Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

, , :.: w N W 0: > 0: 0: ti-------------..~ tools and some food. You 11 find plen ty of water. 5. Most of the trails are narrow and all are two way . This is no place for racing. 6. Please observe the USFS rules, especially when trails are temporarily closed. This is an incredibly beautiful riding area. Let 's not lose it by being c1utzy. Maps are h igh ly advisable up here. In addition to the excellent US FS map men tio ned ea rlier, AAA recre ation maps o r U.S. Geodetic Survey Topographic maps are very handy. Unfortunately, the topo maps are seldom up to date as far as roads and trails are concerned, but a little study o f the to po maps can save a lot of hassle on the trail. An exam ple is the trail nor th o ut of Ke nnedy to Mo nac he Mead o ws d iscussed above. Another is th e di ffic ult trail'(3 6E01) wh ich begins about one mile south of the Kennedy trail (35 EOl ) and parallels it on the east side of th e South Fork/Kern River. After six miles of tough riding, you co me to the crossing just below Dutch John Flat. The river is full of rapids here and most of the time th ey ' re nast y enough that I wouldn't attempt to cross them on foot. If you try this trail , it's virtually certain that you'll have to backtrack. On the other hand, during dry summers, this same: river is fordable in many places, especially in the Monache area. Monache is the largest meadow in the Sequoia National Fores t. It is very att ractive and easy to get to, if you start fro m Fish Creek Campground, Black Rock Station or Beach Meadows. It is also a favorite pl ayground for just abo u t everybody; bikers and hikers, four-wheelers and four-hoofers. If you go there and should want to go beyond, note that vehicle trails do not go past th e boundaries of the Seq uoia in to the Iny o National Fo rest. l\1onache is a neat place to stop for lunch . The water fro m the far north end of the meadow is usually drinkable (fewer co ws and people) as is that from the small feeder st reams . The main part of the rive r through the meadow has dozens of spots suitab le for swimming and some secluded sand bars for more social activities. If you indulge in the latter, however, keep an eye out for peeping fisherfolk and low -flying airplanes. Flying is more fun on two wheels, so here are three recommended loop trips, in order o f di fficul ty: A nice starter trip, especially if your gro up has a novice rider or two or one: with no woods experience. is to start at Fish Creek and go north along trail 35E13, past J ackass Meadows to intersect with 35E06 just below Jackass Peak. Turn left here and follow 35E06 west until it meets the asphalt road. T urn left again and fo llow the road six miles back to Fish Creek. Round trip, about 14 miles. Travel time, less than one hour, depending on how much sigh t seeing you do alo ng the way . The o n ly problem migh t b e the ro ad portion. If you have any obviously under 16 riders , the rangers may st o p y o u sin ce they are supposed to o bs erve the US FS rules, (o ne of which req uir es all mo to r vehicle opera to rs t o b e lic ensed) . In general, howe ver. th eir poli c y is mi nimum hassle . If you're cool, t hey 're cool. Another fun loop, so me what longer (28 mi les ) an d a little more di ffi cult, again starts a t Fish Creek and fo llo ws the ro ad to a poin t just n orth of Beach Meadows wh ere you pick up trail 34EOl. Th e nex t three mi les are m ostly be grad u al upslop e, and sho uld navigab le by trail bikes . but the rider sho uld ha ve so me rid ing ex perience. (The para llel trail, 3 4E02, is a bit tough er). Picking up 34 E21, th e next two miles in cludes so me tricky, rock y downhills leading into Casa Vieja Meadows. This trail, like all of them up here, can be ridden in either direction, but co ming up (ie , north to south) th is particular section is too much like some enduro bottleneck se ctions, ie , best avoided . ( Unless y ou 're a masoc hist ic, gung-ho trials rid er . . . Ed.} Every foot of trail up here is packed with scenic and nat ural wonders, so you'll probab ly be riding slow and doing lots of oohing and aahing, However, don't forget to program some time for gawking when you get to Casa Vieja Meadows. Next to Beach , this is one of the more beautiful meadows o n the Kern Plateau. In a gentle bowl of fragrant grasses and flowers, surro unded by smoky blue mo untains, and serenaded by sweet streams and my riad small creatures, it's easy to understand why some have referred to such meadows as the ':Jewels of the Sierras." Stop and live a little . You may want to talk to the ranger that lives here during the summer. You ca n't miss his place , the trail no rth ru ns w ithin 50 feet of his cabin. When you can tear yo urself away, I suggest you try the "jeep" road leading towards Monache. It 11 convince you that four-wheelers are crazier than bikers. (And more let hal ... Ed.) As yo u approach Mo nache you'll go through Bakeoven Mead o ws and ove r a sand dune so big, it looks like a soft mou n tain . Monache, as mentioned earlier, is a giant playground - so playa little - carefully. Leaving Monacbe, stay on the jeep road through Bull Meadow until you reach 35E02, then follow that trail until yo u pick up 351'.06. From here you ca n go either way on the first loop described above . I've saved the best, my favorite, trip for last. 'This is no ride for beginners ; I'd recommend having several endures under your kidney belt before tackling this one. Again. you can ride either wa y but, If you start at Beach Meadows, coun ter clockwise is the easiest direction. Two warnings: I. There is no way o ut of the Kern Canyon except by the trail you 're on - so don't break! 2. This is an all-day trip, so bring some food . You 'll find all the water you need. A small day-tripper style backpack is a good way to go_ We begin as in loop two above. Taking the trail n or th fro m Beach brings us L Casa Vieja Meadows and a possible o d ilemma. The short , sce nic and tough Beach How to get to the playground from practically anywhere Mdws ~y ~~ . ( F~ Creek \ / ~ K EN N ED Y Ii CAMPGROUND ',--..-, \ l N 1 To Bishop R33E - 1-T 19S ... Trails in Kennedy/Beach/Monache Meadows area open to riding (tra il numbers are keyed to USFS map of the Sequoia Forest .) (the red dots on the USFS map say "rough trail" and they mean it!) trail 34E19 down Nine-Mile Canyon may be temporarily closed to allow the trail to recover. (But then, if you had stopped at Black Ro ck Statio n on your way in, you'd know that. wo uld n't you?) If it is closed yo ur o nly reco urse is 34E I7 north and 34E 18 back so uth to J ord an Hot Spri ngs. Note that th is adds at least seven miles to a trip already 42 miles long. Your bike should be able to go at least 50 miles under the wo rst co nd it io ns to attempt this trail. Assu ming that 34E 19 is o pe n, we clunk down two mi les of rock stairs and small, dry water fa lls until we reach Jordan Hot Springs. This is one of those sections which makes going in the other direction su ch a bum trip. Jordan Hot Springs are neat! They are warm, not hot, and don't stink of hydrogen sulfide. Somewhere between here and Soda Flat, you'll pass the remains of a light plane that crashed here many years ago. Flying is more fun on two w heels. Just past Soda Flats, you'll pick up 331'.20, yo ur companion for tbe next six miles. Also , for four of those miles, you'll travel with the migh ty Kern itself. It's an impressive river along here. Deep and fast, with many rapids, it has a sub-sonic aura th a t clearly says "power. .. I t is not crossable except by a To N ine M ile CanVon Rd. & Hwy. 395 footbridge just north of Ke rn Flat. Note that the trails on the west side of the river do no t close with those from further west. Don't get caugh t with your deadend showing. From here to Beach Meadow are many mi les of beau tifully scenic trail . replete with reall y challenging switchbacks. a few logs to lift y o ur bikes over, and dozens of watercrossings from one to 20 inches deep. Some of the latter are sneaky. One of them almost claimed my Alp ina. After th e initial battle, I was up to m y waist in water and the Alpina had disappeared except for the left handgrip - which I gripped frantically while clutching a rock with my free hand to keep from losing co m p let ely to the current. After my buddies dragged us both out. the next half hour was spent wringing leathers, pumping out crankcases, dryi ng the carburetor and swearing co lorfully . A fresh pl ug go t me going easily, but those boots and lea th er s now weighed at least 600 pounds. All this, incidentally , was in a dry year. You'd need the hand of Mo ses in a wet year. The Sequoia National Forest cannot be beaten for recreation and trail riding high adventure. The USFS personnel are friend ly, helpful, and d irectly reflect the courtesy tha t yo u show them. Se e y o u • in the mo untains. .... 43

• Cover