Mystery trail

mtnbikej said:
Some members of my mtn bike club, got lost on the trail a long time ago....ended up spending the night on the trail.

From what I understand once you get down into the creek....the trail gets really difficult to find and follow. Then the HAB up to the crosses, horrendous. Doesn't sound fun.
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that is just sad
 
Dirtrider.... said:
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Ridge lines are interesting. There is a long one on Millennium to Grasslands connector. It can get steep and you normally get scratched. I saw p0les place every so, that means there is a buried cable and you are following the cable guy. I watched, after getting scratched for 15 minutes I would have followed the high tension line road down the rest of the way and allow shredders to clear the rest of the brush. I tend to scratch my arms and they will bleed so after awhile I lose my interest and find an escape
 
Ocpop said:
There is some traffic on it, so it’s been done. Anyone here ever ride it? Although I’m pretty sure I’ll never do it.
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I've done both Smashface and B&G, years ago.

Smashface was...interesting. Fun cruise along the ridgetop. Then it starts to get steep. Then it gets really STEEEEEEEP. Imagine a trail so steep you can't slow down, and then add loose gravel, scree and ruts. If you've ridden Bell Ridge it is steeper than Can't See Bottom, and probably 6-8 times longer. One or two in our group came close to cleaning it. You have to really like the steeps to enjoy the ride. I hiked a lot of that final steep section. We had Winston and Maxwell as guides so there was no issue picking up the trail from the creek bed. I do remember it was very brushy and lots of PO in the creek bed. Winston went ahead on the HAB and was covered in ticks. After the HAB the descent to the store wasn't as steep or as memorable but did have it's moments.

B&G was part of one years Push a Kona route. We were hitting it late afternoon so the light was incredible. It's just a ridden in line that goes straight down a fire break. Again parts up top were nice, then it goes into some sustained steep pitches, straight down a rut in the fire break. When you get down to a meadow lower down the trail stops being a trail and becomes a route. You can't even hike down it, it's just a slide-fest straight down into a PO-infested creek bottom with a path somewhat carved out. The PO was really bad.

Honestly I've never had the urge to go back and ride either of these. I'll post a few pics if I can find them.

Hiking up from the bottom might be a good way to check them out. Bring loppers if you do and help with some trimming!
 
Dirtrider.... said:
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Awesome video, thanks for posting. Top section along the ridge line looks amazing, followed by the middle segment sh!t show.


Faust29 said:
@Ocpop - Smashface has 24 Strava entries for 2020... You could always reach out to a few of them and see what the current conditions are.
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I have no interest in riding the entire segment. I’m definitely interested in running at least parts of it though.
 
Ocpop said:
Where is Bell Ridge ?
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Bell Ridge drops from Main Divide to Robinson Ranch. It’s Joplin’s bigger nastier cousin. You can see it from the Cadillac junction on STT. If you have really good eyes, you can see the flag at the bottom portion of Bell...

Ding Dong is right there, too..

The flag is popular with the trail running crowd, starting from the bottom. There are a couple ways to get to it.

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Its interesting this thread popped up... one of the guys who got lost in the WS story posted above actually invited me to ride Smashface with him and a few others after i mentioned his story was posted here. he made the trail sound not that bad except for the steep scree field and the HAB to connect to the lower portion at the bottom. he said it is harder than Joplin.

watching the video posted above makes this trail seem easier than Joplin if you keep speed in check. Those boulders fields on Joplin having me HAB... Smashface seems like you can just snowboard the scree section and its all good from there... lol

What could possibly go wrong on a slacked out hardtail??!! Why did i sell the Ripmo soo soon. lol
 
Dirtrider.... said:
watching the video posted above makes this trail seem easier than Joplin if you keep speed in check. Those boulders fields on Joplin having me HAB... Smashface seems like you can just snowboard the scree section and its all good from there... lol

What could possibly go wrong on a slacked out hardtail??!! Why did i sell the Ripmo soo soon. lol
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Joplin is neither steep nor very difficult, aside from a couple of spots. That scree field on Smashface is a lot steeper than it looks in the vid, and a LOT steeper than anything on Joplin. Trust me. I walked (slid/crabcrawled) down most of it, and while I don't mind hike a bike I hate having to HAB downhill and something has to be really extreme before I throw in the towel. The approach to the steep part could be harder than anything on Joplin as well, there are a number of rutted chutes you have to commit and drop into.

I'd normally suggest you try a few other trails before you try Smashface - Bell, Los Pinos, Yaeger, Coldwater, East Horsethief. If you like those and do well, then go check out Smashface. Unfortunately those other trails are all closed right now. About the closest I can think of is Ding dong. But go ahead and try Smashface if you want to and have a guide and a good attitude. Worst case you'll have to hike/slide down a lot of it.
 
evdog said:
Joplin is neither steep nor very difficult, aside from a couple of spots. That scree field on Smashface is a lot steeper than it looks in the vid, and a LOT steeper than anything on Joplin. Trust me. I walked (slid/crabcrawled) down most of it, and while I don't mind hike a bike I hate having to HAB downhill and something has to be really extreme before I throw in the towel. The approach to the steep part could be harder than anything on Joplin as well, there are a number of rutted chutes you have to commit and drop into.

I'd normally suggest you try a few other trails before you try Smashface - Bell, Los Pinos, Yaeger, Coldwater, East Horsethief. If you like those and do well, then go check out Smashface. Unfortunately those other trails are all closed right now. About the closest I can think of is Ding dong. But go ahead and try Smashface if you want to and have a guide and a good attitude. Worst case you'll have to hike/slide down a lot of it.
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Paging @mike
 
Dirtrider.... said:
Its interesting this thread popped up... one of the guys who got lost in the WS story posted above actually invited me to ride Smashface with him and a few others after i mentioned his story was posted here. he made the trail sound not that bad except for the steep scree field and the HAB to connect to the lower portion at the bottom. he said it is harder than Joplin.

watching the video posted above makes this trail seem easier than Joplin if you keep speed in check. Those boulders fields on Joplin having me HAB... Smashface seems like you can just snowboard the scree section and its all good from there... lol

What could possibly go wrong on a slacked out hardtail??!! Why did i sell the Ripmo soo soon. lol
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I don’t think that it is fair to compare to Joplin. They are two very different trails. Joplin is in canyon bottom and the boulder sections are only short walkable sections. Joplin is only a few miles. Smash face is long ridge with brutal HAB in bottom
I think Bell or Los Pinos are more similar (without the ridiculous up and downs).
With all due respect to whoever shot the vid above, it’s almost unwatchable for me. The camera angle is pointed too low and doesn’t capture the big picture.
This trail is a lot of work and long. I remember difficulty walking down sections that were steep & loose all the while slipping & getting whacked by the brush. If we were not with someone who had ridden it before, we would have likely missed the hike up out of the creek. It was nice to cross it off my list but wasn’t pleasurable and I like backcountry trail.
 
evdog said:
Joplin is neither steep nor very difficult, aside from a couple of spots. That scree field on Smashface is a lot steeper than it looks in the vid, and a LOT steeper than anything on Joplin. Trust me. I walked (slid/crabcrawled) down most of it, and while I don't mind hike a bike I hate having to HAB downhill and something has to be really extreme before I throw in the towel. The approach to the steep part could be harder than anything on Joplin as well, there are a number of rutted chutes you have to commit and drop into.

I'd normally suggest you try a few other trails before you try Smashface - Bell, Los Pinos, Yaeger, Coldwater, East Horsethief. If you like those and do well, then go check out Smashface. Unfortunately those other trails are all closed right now. About the closest I can think of is Ding dong. But go ahead and try Smashface if you want to and have a guide and a good attitude. Worst case you'll have to hike/slide down a lot of it.
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You had me up until the Ding Dong part... I've been down it a few times, but never thought it was really techy. I think of it as a notch or two above the Luge. When I rode it with @mike , he called it a flow trail... :Roflmao
 
I’m definitely running Bell Ridge. When you guys ride it, do you ride up from the bottom or do you ride up to Main Divide and drop down?
 
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Grego said:
Stop talking about this. I'm getting more and more intrigued.
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Ocpop said:
I’m definitely running Bell View. When you guys ride it, do you ride up from the bottom or do you ride up to Main Divide and drop down?
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Put it on the calendar for October 2021... :thumbsup:

The trail runners that I see run up from Robinson Ranch, but only go as far as the flag. You can park right on the street at the trailhead. Technically, the flag was about 1/4 mile inside the fire closure. I haven't looked at the updated map to see if it's still included or not. There are a few really steep parts before the flag, but higher up it gets stupid steep in spots... Like crawl on your hands and knees steep. I don't know anyone who has gone up it. Even coming down there are several uphill HABs that are 40+%. I've only done it once, but we went up Trabuco, out to Pinos, and then down Bell and Ding Dong, ending in the Trabuco wash near the model airplanes.

Interestingly... Bell Ridge runs right into Bell View in Robinson Ranch, and can be ridden all the way to Caspers... I once found an old state map that listed it all as one 17 mile trail from Main Divide to Caspers.
 
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Faust29 said:
You had me up until the Ding Dong part... I've been down it a few times, but never thought it was really techy. I think of it as a notch or two above the Luge. When I rode it with @mike , he called it a flow trail... :Roflmao
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I've only ridden Ding Dong a couple times, many years ago. I seem to recall it was too steep in a few places for me to ride, ball bearings over hardpack DG, with some turns. Possibly rutted. Not necessarily technical, just steep given the conditions. It's the only other trail I can think of in that area that I had get-offs due to steepness.

Smashface as I recall isn't technical on that steeep section, just steep and loose with a few turns.
 
I rode Smashface once about 10 years ago. I got kinda lost down in the bottom of the canyon and picked up some nasty poison oak. And if that wasn't bad enough, weeks later I got poison oak AGAIN in the exact same spot. The oak was so strong that it didn't come off my jersey in the wash! I threw it away in disgust and vowed never to "ride" that trail again.
 
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