@buggravy reached out the other day about riding the newly reopened section of Backbone Trail: Kanan to Corral Cyn. We had talked about riding it when it reopened the last time we rode another section of the trail system. So this morning, fairly early, we met up at the T-1 parking lot. I arrived a bit early so I dropped in a short way on the West side of Kanan Road for a little warm up. Right away, I knew it was gonna be tough for me today. My legs were super tight. But I was very much so looking forward to hitting what I think is the best three sections of the trail system.
The ride heading East is taxing right from the start with a baby monster climb to get up and over Kanan Road. From there on it was becoming clear that the ride I used to know well had changed, mostly due to the loss of dense brush and oak trees, thanks the fire. The trail itself was loose, clearly just reopened. It needs a bit of light rain and lots of foot and bike well traffic to wear it in again. And, it will happen, I'm sure.
It's Moon Dust season on the Backbone trail so be prepared to get dirty, especially if you are behind another rider. I led much of the way and Matt wisely stay back in an effort to allow the fine dust to settle. But on the way back, we had a bit of a cluster fvck with the other riders so I was in the middle of that and I "got dusted" fairly well.
We made it to Latigo Canyon Road before the heat set in but we could feel it coming. So we took a quick breather and then carried on. The baby monster climb on this section before the saddle, heading East was totally doable. There has been an almost complete trail reroute along side of the old one on this climb so you are not in the wash-out for the upper portion. That was nice to see and long overdue, IMO. We both cleaned that climb and then carried on to the saddle.
The drop down from the saddle heading East is also loose. Much of the sandstone/slickrock stuff has a layer of dust on it which made the descent a little treacherous. The area through the creek bed at the bottom of that was fun though. It's roughed up quite a bit from the rainy season. The rock garden sections and creek bed crossings are a bit more raw now. The ride from there to the Corral Canyon parking lot is mainly unchanged.
We rested up for a bit after we arrived. That's when the other groups of riders started arriving. We also saw a few more hikers, one of them an 83 year old gal. That was cool to see.
When I got back on my bike to start heading back, I was all stiffened up. The ride back was tough and it usually is because this is a demanding ride but it's a really good one.
I have not uploaded the Garmin yet but I believe that it said something like 12.7 miles, 2346', and over 1000 calories.
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There has been heavy vehicle traffic on Harding in the last few weeks, so Harding is back to being a truck trail. It is still in pretty good shape though - no loose sections to speak of and the trucks just kinda crunched down the encroaching weeds without leaving the trail and doing anything more dramatic. Oh... and the flies are out in force, even early in the morning. 18.4 miles, 3400 feet.
We rolled onto Maple Springs at 5:30, when the temps were still low 50s. It actually felt a little chilly as we rolled into the windy canyon. 
Off the mountain and packed up by 9:10. 
