Bikepacking in SoCal

mike

mike

iMTB Hooligan
My buddy is a total spendthrift with his time off. He won't drive to world-class destinations out of state to go bikepacking, or even three hours for a classic day ride. (Believe that, Mikie?) But I think I got him with this idea...

I'm working out a Southern California route that includes Idyllwild, Palm Canyon, Pioneerville, SART, and Santa Anas. Under 300 miles, Hemet to Trabuco Canyon. My thinking is, with frequent re-supply options and spring/fall temps, the bike/load should stay pretty light for trail fun. Bagging Idy/Hurkey, Ramona, Sawmill, PCE, SART and Joplin in one ride sounds just too ridiculous to not do 8-) I've got it down to ~17% road.

There is a wealth of broad SoCal knowledge on this board — thanks in advance for your input to a few areas I'm a little murky on, or areas I think I know. I'll post more later...
 
I have a mild interest in bikepacking . Maybe something like an overnighter. Ride in...camp...ride back out the next day.
 
Look at rancho cuyamaca state park, Noble Canyon, Laguna Lake area.
Big Bear area Horse Camp on Wildhorse Trail excellent place to overnight and has water.
Big routes in the San Gabriel's.
Take a look and Brendan's, from the Hub bike shop, Stagecouch route for ideas.

Water is always the largest concern when planning a route.

Dean
 
Thanks for that input, Dean. As much as I wanted to include Noble and the Gabes, I didn't. Reason being, that I'm trying to keep the route sort of small and manageable to make it attractive to my friend and others, and trying to make it more of a cool weather affair. In some ways it makes sense to end it after PCE or at Angeles Oaks or Redlands. And I'd be lying to say I don't care if it ends in my neighborhood or not. That's part of the logistical simplicity of the route. Trimming the logistics is what will make this route work for my bro, and maybe for others. That's my MO here; an everyman's route with ample reprieves and conveniences between classic trails.

Roger on the waters. Another benefit of it being a spring-centric route; less consumption and more ground water options, a Steripen will be worth bringing. I'd rather bring extra clothes than extra water. Other than that, the route is loaded with re-supply and water options. It might be worth caching some in the desert, depending.


RS, one thing I've found through decades of grade 6 climbs and bikepacking, it's actually far more work per foot or mile to bivy once. You have to bring pretty much the same gear for one night as you do ten. The only diff is food and possibly water on board. But definitely, if dabbling and working out systems, one night stands are a great shakedown. I hope you get summadat.
 
I'd love to hear more about this as the plan progresses... I'd love to try something like this in the future.
 
Faust29 said:
I'd love to hear more about this as the plan progresses... I'd love to try something like this in the future.
Click to expand...

Best place to start planning gear and bike setups is here. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bikepacking.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bikepacking.net/</a>
 
Earlier this year, I provided some route beta to a guy from Germany who wanted to bikepack in Socal:

This is the route he ended up using:

Landed in LAX and rode his mountain bike along the coast (using the beach bike paths) until he got to Newport Beach.

At Newport Beach, he got on the SART bike path and rode it till he got to Greenriver.

He then went under the 91 and climbed all the way up to Main Divide via Coal Canyon.

After Santiago Peak, he came down Holy Jim. He climbed back up to Main Divide and descended the Santa Anas on the other side to Temecula.

He then rode from Temecula to Thomas Mountain and continued to Idyllwild through Hurkey Creek/May Valley Road. After riding around Idyllwild, he turned around and headed towards the Palm Canyon Trail and rode that to Palm Springs. From Palm Springs, he crossed the valley and biked up to Joshua Tree NP. From there, he headed west and climbed the backside of the San Bernardinos go get to Big Bear. From Big Bear, he rode his bike to the El Cajon pass and then continued towards the Devils Punchbowl. From there, he headed towards Tehachapi and then crossed the mountains towards Santa Barbara down Tunnels trail. He then rode his bike all the way up to Santa Maria.

At that point he got tired to SoCal and caught a plane to South America. He then rode his bike from Colombia all the way to Argentina.
 
Hey, osmar, thanks for that run down. I did follow along with that discussion on MTBR. Nice tour...

For sure, if you got the time, there's riding to do. I'm challenged on this ride to create something easy for a reluctant working dad to do.

Cheers 8-)
 
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