something, probably a person up on top of Poverty Flat Rd across and way up on the other side, and took out my binoculars to see. Yep, and the guy got on his bike and rode down towards me. I ended up seeing him ride across the Coyote Creek (wished I had my camera out), it was so deep it went over his fork stanchions. Not good for the bike. I found another place, and carried my bike.




I rode up Poverty Flat Rd (aka The Magic Carpet) and would have cleaned it, except I screwed up on a little stone, and flipped my front end, and put a foot down. After this climb, I was done for the day, as far as feeling any strength. As expected, later on Willow Ridge, I would have to walk a couple of sections.

So the main planned event of the day was an exploratory look at the Schafer Trail area for a real trail alignment, instead of the ludicrous plummeting route. Yes, a lot of potential, and very very nice prospect.



At the bottom the flare from the sun on the cheap lens of the camera captured the aura of dancing canyon spirits. It was actually startling deep purple experience. There is an ineffable magic in this area. (Not so good video of the crossing:)



I stopped twice on the Willow Ridge Trail climb to pull fallen trees of the trail. It's all open now. The sun was out in strength, and for the first time this year, I was actually hot. I rode south on Willow Ridge Rd, once at the top, and stopped to enjoy a view of the Sierra Nevada. I spent a long time trying to get a photo of this through the binoculars, and this is what I got.



The whole time my companion was the park radio quietly jibber-jabbering about motorcyle accidents in Hollister Hills SRA. The carnage never ends.

At this point I was not sure where I would go next. But I soon realized that I would be able to ride the newly tread benched Hoover Lake Trail that I had organized so much work on in 2010, and also see the lake, and how full it was getting. So I did. I rode up and down it twice and loitered for a lunch break here too.



In honor of Pliebenberg I took a moment to pose for the camera. There were some great mushrooms growing below the sole grey pine on the climb up to the airstrip. That tree is dead. It won't be long until it crashes down. I'll give it a year.



The trail is good! The two switchbacks are totally rideable, just a nice tight arc for the bike, and aren't too easy either. The upper one will have some erosion problems eventually, but that is not a big deal, as the remedies are straight forward.



Next I decided that I would ride down the George Milias Trail, and back up Cross canyon to Willow Ridge Rd, just to see what things are like down there, and check on my trail work there too. It was good too! But there was a good sized tree down on Milias after the trail work section, and I got my saw out. It took a while.



I went out on a knoll along the Milias Trail and found a beautiful big berry manzanita and a nice view, and hung around. There was a pair of big looking hummingbirds and a couple of butterflys, and some bees hanging around the huge manzanita. It was a nice place.



Then on Cross Canyon there is a huge oak down. I'd heard of this one. I got out my saw and cut the branches out and made a way to roll the bike under it and stoop to get by. this took a while as well. This last tree is green oak and at least 2 feet thick. It looks like it might slide down some more too, if the dirt get's wet enough. Otherwise you could dig it out underneath to get more clearance. Sawing through this would need a cross-cut saw or a chainsaw.



By the time I got up to the road again, I needed another break. I was getting pooped out, and needed to eat more, to keep from getting a bonk. The radio traffic reminded me that it was four o'clock already. I hit the trail a 1610. I had decided that I wanted to descend Middle Steer Ridge at the end. The sun sets at 1730 or a bit earlier now, so that meant that I would need to ride express to get there. I was a little concerned for my fitness. Going up Cross Canyon felt hard to me. I was on the come-back trail. But it went by nicely. The views were nice. At Rodeo Pond I saw two mountain bikers. I did not stop because it was getting late. I asked them if they were okay, and they nodded and gave me a thumbs up. It looked like they were going to go down Grizzly Gulch to go out, which is fine, and I figured was just about the same amount of time as what I was going to do. I felt bad that I should have inquired a bit more as I climbed up Steer Ridge Rd.



I cleaned the climb, slowly, and was relieved to know that I would have enough light to enjoy the descent with. I climbed to the summit of Willson Peak and logged off the radio at 1726. On the way there along the ridge, I saw the sun go down as I rode along. It reminded me of the 10ks we've done.



I put on the long sleeve jersey and knee warmers for the descent. However I found the hillside was still warm from the day's sunshine. It was a delight. I hadn't been down this great long descent in a few months. It's a favorite. The bottom section of graded trail I organized to put in for safety is a blast too. I got the the parking lot okay. I walked one of the stream crossings because it was too dark to see, and thought I would've fallen in if I tried to ride it. The water was very cold.



Pretty much night-time when I got to the car. A good day was over.