CA: Mt. Laguna Extravaganza!!

 It had been a while since my buddy, Evan, and I met up for a ride. He lives over in the San Diego area and we often concoct some wild adventure to go on someplace and meet up. We've done some great rides over the years and were long overdue for another. He had originally proposed a 3+ day 115 mile loop up along the eastern Sierra Nevada range, but the more I thought about it, the less likely it was I could pull it off with my dwindling vacation time and remaining plans for the year.

I asked him if he had another route that was a bit closer to shorten the drive. Of course he did. He had an overnight ride posted around the Mt. Laguna area east of San Diego. This sounded much more my speed. I warned him I hadn't been riding a bunch lately, but was certain I could manage. As a side note, I needed to meet up with him anyway. We had planned on doing this ride, then my wife and I went to San Jose for her birthday weekend and liked a few spirits at a local distillery. They couldn't ship to AZ, but they could ship to Evan!! So, he accepted our stash and brought it to our bike meetup. Perfecto. I brought an empty flask as I had a feeling we may want a little something at camp that night.

I fired off an invite to a few local bikepacking friends to see if anyone was able to join in the fun. Kara was game and the two of us carpooled to the start. We had to make a few stops in Yuma on the way over, arriving a bit after 2p. Evan found a cool camp location to stage our ride from off Thing Valley Rd. That name alone should have queued the #locorides Spidey senses.

It was a narrow, off camber kind of road. Perfect for the Subaru.

Nice, shaded (later in the day) spot, right off the Pacific Crest Trail.

Evan, Kara and the singlespeed steed - Binary Bicycles SSP (30x20)

Our initial plan for the weekend was to do the overnight bikepack, finish fairly early on Saturday, take a break then head out, unloaded, for another short ride in the area. Then, on Sunday, we could ride something else nearby before heading home. The best-laid plans of mice and men...

We were rolling around 3p with the goal of reaching the Oakanzita CG somewhere around mile 24...so I thought. After crossing over the Sunrise Hwy, we immediately dropped onto a fun, flowy singletrack trail.

Yep, this will do!!

Hard to believe this was only a few miles north of I-8, felt worlds away.

Keeping singletrack single.

Hmmm, is it a: Flock, gang, rafter, gaggle or posse of turkeys?? Yes. Photo by Evan.

Cool bridge over what typically is a marshy area.

This thing was well built. Photo by Evan.

This area reminded me of the North Rim, wide open meadows lined with pine trees.

Water of the Woods Lake.

This guy did not want to yield the trail. Photo by Evan.

Lone Pine view. Photo by Evan.

Trees were covered in holes, ready to store food.

Not today as it was pushing close to 90º.

One of the many Pacific Crest Trail trailheads, we had originally planned to start here - which I totally forgot about when calculating mileage today. Photo by Kara.

The gang's all here!! Photo by Kara.

A short bit of fast pavement ensued.

We peeled off here, for a brief dirt excursion.

Short dirt road climb offered expansive views to the valley below.

Long way down.

There were multiple memorials along the way honoring those we lost.

Kara passing by another memorial. While bikes technically aren't allowed here any longer, it was over quick.

More paved riding along the Sunrise Hwy followed and brought us to the Lucky 5 trail.

Cleaning the switchbacks on Lucky 5. Photo by Evan.

A short climb, then the benched contouring commenced.

It was hard not to smile on this section of trail.

Such a nice trail, off the highway and views for days. Photo by Evan.

Kara putting the finishing touches on Lucky 5.

I think it was somewhere around here that I thought we had about 8 miles to go until camp. That would get us in around sunset. Not long afterwards, Kara reminded me we didn't start where our track did, but from where we parked which was 10 miles further back. At first, Evan thought we had about 13 or so to go, but that number would continue to fluctuate as we rode!! Haha.

The late afternoon sun was beginning to reap rewards for lighting.

Cool terrain back here.

Evan carving through the golden grass in golden hour, a dynamic duo. Photo by Kara.

Passing by a cool, dead tree. Photo by Evan.

It's quite the setting.

La Cima trail was loads of fun. Photo by Evan.

Kara riding into a postcard.

We crossed into Cuyamaca Rancho State Park near here. Photo by Kara.

The fun trail continued. Photo by Kara.

We popped out on some nice, fast dirt roads. Soapstone Grade here.

Those roads led us here: Cold Spring trail.

Kara leading the charge through this fun section. Photo by Evan.

Cool little bridge in seemingly nowhere. Photo by Evan.

Taking a quick break on a tight switchback.

That kinda tight, but smooth.

Good thing we didn't need water...yet.

Daylight was now at a premium and Evan's last estimate had us at 8 more miles to camp.

Nice riding through here.

Nightfall was encroaching, lights were on and the riding was good. I came into a small downhill rock garden and as I rolled through my front wheel grabbed, weight shifted forward and I had that uncomfortable feeling of an incoming crash. Gah!! Somehow, everything slowed and my momentum was halted by my handlebars, somehow preventing an inevitable OTB. Whew!! That was close.

I kept riding, but noticed my light wasn't really illuminating much. I thought I must've bumped its position as it's mounted on my fork crown. I adjusted it, rode a bit, but it still didn't seem like it was pumping out normal light. Kara came up behind with her bright setup and it was really affecting my ability to see the trail with the shadows. I asked her to go by so I could see again, but I knew my light was acting up. Then it dawned on me, I think when I lurched forward, I may have hit my light switch on my handlebars. Sure enough, I had turned my light OFF. Welp, at least that was an easy fix once I realized what I did.

The nighttime is the righttime.

I came around a corner to find Kara and Evan looking at something. Ooh, this black rattlesnake wasn't too happy, but what a beauty. Photo by Evan.

We took a short detour here to top off water.

After riding a few miles, Evan still thought we had almost 8 miles to go!! What!?! Haha. I guess we'll get there when we get there.

We were cruising along when all of a sudden there were two guys hanging out on the trail in lounge chairs and they immediately asked if we wanted beer!! Uh, yes. They were out riding in the area as well, having done a good sized day ride. It was nice to sit, relax, have a beer and talk bikes for a bit, but we needed to get moving.

This fella blended in with his surroundings.

We finally made the turn to begin the final climb up a dirt road I had been on before during the Stagecoach 400. Our goal was to camp at the Oakanzita CG, still about 4 miles away. Ha! As we climbed, we came to a side trail that Evan insisted we take. He said there was some hike-a-bike, but it would level out and the riding was good. Ok, let's do it. Well, some hike-a-bike turned into 2 miles of pushing for me. Ugh. I was not a happy camper. Super frustrating as each time I looked ahead, I could see Evan and Kara's lights way up above me. I was so ready to be at camp and had wished I stayed on the road. Eventually, it did level out and after 3/4 mile of pedaling we were back on the dirt road. Hmmm, not exactly worth the squeeze. Probably a fun trail to ride down.

Hey, at least my dynamo light is bright enough for hike-a-bike efforts!! Photo by Evan.

We finally arrived at camp around 10p and had the place to ourselves, which was really nice. Quiet.

Time to break out the good whiskey for a well deserved toast to our day. If you're wondering what we had, it was a Triple Cask American Whiskey (Dragon) from 10th St. Distillery in San Jose.

I brought 3 small plastic mugs just for the occasion. Photo by Evan.

Our campsite at first light, no too shabby.

Good thing we stopped for water last night, the pump handle was broken.

Off we go!! Photo by Evan.

A few short climbs to get the blood pumping.

I wasn't expecting to ride through a tight canopy of trees. Photo by Evan.

Finally caught the other two in hike-a-bike mode, thought I was the only one doing the pushing so far.

The rip down Pine Mtn. Rd. was a hoot!! Photo by Evan.

Kara settling into a long, steady climb.

Yep, it keeps going. But first, a rest break.

It was work to get HERE, as I gazed at the upcoming long climb. Photo by Kara.

Kara is such a grinder, cleaned the entire climb. Photo by Evan.

Shade stop at the top!! I rode more of it than I thought I would.

Kara cleaned the entire climb!! Monster!!

Some nice riding in these parts.

Which led to more singletrack.

That sure looks singlespeed friendly. It was!!

It was nice to be pedaling for an extended bit again. Photo by Evan.

Evan nearing the end of the line for this segment.

A short bit of riding along the Sunrise Hwy brought us here, a quiet paved connector to more singletrack.

Heading up the Filaree Flat Spur trail.

Kara splits the boulders.

Evan rejoining the route where we passed the prior day.

I think it was somewhere around here that I came to the realization that: a) I wasn't feeling up to another ride this afternoon as I was fairly worked over and it was borderline hot in the sun and b) I was actually ok with simply driving home after we finished today. Who is this guy?? Perhaps I'm a bit more in tune with what I can actually do AND still have fun. Dunno, but it seems to be working. I presented the idea of driving home later today and Kara was on board. I think that just confirmed my decision.

Pinecones are a tad bigger over here.

We assessed our water situation and decided it would be best to divert to a nearby campground to top off. The El Prado CG supplied the needed water and it was fun riding to get there. It really wasn't much of a diversion off the planned route.

Kara navigating one of those goofy S-turn gated contraptions.

More sublime singletrack followed.

Making our way south and up, out of the trail system.

On to the steep pitch while Evan cruises through below.

I gave it a good effort, but had to walk some.

Even reaching the top, at our turnoff and informing me I could have bypassed this climb!! Haha.

We crossed over the Sunrise Hwy and popped onto more singletrack to link over to Thing Valley Rd.

Home stretch!! I was done. Photo by Evan.

The PCT runs through this entire area and we were parked 100' from it.

Sure does look nice, eh?

Evan with a proper post ride celebration and well deserved #locorides patch.

This was a really cool route, lots of fun singletrack out there. More than I thought there would be. The climbs were backloaded for our routing and a lot of work for me on the singlespeed, but still mostly rideable. It's always great to do a ride with someone with a ton of local knowledge of the area, Evan has that in spades. I'll definitely add this area to the ride list when in the area as it's easy to put together a solid day ride route. Really glad Kara made the trip too, as it was all new terrain for her. Filling in that mental atlas one ride at a time.

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