The second day of our trip found us a short distance away from Sycamore Rim Trail. If that name sounds familiar its either because you ride too much at Sycamore in Poway or because you read about it a few months ago:

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Sean and Brent liked this trail enough that it warranted another visit. This time, there would not be a daylight constraint so we would be able to include a bit of trail they missed the last time.

Trailhead was literally a minute from the campsite


Trailhead - this is a short loop, but not an easy loop


When I saw the canyon...I was thinking, is this it???


Nice big trees at the site of an old sawmill


History abounds...


A veritable paradise!


Some sweet singletrack


A bit of water here and there made for some nice scenery


Scraggly old trees


And the canyon gets wider and deeper the further we go




Deceptively smooth singletrack


I say that because everytime you'd come around a corner the trail would get all rocky on us




Views get better and better


With a few overlooks (and opportunities for rock-chucking)


Another break from the gnar




While I like the technical stuff in a way its a shame this trail gets so rough, because a lot of people wouldn't like it for that reason. Otherwise, it would be a pretty mellow ride without a lot of climbing. How novel!


More view


More rock


One of the only (short) descents


This section led down to the dried up waterfall, AKA rock-huck central.


This was to be one of the highlights of the ride, and when we got there we could already see there was a group of hikers on the edge. Brent was lobbing the first rock as I got there, but instead of a loud splash followed by an echo reverberating off the canyon walls we heard, "Don't throw rocks, there are people down there!" Oops. What kind of moron would go down below a ledge that is next to a trail where people are obviously going to have an irresistable urge to throw rocks over the edge? Oh wait, hippie rockclimbers would.

But no one was in sight directly below us, so I walked around the edge to see if there really was anyone down there. There wasn't. 200ft away down the canyon there was a rope with a couple hairballs climbing down, and 2 more on top of the edge of the canyon. No longer feeling bad about the first rock and not intending to come all this way without "getting some," I picked up a nice flat rock for maximum splash and lobbed it frisbee-style over the edge. Smack! Splash! "HEY Dont throw rocks there's people down there!" "No there isn't". "You F*ing a**holes, there's people down there!" "We looked, there's no one down there!" [except your mom! ] "Don't throw rocks, there are people down there".

We weren't sure what their problem really was except maybe just to discourage rock-throwing in general, and any other kind of fun like the wet blankets these sierra clubbers are. We could have egged them on with "your mom" jokes and more rocks but we had better things to do, like bike riding...

We continue on a bit of fun stuff


Before getting back into the super-gnar


The entrance above was nearly impossible but this corner was rideable




Down to the "tanks", natural depressions that store water


The canyon was getting shallower again


And soon we were back up on the flats


Only KA hill remained, which we soon learned stands for Kick-your-Ass Hill.


That's not a smile, its a grimace as Brent reaches the top.


Thankfully it was all downhill from here


And then a quick lunch and off to Mt Eldon for some laps....Aspens starting to go off


In usual style we arrived late and only had time for one run. But it was a fun run...

Before...


& After...


This was a rickety jump over new deadfall.


Sean tried a dry run but the bridge flipped over when he slowed down.


Aside from that, lots of fun do-able hits on this trail


Perfect run in & landing


I don't even know the name of that upper trail. Sean was nice enough to ride back up for the RV while the rest of us continued down to the road. I guess this next one is called Lamar Haines from the sign, but who cares...



Another cool log cabin, partially collapsed


And this was apparently a storage building, but looked more like a bunker to me


Incoming!


We made it down right at dusk and then drove up the fire road we exited onto to find a camping spot for the night.


Fun trails... Sycamore is definitely one of the hardest flat trails I've ever done. If you want to improve your technical/rock garden skills (especially without the added complication of gravity) this is definitely where you want to be. This first trail for me on Mt Eldon was definitely a sign of good things to come. Now only if it werent so frickin cold up there!

Sweet. I wanna go there someday.

This is one of my favorite xc trails, because it's pretty much rides like a flat all-mountain trail. Think Stairway to Hell being level and you start to get the picture. You constantly have keep your momentum going to get through the rock gardens while avoiding pedal strikes.

I took the map for Sycamore with me to Flag last weekend, but ended up riding Mt Elden area instead. Had commitments with wife & daughter at NAU. Saturday weather was beautiful. Hoped to ride at Sedona again Sunday, especially since it poured cold rain that morning in Flag, but it didn't work out. Went to Sedona with family, and the weather was much better there, but bagged the ride since I didn't want to be too selfish...but I did scout out some trailheads for next time. Last time at Mt Elden I rode a loop way too hard for me, and too easy this time. Hoping for just right next visit!

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin

Sounds like we just missed you. Saturday was nice for us, but we got rained on Sunday on Elden. I really liked those trails...tons of variety. Next time, I definitely want to focus on Eldon. Sedona is another trip. Hopefully this fall yet, but we'll see.

Saturday morning, getting ready for the ride. I love the camping out here, no neighbors and plenty of open space.



Damn tourists, always whipping out there cameras.






Brent doing what he likes to do best


Hey, cut that s#@t out!


Hey, F you!


Moonscape




On to Mt. Eldon

Aspen corner








Nice way to end the day.

Evdog on skinny log ride





Hip



And sending it on this log jump

Nice report, but seriously, if someone below is asking you not to throw rocks, then you probably shouldn't throw rocks. See this link about a climber killed when a guy threw a rock. He looked over and didn't see anyone either.

http://www.trib.com/news/top_story/arti ... 39696.html

I think you had to be there to understand the situation. There was no one "below" us. We would never put anyone in any danger.

Is there any thing set up to vote for best tread report of the year?

I feel it would motivate people to not only do more trips put more in to the write ups.

This one would get my vote!!!

looks like good trail

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