Palm Canyon Epic alternate climbing route from Vons

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Stkx66, Jan 17, 2022.


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  1. Stkx66

    Stkx66 iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Southern California
    Name:
    Steve
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Hightower 27+/ 29r
    This past Saturday I was approached by a rider looking to ride together at Vons but I told him I was waiting on a shuttle. We know how that went. I eventually intercepted the same rider at the top of Wildhorse. While I pushed and shoved my bike up the mountainside he had ridden his I'm guessing up the wash to the very end of Dunn Road or other trail? Does anybody know of an easier way to the tractor on Dunn Road without HAB switchbacks on Wildhorse? I wouldn't mind a long slow grind to get to the tractor.
    Thanks
     
  2. Sidewalk

    Sidewalk iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    The road is where I call home
    Name:
    Josh
    Current Bike:
    N+1
  3. Stkx66

    Stkx66 iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Southern California
    Name:
    Steve
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Hightower 27+/ 29r
    Cyclotourist, Mikie, Sidewalk and 3 others like this.
  4. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    The climbs from Vons that Sidewalk did are mostly variations of Goat Trails/Wildhorse climb or Dunn Road from the bottom up. I've ridden up Dunn the whole way to the tractor...never again. There are a number of very steep climbing sections on Dunn - similar to the fire road right above Vons, but longer. Plus you do a bunch of pavement riding to get to Dunn from Vons rather than being on dirt/singletrack with great views the whole way. And well, Dunn just plain sucks. I did a lot more pushing going up Dunn than I do on the Goats/Wildhorse climb. Despite the bit of hike a bike, I think Goats/Wildhorse is easier. YMMV. The only way to know is to try both ways yourself.

    I will say climbing the Goat Trails there are a bunch of switchback options that make the climb much more rideable that a lot of people miss. Definitely don't take fire road all the way to the high point near Wildhorse. Look for branches off the typical descending route on PCE that bypass steeper sections, they basically criss-cross the descent a number of times. Of course when you get to Wildhorse there's only one way up. But it's really only 2 steep sections with turns that are sometimes hike a bike. These are rideable depending on determination and trail conditions. I've cleaned all of them at some point. I've also seen a rider clean all of them on one ride with a few re-do's on a couple occasions.

    There is a way to cut from Goat Trails over to Dunn mid way up which might be a good compromise. This would avoid pavement over to Dunn, get some singletrack in, and avoid Wildhorse switchbacks. You need to get to the bottom of Murray Hill trail via Wildhorse, or using one of a few shortcut trails you can see on satellite. I don't know what these trails are like. I see switchbacks, so they could be steep but I think they'd be downhill into a canyon. On the link below switch the basemap to Google satellite and slide the pointer along the elevation profile for Murray. When you hit 1.30miles the location dot should be over a trail intersection. That is the trail that climbs up to Dunn. Singletrack climbing 200ft in 1/3 of a mile, then old road climbing 300ft in 3/4 mile to get to Dunn. I don't have Strava or GPS file for this. If you try it, you'll still get to experience part of the suck that is Dunn Rd.

    https://www.trailforks.com/trails/murray-hill/

    @Sidewalk, you owe us a ride report for the first linked ride. Can't be doing that sort of epic without one!
     
  5. Sidewalk

    Sidewalk iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    The road is where I call home
    Name:
    Josh
    Current Bike:
    N+1
    I'm not a good storyteller :Roflmao
     
  6. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    yeah... maybe.
    But you are hilarious on STRAVA.
    I always search for your Strava posts to see the crazy Sh!t you say next! :geek::laugh:
     
  7. mike

    mike iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Western US
    Name:
    Mike O
    Current Bike:
    HT, FS
    FWIW, the old road that heads NW off Dunn Rd near the top of the first main uphill is not obvious but not terrible travel, albeit devoid of signage. We screwed up getting back to Goat Trails and dropped into a neighborhood west of Cath City.
     
  8. Stkx66

    Stkx66 iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Southern California
    Name:
    Steve
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Hightower 27+/ 29r
    Dunn road was a grind and I did walk a lot of it. I could see now if there was a trail from Vons to the bottom of Dunn road that it would be more interesting. The win for me yesterday was finding parking at the police station where there are almost no homeless wandering about. Secondly, this past year I was unable to get on a shuttle with Crazy Bear so I was looking for a way to lock up my dual sport dirt bike without it being messed with. Heck I'd leave my Mtn. Bike chained to a post at the police station and work out logistics that way as an alternative now that I've been there and parked hassle free. Recently I went to Vons Cathedral Ctiy and got an Uber to the top. $ 74.00 bucks plus a healthy tip. Now I can consider the motorcycle option but that's a lot more involved.
    If I could get close to Joshua's fitness level a dream for me would be to duplicate his 49 mile birthday ride and that started at Vons and finished at Vons riding all of PCE. All the way up and all the way back.
     
  9. Faust29

    Faust29 Moderator

    Location:
    irgendwo
    Name:
    B. Bunny
    Current Bike:
    I gots some bikes.
    When mike and I did our "Two Arts" ride at night, we started at the Dennys and went straight through the neighborhood up to Dunn. Ending at Dennys was also a plus... That seems like a great place to start if you want an Art Johnson finish.

    I pushed my bike in a few spots, but didn't think it was bad overall. Of course, at night you can't see the climbs ahead... :laugh:
     
  10. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    You don't need that level of fitness to ride PCE from the bottom...not even close. I ride about half his speed. You just need good enough endurance to pull off a 50 mile / 8k ride. I don't even think it's a hard ride. PCE is pretty easy til you get to the sand wash. If you're not feeling that you can split off on Vandeventer to bottom of Hahn. Cindy's is another bailout. Try it! Just need a day with high 80s or less in Palm Springs. Start a couple hours before sunrise and you'll have perfect temps all day.
     
  11. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    Also. ..dual sport moto shuttle is the way to go. Get a 2x2 cycles carrier and you don't have to leave the MTB unattended at either end. I usually bring a cable lock for the helmet that also gets looped through rear wheel. Prefer to leave the truck at the end of the ride and ride moto to the start

    PXL_20220426_205247509.jpg
     
  12. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    I ride about half the speed you do and am down to do this at the end of May/early June if I can get some company for a 9pm departure from the Goat Trails.
     
  13. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    When's the full moon in that time period?
     
    Tom the Bomb likes this.
  14. DangerDirtyD

    DangerDirtyD iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    CA
    Name:
    Chicken Nugget
    Current Bike:
    2018 Guerrilla Gravity SMASH
    May 15 (Flower Moon) at 9:15pm and June 14 (Strawberry Moon) at 4:52am. I may be able to postpone closer to June 14, but not May 16.
     
    ~JB~ likes this.
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As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


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