Trail Reports April 01, 2023
7:45 am
This morning I rode a small loop while the ground was still frozen. Las Brisas trail is good to go. From there I climbed Halo to Crispy Bacon to Bacon Strip. Large snow drifts ended my ride around 1/2 to about 3/4 up bacon strip. Some very bad erosion was also present on bacon strip. On the way home, B-lite was dry but I wouldn't get on it late in the day. That actually goes for most trails right now. B-lite was in the worst condition with erosion and ruts. -Chris G.
8:30 am
Left Kings Row and climbed up the West Halo switch backs to Crispy Bacon. Turned around when we hit a large snow field about a quarter mile up Crispy Bacon. The first North facing section of Crispy prior to the snow field was still mostly frozen but will be bad mud by midday. Connected by 4wd roads over to Halo above the R and headed East toward Curt’s Cutoff and Snow Terraces. Hit major snow less than a mile from the R and turned back. Dropped to West Keystone trailhead and rode over to Keystone Canyon (East Keystone). Rode up the canyon until we hit the washout just above Fisticuff and then scouted on foot to see how far the damage goes. Most of the trail above the junction with Fisticuffs to the top of the rocky technical section has been washed out, still has running water in it or is deep mud. We didn’t look higher than that but can guess that trail sections further up that run in the old creek bottom will be similarly severely damaged. Best to avoid the canyon bottom at this time by climbing the Rancho Connector switch backs and then staying on the ridge line 4wd road that goes between Keystone Canyon and Rancho. The lowest section of Keystone Canyon single track is mostly in good shape but there are some ruts and washouts that change the flow of the trail. That goes for pretty much everything we rode this morning. Spring conditions mean lots of new natural trail features. That’s especially the case on the West Halo switch backs. What has always been a very technical climb now has a few new challenges and the corners have been reshaped drastically. Overall plenty of miles to knit together, but not a lot of loops open yet. -Patrick Smith