[Bikinfoolferlife]

at Skeggs (El Corte de Madera), the gates are closed on Giant Salamander/Methuselah/South Leaf....yet the trails today were in great shape, not muddy and minimal deadfall. Dang, was hoping they'd keep them open a bit longer with the weather we've had...

 

[d-bug]

grrrr, trail closures suck
Anyone know if the trails at Saratoga Gap are closed yet? The area down by Peter's Creek or whatever the [email protected] it's called. It should probably be called "The best single track at Satatoga Gap only open 6 months of the year"

-Dan

 

[Quasi]

grrrr, trail closures suck
Anyone know if the trails at Saratoga Gap are closed yet? The area down by Peter's Creek or whatever the [email protected] it's called. It should probably be called "The best single track at Satatoga Gap only open 6 months of the year"

-Dan

Apparently Peters Creek and Long Ridge trail are closed.

 

[geoffss]

i call it

"the only reason to ride at Saratoga Gap" open 6 months a year.

 

[HarryCallahan]

they could re-open

I'm don't know about Skeggs, but I think sometimes they re-open those sections off Long Ridge if it dries out enough, as in we don't get any more storms for a while.

 

[Francis Cebedo]

Toyon trail (both sections) at Fremont Older trail is closed too. Soo sad since this is the best trail in the park. There's never any hikers there too.

The trails are in absolutely perfect shape too. I don't think I've ever seen this reopened before March regardless of the weather.

francois

 

[Yet]

Less trail = less work for MROSD

I get the impression at times that they close trail so that they have less trail to monitor, and oft open trails that should not be because everything else is open, such as Skid Road in Monte Bello (also currently closed)

 

[Portola Vince]

MP's

I get the impression at times that they close trail so that they have less trail to monitor, and oft open trails that should not be because everything else is open, such as Skid Road in Monte Bello (also currently closed)

Maybe they have to monitor them more closely if they are closed. It means more work for them not less. If a trail is usually open then they only have to do what they have been doing lately and come by sometime after dusk to make sure no one is poaching after dark. If the same trail is closed all winter they have to monitor that trail during the day as well since any use at all is poaching.

 

[RobsterCraw]

I shuttled skeggs a few times last week, started on resolution, rode down through southleaf. Apperantly the ranger told the girl that was shuttling us that south leaf was closed while she was waiting to pick us up. Apperantly the ranger was cool about it, maybe becasue he was talking to the girl not me but on the trail there was no indication of the trails being closed. Is some jerk cutting locks up there? Won't be going to skeggs for a while.

 

[Yet]

I shuttled skeggs a few times last week, started on resolution, rode down through southleaf. Apperantly the ranger told the girl that was shuttling us that south leaf was closed while she was waiting to pick us up. Apperantly the ranger was cool about it, maybe becasue he was talking to the girl not me but on the trail there was no indication of the trails being closed. Is some jerk cutting locks up there? Won't be going to skeggs for a while.

I think it is the woman ranger who writes the most tickets. Say "Hi" to her for me. (I think she likes me, she gave me a big break last time). Last year they had a "Closed" trap in Long Ridge Between Portola Heights Road and The Grizzly flat trail heads. At Portola Valley the gate was open, the ranger was in Peters creek writing tickets to victims.

 

[derek]

I think it is the woman ranger who writes the most tickets. Say "Hi" to her for me. (I think she likes me, she gave me a big break last time). Last year they had a "Closed" trap in Long Ridge Between Portola Heights Road and The Grizzly flat trail heads. At Portola Valley the gate was open, the ranger was in Peters creek writing tickets to victims.

Portola Heights road was where the closed sign was yesterday. I was going south through the XMAS tree farm, but just jumped out to Skyline and road to the Grizzly flat trailhead.

The conditions up top of Black Mountain and Borel Hill were spectacular yesterday, a bit windy so there were almost no hikers. The trails were super tacky, although the top of Alpine Rd. and the trail through Coal Creek were a bit sloppy.

The XMAS tree farm was quite entertaining with all the people out there, my favorite was the 12 year old with a battery-powered reciprocating saw to cut down the tree. Is it too difficult to use a real saw to cut down a 4" tree?

-Derek

 

[Fast Eddy]

Lol

Henry Coe was spectacular for the 2-5 shift. Grippy dirt, 60f, no wind, no trail closures, no speed limits, no rangers. I went back and fourth with a group of 3 other riders on the way out of China Hole.

 

[carcasshucker]

China Camp was nice too ! took my better half out fer a little ride even
saw pimpy as we were leavin tryin to get the last few possible moments of
daylight in . I would have been too-except for the last minute corrections around
a couple a pudles the conditions were excellent-but it was cold and wet and my
wife had had enough . do they close anything out there?? some of that soil seems
like it would get kinda soft after some rain saw too many rangers too-

 

[El Santo]

at Skeggs (El Corte de Madera), the gates are closed on Giant Salamander/Methuselah/South Leaf....yet the trails today were in great shape, not muddy and minimal deadfall. Dang, was hoping they'd keep them open a bit longer with the weather we've had...

Well, I guess that's it for the old Giant Salamander. When it's reopened next spring it'll be the new neutered reroute. Suck.

Down manzanita -> down timberview -> down Giant Salamander -> down + up methuseleh -> up N. Leaf -> down EcDM -> up resolution -> up fir was one of my favorite loops at Skeggs. Giant Salamander was the best part

 

[RobsterCraw]

Last year they had a "Closed" trap in Long Ridge Between Portola Heights Road and The Grizzly flat trail heads. At Portola Valley the gate was open, the ranger was in Peters creek writing tickets to victims.

That sounds like entrapment to me...why not just keep the gate closed. If people are gonna poach, a gate isn't going to stop them so they can still ticket the people that deserve it. I didn't stop at south leaf because I didn't think it was closed. There was no trail posting saying it was closed and there was no indication of specific trail closure on the little take away maps. I know they close at some point but I thought they waited for it to get pretty wet instead of any specific day. The ranger that stopped me in the parking lot gave me a stern warning about going off trail but said nothing about trails being closed. If I don't know a trail is closed and they pull some "closed trap" BS on me I'll show them exactly how contentious a decent, upstanding mountainbiker and civil liberties advocate with a law enforcement background can be.

Did you just say "up resolution"? I don't like the sound of that.

 

[Yet]

MROSD does trail work in the dry season. The reroute of giant salamander probably won't open until summer of 2007. I would not be surprised if it is closed all next year.

The new alignment should be reasonably good. I did some work on it and I think it should be as good or better than the new crossover / hike a bike

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

Shuttle Skeggs? Why? How?

Actually I saw the gate at Giant Salamander closed, a guy I saw coming up Methuselah near Manzanita said there was a sign down below. I meant to say North Leaf's gate in my original post, but that was really based on the assumption that they closed all three together as they did before. I was wondering if South Leaf off the road would be signed...sorry about the misstatement.

 

[MSH]

......Down manzanita -> down timberview -> down Giant Salamander -> down + up methuseleh -> up N. Leaf -> down EcDM -> up resolution -> up fir was one of my favorite loops at Skeggs. Giant Salamander was the best part

Yup...one of my favs as well. I'm sure the "sanitation" of Skeggs will only continue. I really do miss the days of Devils Staircase and Nosebreak...after those closings years ago Skeggs has just been increasingly sano'd. Still a great place to ride, but I sure miss the old days

MSH

 

[RobsterCraw]

Shuttle Skeggs? Why? How?

If you can convince a nice girl to do it, why not? Plus we were short on daylight.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

If you can convince a nice girl to do it, why not? Plus we were short on daylight.

No argument there, but curious as to what a shuttle route might be...seems to me unless your gf has a gate key and MROSD truck, ya gotta climb out anyways...