Chilly night, ended up double down blanket night.

Today i am going to ride the trails below snow level from 1 edge of ski area to the other and a little extra. Rider @ brewery the other night laid out a ride. Drove down @ parked intown parking lot. Found trail & I immediately recalled Brian’s evaluation of trails here as a C-. Pumice w/ duff added into energy sucking tread. Practice for Bachelor. The ski area is huge w/ chair count to support. Made a mistake and dropped down too early riding this really loose stuff. The trail had a deep center rut and peppered w/ loose volcanic rock. Junk. I recovered by riding back up another trail and figured out the ride. Well designed & built trails when they stay out of fall line. Big firs. Pumice is rock filled w/ air bubbles. Upon enough force they crumble which sucks forward direction. The trail gradient was below 10%. Design of ride was to make big climb @ start and then the rest would be a descending traverse w/ short climbs mixed in. Trail up high was in big firs. I finally emerged in treeless high desert. One day was enough. A race would be incredibly dusty.

view:

Grocery shopped then returned to camp spot.

Cloudless till just afternoon and then clouded as if to rain. Today breaks a string of 21 days of rain falling here. Still was knee warmers and light  long under wear top ride.

Tomorrow I will drive up to Tahoe.

IMBA epics: no guarantee that they are repeatable in that they weren’t permanently marked, had sustaining permission, or are being maintained today. Virginia City is the next epic to ride.

Heater evening @ 8200′.

Quiet night and chilly. Turned on heater in AM.

Today i ride w/ Mark down Rock creek trail that he initiated the repair of. Originally built by the CCC it had fallen into neglect. It drops down a narrow steep sided canyon switching sides of fast flowing Rock Creek. Old rt 395 used the canyon to climb out of the desert up to mammoth and beyond. We shuttled.

Mark is a walking history book. He showed us a car graveyard where cars lay smashed from a drastic plunge from highway above. There is a steam boiler in the creek that was destined to Mammoth to power some gold mining equipment. The ride was only 7.92 miles but took 4 hours as we stopped frequently and Mark shared his knowledge of a feature. We stopped for a lunch break and I spied I say a canine animal, Mark says a feline across the creek laying out on a rock. And adolescents appeared. Mark counted 3. She was not concerned by us. Each of us scrambled along the large chunks of rock to get within maybe 60′.  Huge old growth P-pine, the largest I have ever seen.

At the trail end is an old CCC camp that was converted into a resort which assured the upkeep of the small barracks type buildings.

Mark is discovering and following old wagon roads in the canyon. We drove part way out of canyon and then turned off on a side road and walked down into desert search for grooves carved in the soft rock by the iron rimmed wagons. We found the old wagon road and several places of grooves in the under laying soft rock. We found old metal cans. They were welded. They were filled from a hole in an end of the can and then welded shut, Mark speculated they were filled w/ condensed milk.

The weather @ Mammoth was suspect for rain and our trip needed to be planned around possible mountain rains. Rock Creek is about 20 miles down canyon from Mammoth. We enjoyed warmer temps & now rain. As i drove back up into mountains the temp dropped @ rain fell.

Bought a shower @ XG.

Drove out to site where I stayed last night. In the morning I laid out my green carpet and folding chair to designate I was camping there. Somebody took them but nobody was camped in my spot. Phoey, need to buy new chair.

40 degrees outside.

I’m tired. Last night I didn’t sleep well as I seemed to be fighting for my breath @ 8000′

Date line: Sedona, AZ

Hunkered down in van on bluff listening to persistent rain pelt the roof. Occasional flashes of lightning brighten the alpenglow sunset. Thunder rattles over American Roots show on XM NPR. Jack Kerouac. On the Road 1 of 3 greatest American fiction books, Tom Sawyer, & Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Slept in enjoyably so. Looking forward to riding Black canyon w/ new bike set up. Sprinkled a bit during bfast. Hoping that further South the rain quit and trails are drying out. 50  miles South down I-17. As I got closer there was standing h2o in the rubble groves. Bad sign. Concern about h2o is that it makes the clay sticky.

Made TH, 3 rigs only. Took off. New handle bar & stem raise my hands to just above seat level and way wide. Sit more upright. Pedaled off w/ anticipation. Bike rides so much differently. Les always asks me if I am still having fun. Previously my rides were not all that enjoyable. In the 3 1/2 hours in 85 degree desert sun no shade 2819′ vert climb out & back ride I was all about smiles & happiness. I finished w/ energy to spare and I pedaled almost everything. I rode a river rock boulder field pedaling over or around round rocks to river shore. I have snap under my legs for short bursts of power to climb something. I am having fun riding now. High heart rate and lungs appear to be keeping up. Lowered seat was trick.

Only saw 3 riders on 21 mile ride. Well built narrow technical ST, some places of great exposure on rocky narrow trail. No shade as in Sedona. Saguaro cactus.

Found KOA nearby for $5.00 shower and then drive back to Sedona. Black canyon is @ 2200′, Sedona is 4000′. Outskirts on Sedona caught tail end of rain squall. Stopped @ Bike & Bean to fill Gonzo on ride. Thunderstorm moved in, ran back to van getting wet.

Drove back to place I have been camping. Stuff still @ empty site. Thunderstorm moved S of town and on drive out I saw cloud to cloud lightning. At campsite the clouds let loose another storm and more rain to 8:30 PM. Finally quit. Lots of rain has fallen. Bike shop rented bikes today and they commented that they are cleaner than they thought possible w/ rain.

Mtn Bike Heaven shop ride Sunday @ 8:00AM and I am there.

Brushed against several cactus on ride, drew blood in several places on legs & arms. Have like a nettle itch on my left arm from an unknown cacti.