Trail Wanderlust
Trails in General
I finally got around to pulling together the footage I took on Galbraith Mountain back in April. Putting this video together was an awesome way to relive the great freaking riding there is on that mountain. You may find the music a little aggro for your taste but these tunes got stuck in my head while riding these trails so it only seemed fitting put them on the vid.
Right Click on the image above to download the 115MB video that is 8 minutes and 17 seconds long.
Last week we had a fair amount of rain on the Muira Pennisula of Japan which is about an hour south of Tokyo. Moisture on the mostly clay-based soils here makes the trails quite slick so I was not expecting to see any trail action when the sun showed up for the first time in a handful of days.
I decided to do a little exploring on the streets and see if I could find some new areas to ride when things dry out. I have had a Japanese map of this area since 2004 so I whipped out my old friend and started looking for the thin dashed lines and mountain tops.
The map while written in Kangi which (I can’t read the stuff), is great for matching up with street signs and trailhead markers. One of the more important Kangi symbols for a wandering MTB addict is the top of a pitchfork looking one in the circle pictured above. It is “yama” and used on its own means mountain. The other important one to note on the maps are the counterclockwise swastikas. This is used as a symbol for a temple. Hilter and the Nazis are pretty much the Johnny come latelys for using this symbol as its use goes back over 3,000 years. Despite the Nazis twisting the popular meaning of it, in most cultures the swastika is a traditional symbol of life and good luck. I have found that the mountain top temples almost always have decent trails leading up to them.
The mountain for this little adventure was Takeyama. So I headed out for some street cruising to get over to the area. The plan was to find the access road/trail that goes up the mountain. I approached the mountain from the northeast so I started scoping out all the small streets in the area and worked my way along the eastern side. It is very common to find small villages and towns located at the bottom of the mountains where there is ample access to water sources. There are often many small patches of family farms interspersed along the creeks and streams as well as the lower portions of the mountain where the terrain is transitioning from steep to the mellow valley floor. There is often a network of small trails that connect these small farm patches. I was hoping to find a trail coming down from the top of the mountain to one of these patches.
I did find such a trail heading up the mountain off of one of the farm trails. The forest was a mix of large bamboo and hardwoods. I only went a short ways up the trail when I discovered that it had been washed out and after scrambling around the washout the trail become so overgrown to the point of virtually being gone. The high amount of annual rainfall here allows mother nature to reclaim that which is not used in as little as a single season. I went back down and continued my snooping on the east side. I knew there was a fire road coming down this side of the mountain but I was not having any luck finding it. There were several business and private areas that were locked up and I was beginning to think the fireroad might not be publically assessable . After a while of not getting anywhere on the eastern side of the mountain I decided to try approaching from a different side.
I cruised downhill with lots of speed along the streets until I reached Tsukuihama beach on Tokyo Bay. It was time to refuel with some energy snacks Nippon-style. While enjoying my snacks and taking in some views I was also scanning over my map to get an idea of where to go next. The southwest corner looked promising as there where farmlands and at least one secondary road going over a saddle to the west of the mountain.
Once back on the bike I started working my way towards the mountain. When I went by the local train station, I noticed a sign with an arrow and the Kangi symbols for Takeyama. Japan has a very strong hiking culture and it is common to find directions to trailheads at the closest train stations. This was a sweet find. I followed the signs that took me along a riverside path before directing me onto a narrow paved road that in some spots was about the width of an average golf cart path in the states.
My destination can be seen in the distance in the photo above. There were three peaks to get over on my intended route. The first one is obscured to the far right and out of frame, but the other two with the radio towers on top can be seen. I could already tell there was going to be some steep ups and downs between those two peaks. With the expected moisture on the trail, I was prepared to hike-a-bike most of the route that lay ahead.
The paved roads and signage brought me to the actual trailhead and the trails were indeed slick in spots. When the grades were mild you could get in some peddling but add much grade or roots and you had some serious treachery to contend with. It was all good as I was mentally out for a bike assisted hike anyway. On the way to the first peak I came across one of these statues on the trail. I need to find the purpose and history of these statues, but they are really cool and added to the exotic nature of being out here.
Steep trails over here typically have log steps on them. Without them you are not going to get up some of the trails when they are a little moist. The more established trails have replaced the wooden logs with concrete faux logs. They have a fairly natural appearance, are a god send when hiking up and provide a technical challenge when riding down them. As an added bonus when riding these on a rental hardtail, you will also get to fully stress test any dental fillings you may have. 🙂
The first peak I went over was Miura-Fuji, There were various spiritual monuments on the peak of which I knew little of thier meanings. I met a Japanese man here who had an amatuer radio rig setup on the peak. I used to have a amatuer radio license as well and we knew enough of each other’s language to have a short conversation about how he was talking to his friends in Sapparo on the radio. Considering Sapparo is over 500 miles away it, was a good haul with the equipment he had.
Soon I continued on and headed for the second peak. As I had expected I lost some elevation before having to regain it all and then some. It is hard to convey how steep some of these mountains are in pictures. In the case of the picture above, the angle that I am looking down is not captured.
The trail beyond to Muira-Fuji went on for a sizable ways before coming out onto a fireroad. This had to be the fireroad I was looking for earlier in the day but had missed. There was only one way to know for sure where the bottom of the fireroad came out at. So I descended the fireroad and I was surprised at its length. When I got to the bottom, I realized I had gone right past it thinking it was a driveway to an adjacent home. If I have ridden another 50 feet closer to the entrance it would have become obvious that it was the fireroad. Now that I knew the where the bottom of the fireroad was I turned around and retraced my way back up the fireroad. It was a good climb and I continued onward past the singletrack I had originally come in on.
It was pretty mellow climbing the rest of the way up to the second peak, Mt Hodai. The views from the peak were a letdown as the flora growth obscured any views. What was interesting was a large concrete structure sunk into the ground. I could not figure out its purpose. I later found out from a Japanese friend of mine that during WWII a large anti-aircraft gun battery was here to defend the area against American bombers. It never shot down an American plane.
From the Mt Hodai peak, I went back down the fireroad just a short ways and picked up a singletrack that headed over to Takeyama. There was not as much hike-a-bike as I had expected and I soon found myself at the peak. The views from Takeyama were somewhat dulled from the marine layer that was still lingering. The exceptional part here was the Takeyama-Fudo temple. It is a small traditional temple with ornate wood work and an overall design that was exceptionally interesting.
Where does one start and the other begin?
After perusing around the temple grounds, I snooped around for another trail heading off the peak. There was one heading down to the Southeast but I was looking for something to the north. I descended the brutally steep concrete road access road for the temple looking for a northside trail. I had to keep my speed in check as I did not trust these concrete roads that had some moisture on them. There had to be some sections that were over 20% grade. I did find one promising looking trail, but opted to save it for another day. Once back down at the bottom I went back into street cruising mode and made my way back to the apartment. I was pretty stoked with this day as it turned out to be so much better than I had expected.
It has been raining almost solid for the previous two days which will basically make the trails way to slick her in Japan until early next week. When I say slick, I mean like butter on a tile floor slick. While my playtime this weekend is going to be off the trails, earlier this week I got out to one the “local” loops, Ogusuyama (aka Mt Ogusu). Like most of the riding I have done over here there is a bit of street riding involved to get there. I enjoy these street rides as I always see something culturally interesting.
On this cruise to the trails while on one of the many tiny side streets, I passed by an onion stand that caught my eye. This stand was totally unattended and there was not even a window of a home within sight. It was totally on the honor system. There was not even a one-way coin box. Just pick out your onion and drop your 100 yen (About $1) in the box. If you need to, make change. I think this one little stand says a lot about the values and culture of rural Japan.
The last little bit of pavement passes by a really thick and sizable patch of bamboo that always real cool to look into. The canopy is so thick that I have never seen direct sunlight on the ground here.
Once on the trail, the light drizzle from the day before had left some slippery spots on the trail.
I rode this area back in Decemember, but did not hit up all of the trails. I made a point to hit up the trails I had missed last time. Ogusuyama is the highest peak on the Muira Pennisula and the trail I took drops down to far side of the pennisula from Yokosuka.
I have no idea what actual name of the trail I took is but most of my friends have just referred to it as Trail 3. This trail was really fun as it had great flow and cashed out the elevation in a way that allowed you to carry plenty of speed in most sections.
This is one really cool trail marker.
Once down the on the other side of the pennisula I did a bit of riding along the streets before picking a dirt access/fire road to head back up the mountain. While there were some steep pitches on the climb overall it was not brutal. I have certainly climbed plenty of uglier fireroads.
Once back up on the top of the mountain, I decided to a take a path less traveled. While I noticed this faint trail heading off in the bush before, I had never ventured onto it. Today I gave it a shot as I had a decent idea of where it should go. I was riding solo in foriegn country on a lightly used and new to me trail. Throw in the fact I have an extremely rudimentry knowlege of the language at best and you should see why I felt so alive with healthy dose of excitement coupled with just a dash of anxiety.
The trail ended up coming out pretty close to where I expected it and I enjoyed the stroll back to the apartment. It was another good day to ride a bike.
I arrived in Japan last Saturday for a handfull of weeks worth of work in Yokosuka. The travel schedule to get here is a tough one as your internal clock is totally thrown out of wack. I spent most of the week just stuggling through the day and having a tough time sleeping at night. It took until Thursday for my “body clock” to get adjusted. Finally getting some rest was a good thing as I was looking forward to getting onto some single track this weekend. I shipped my 6.6 here vice putting it on the plane so I would not have lug the cumbersome box on the trains to get to Yokosuka from the Tokyo airport.
My bike had not arrived on Friday so I rented a hardtail. One of my friends and his wife had just purchased a new home and invited me over to check it out. I declined on having them pick me up at my hotel. Instead I opted to have a nice cruise along the streets which I had nearly forgotten what a cultural experience you can have along the streets of a foreign country. I had a nice time visiting and catching up on things with my friends. Afterwards, I had a really cool late night cruise back to the hotel.
The following morning it was time to get onto some dirt. I had not been on the trails between Zushi and Kamakura since 2004 and I was looking forward to it. It takes a quite a bit of riding along the streets from Yokosuka to get to the trailhead, but like last night riding along the streets is an experience all to it’s own. I had barely started on my way when there was a bunch of of activity going on over the roses at Verny Park.
It had been a long enough since I was last here that there were spots where I was unsure if I was going the right way or not. Every time I would start to get concerned about my route I would see something that would jog my memory. I love riding when you are route finding or someplace new as your senses seem to elevate just a little. While this route was more about rediscovery, it was extremely fun just getting to the trailhead.
Once I got to the trailhead, it was time to get some hike-a-bike on. Like many of the trails in this area, there are some steepness to be dealt with. The opening trail up onto the ridgelines was every bit as steep as I had remembered. I did not count them but I’m guessing there are at least 100 wood log steps that got the calves burning in no time flat.
Once up onto the ridge the trails flowed and swooped gracefully through the trees. Most times there were fairly buff in nature but there were numerous section of roots and rocks to test your skills. I rode here many times in 2004 and this ride was like catching up with an old friend.
I forget the Japanese name for this section of trail but I believe it loosely translates to “Roots of Death”
I like the way this signs bridges the language barrier. 🙂
Visually this is one of my favorite sections of trail out here as it passes by one of the numerous temples in the area. Nearby Kamakura is steeped in deep history and many of the trails are centuries old. I played on the trails here until I late in the afternoon and then enjoyed the street cruising back to Yokosuka. I finished the evening off with a tasty plate of curry from a tiny mom-and-pop resturant that I was turned onto during my last visit here. It was not a bad day to have a bike 🙂
This is the second year a group of advocates and friends got together to do a ride that has become known as the Archipelago Ride. Open Space in coastal San Diego County has become very fragmented over the years into a patchwork of “islands of open space”. The Archipelago Ride concept is one to demonstrate how these islands can be linked together into a rides of epic length.
This years ride started at the La Costa Preserve and went to Probuilt Wheels on the western end of Penasquitos Canyon. Getting there was by way of Elfin Forest, Lake Hodges, San Deiguito River Park, Lusardi Creek, Santa Luz, and Black Mountain.
The day started off early in the moaning with most folks grabbing a shuttle from Pro-Built up to La Costa.
Once we got up to the La Costa the gaggle of riders was even larger. I think the total rider count was 37. I thought for sure with this many people that the regroup logistics would make for slow going.
Slow going would not be a bad thing for me today. Jake had an ice hockey game going on that morning so the plan was to help get the ride started and then catch the game and grab onto the ride around Lake Hodges. I decided to grab some shots of the group from Harmony Grove Road as they went of the Escondido Sewer Easement and I was quite surprised at the pace the group was making as they got there quite earlier than I had expected.
Roughly about this same timeframe, I got a call for Jake’s coach that the game was later than what was orginally published, so there was little chance that I was going to catch all of Jake’s game.
I did however manage to get the ice rink for a bit before I got the call from the ride sweep letting me know the group was rolling into Hodges. I booked it from the rink and got setup below the Hodge Dam. To lead the group for a bit on a different route from last year.
The general consenus was that everything was going along smoothly…and then I took over 🙂 So this “new” route had a little “technical hike-a-biking” in it.
The climb-a-biking was a neccessary evil to get to a creekside trail that was pretty sweet with a bit of technical flow to it. This was a recent find for me so I was stoked to show it off.
After the creek side riding we followed Lasardi Creek for a short ways and then we took a different route from last year up to the Santa Luz Loop.
I like the congo line of helmets through the flowers above.
Once up to the Santa Luz Loop things went pretty quickly to Black Mountain Park and the waiting sag wagon. In addition to snacks there was mighty tasty fluids suitable for rehydration.
After Black Mountain Park we continued on the Santa Luz Loop and then took the connector over to McGonigle and Deer Canyons.
Our last major regroup was just before entering Deer Canyon. SDMBA had tried to get the permission to use one of the tunnels for this ride, but with all of the controversy with the area we were relegated to “Tunnel Zero” aka the God forsaken powerline climb up onto the mesa.
Once up on the mesa, everyone knew the way “home” so the proverbal hounds were released and everyone seem to move quicker.
There were tasty grub and brews awaiting back a Probuilt Wheels. It was a great way to end this 42 mile ride that had 5,000 plus feet of climbing. I was amazed at how close this group was in relative strength and endurance. The group was never really strung out and the group make good time over the course of the day.
Here is a photo album with all of the pictures I took during the ride.
Man, have I been busy since I got back from Washington. After a solid week of honey-dos and a couple of lingering projects that needed my attention I was finally able to get back onto some SoCal dirt. This weekend I’m helping out with SDMBA’s Archipelago Ride by providing some “Navigation”. There was one section in particular that I have been looking for an improved route from last year so some field research was in order.
The area I was focusing on was by the San Dieguito River Park and the Santa Luz area. I found some good stuff that fits the bill for real trails. It should be a good addition to the route this year.
Here is a mule deer buck I encountered on the trail. The buck is on the trail. Yes, there is a trail there.
Here is the trail from another angle. Good stuff.
After spending three weeks in the Pacific Northwest, 81 degrees felt down right hot! It was however a good afternoon in the Sun. I’m looking forward to leading the way to the goods on the Archipelago Ride.
Okay I have been letting this footage pile for over a year so it was time to do something with it. It is a locals rock hangout here in San Diego. You can call it either the KTS #1 (Kinda Top Secret) Trail or the Ain’t Telling Trail. It is really not much of a secret at all but I was asked not to drop the name so there you go.
Last Sunday I went up to Bellingham WA to check out Galbraith Mountain as I had heard it had the goods. The folks who gave me that 411 were right on the money. This place RULES plan and simply. I got in a week’s worth of stoke in a single day. This was a good thing as work this past week has been a real beater that consumed all of my physical and mental energy. Luckily the tidal wave of work had moved on by this past Saturday evening. This Sunday I found myself once again heading north to enjoy Galbraith Mountain once again.
The place is sorta broken up into two areas, the Lakeview Drive side and the Galbraith Lane side. There are miles and miles of good trails all over the place here with most of the XC oriented stuff on the Lakeview Side and the DH/Freeride stuff over on the Galbraith Lane side.
The weather on both days turned out to be killer but both started somewhat cloudy and progressively got better. Once you get inside the dense forest it really does not matter wither the sun is out or not as the forest canopy renders the light in some spots just a few levels dusk. Nothing but yellow or clear lenses if you are going to ride here.
The first day out here I started on the Lakeview side and rode a series of trails over to the Galbraith side. One fun trail was call Bob’s Cedar Dust as there are a ton of skinnies of various difficulties to dare you into trying them. You see so much of this stuff you just have to give it a try.
If you choose to, you can spent most of your climbing on forest roads and then catch a series of singletracks back down the mountain. Getting to the top of Galbraith is where the real fun starts. There are several north-shore style trails coming off the top that will get your fix on if you are into that kind of thing. Most of the riders I met heading up to the top where on beefy downhill and freeride rigs.
The rewards for your efforts are some really killer black diamond level trails that will peg your stoke meter or scare the crap out of you. There is a good chance that both may happen at the same time. The first day out here I hooked up with a couple of local young guys. They were too old to be “groms” but they did talk about calling there mom to come pick them up near the end of the day. I’m guessing somewhere around 16-18. I bring it up because following these fearless young bucks was feeding my mojo and I started hitting stuff I would normally balk at or stop and think about first. Small to medium gaps, tabletops, kickers and 4 foot drops where just happening. Now I was not transformed into some hucker that day, but a new level of comfort was obtained on this type of terrain. Riding with these folks who were more than half my age certainly made me feel half my age. Mountain Biking is just freaking great!
One of the most killer trails out here that I rode was Evolution. It has an incredible mix of ladders, berms, gaps, log rides and other BC inspired stuff that just rocks! The Korn song of that same name popped into my head and it has been stuck there ever since.
I’m pretty sure you can not get all of the trails bagged in a single day out here. It would take at least three humps to the top of Galbraith to get in the really cool stuff near the top. The last section to the top gets steep and it will put some hurting on you. Granny and me had it going on during both of my visits here.
As far as what trails to hit, the general consensus on the All-Mountain scene are: Evolution, Mullet, Cheech and Chong’s Wild Ride, Not Shawns, Meth Lab, Scorpion and SST are “Da Bomb”. I rode all of those and then some with the exception of SST. On the cross country scene, the Whoopsie Woodle trail way in the Southwest back 40 of Galbraith is pretty darn cool. Have no idea what I’m talking about? Well when you roll into Bellingham swing by one of the shops (I hit up Fantik) and pick up a map printed on waterproof paper. They were $8 and they are really nice and the profits help out the local advocacy group.
Bellingham is also a really cool town with an awesome vibe. The Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro is not to be missed for post ride goodness. Thier IPA is killer and the Rueben sandwich is to die for. Killer trails, Great Brews and Yummy Food — I’m digging this place!
Saturday I ventured north to check out the Whistle Lake area of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. I had been to the Cranberry Lake area the week before and I was ready to check out some more of the goods in Anacortes.
Man there was some fun single track out by Whistle Lake but there are no freebies. You have got to earn them. The good news is what goes up must come down. The number of trails in this area is simply bewildering and it is hard to go more than a third of mile without having a trail junctions to think about.
While on one of the trails near the top of “Sugar Cube” I had an incredible critter encounter. As I rounded a corner a bald eagle flew up from the trail where it had recently whacked some small furry critter and had it for lunch. It flew up into a nearby tree and started checking me out.
While it looked concerned with me a first, it soon seemed to figure out that I meant it no harm and seemed rather comfortable with my presence. Over the next five minutes I would go through a series of snapping pictures and moving a little closer until it decided it had better things to do.
This eagle is bigger than it looks. I’m guessing that those talons if out stretched would be about the size of an average man’s hand. Simply impressive.
An hour or so later in the ride I would once again have another cool critter encounter. This time it was with a spotted owl and the sequence of events was similar to that the eagle.
I love checking out the “Back 40” wherever I go. On this day that looked to be the south side of the lake. The trails over here were much steeper and trickier with more roots and rocky sections.
It would be a really big feat to ride all of the stuff in a single day as it takes multiple loops of climbing to the top of several hills that can work the legs over really well.
I did as many climbs up the hills as I could stand and still did not get to all of the trails. I finished the day with my legs thoroughly shot and a big smile on my face.
The weather for most of this past week has been “Bi-Polar” here in the great northwest. It would be cold, raining and breezy and the next thing you know the sun would come out and the temperature would shoot up pretty much into the comfortable range. Wednesday ended up being a rainless day and I managed to grab some late afternoon miles at the Armstrong Tract of the Pilchuck Tree Farm north of Arlington.
The Pilchuck Tree Farm is a some hugh chunk of private land that is used for logging. The company/land owners have allowed trails and public recreation on their land for over 20 years. Of course patches of trail are going to go away from time to time as various segments gets logged over the years. Despite the obvious bummage of this, the up side is the place is ever changing.
One thing is for sure there is a bunch of miles out here. I got in about 18 miles of rolling and mostly buff singletrack during my afternoon visit and I know I missed a bunch of stuff. I had a very rudimentary map that was rather large scale which meant I was basically on my own. I love solo riding like this as the miles seem longer and I feel more in tune with my surroundings as you have to paint your own mental map of where you are at and how you are going to get back at some point.
I was digging the rolling terrain and the aburpt transitions as you go from the unattractive barreneque clearcuts into lush forest. While the trails were for the most part buff there were some sections that were rooty with plenty of logs across the trail. I got a really good skills workout in from the logs alone.
There were more trail junctions in this area than I can count. For the first part of the ride I took whatever option looked to go away from the trailhead. When the remainder of the day dictated it was time to turn back, I took every turn that I thought would delay my return. I did loops, backtracks and generally confused myself. This was one of my adventures were I actually used my GPS for something other than a simple data logger.
I ended up back at the trailhead with some daylight left, so I decided to check out what was supposed to be a somewhat short loop nearby. This loop was indeed short but it also ended up going through a low lying area that became more than a bit of a mucky mess. Getting through this area took much longer than I thought it would and the waning daylight inside the moss covered forest looked somewhere between surreal and spooky. By the time I got back to the trailhead, I could officially classify my day as extremely “efficient”. I doubt I had more than one minute of daylight left. Just the way I like it 🙂
