A few of the gnarlier Chupacabras ventured out for (what was thought to be) a 4 hour trek through the Cleveland National Forest on Saturday. Here's the e-mail from Valentino Bandito describing the ride...
Chupacabras,
The Trabuco trail – Bell ridge trail experience was epic. It ended up over 4,500 of climbing, half of it with our bikes on our back, it gave a new meaning to hike-a-bike.
CSB (can’t see bottom) was unreal, see photo attached. I took the picture from the bottom of the abyss looking up. You can just make out Todd and Lonnie at the top trying to navigate down this cliff. Next time I do this drop, it will be with a parachute, full helmet and body armor – perhaps then I can clean it. Believe me CSB is actually a lot steeper and longer then in the picture, must lose some dimension of depth (straight down) in a 2D picture. By far the nastiest and longest drop I have ever been down.
The rest of the trail was very rideable, scenic and just flat out fun. Very remote trail, spectacular views of everything. At one point we could see Catalina Island in one direction and Lake Elsinore in the other. Felt like we were on the edge of the world. We never saw another person once we hit the Los Pinos trailhead at the top of Trabuco trailhead on main divide.
As documented on Geoladders, the Bell Ridge trail is loose, steep and nasty in spots. Fortunately none of us donated any DNA that day, but we all experienced cramping at one point in the ride, probably due to dehydration.
The 4 hour ride actually turned into 7.5 hours (we took lot’s of rest stops). We ran out of water in the end and made it as far as the Rose Cantina Bar & Grill off Plano Trabuco road. We parked our bikes, got some recovery aide (water, beer, & nachos) and called it a day.
What an outstanding day, truly an epic adventure!
Stay tuned for the next one we need to do – Santa Ana Trail.
v.bandito
Way to go Bandito. We're looking forward to the Santa Ana Trail.
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