We started at the 29 pines campground and went up Stafford Creek. The lower part of the trail is well ridable. From about 5500ft on there was still some snow on the trail and therefore (and due to the increasing incline) we had to hike to the saddle underneath Earl Peak.
We traversed then to the eastern arm of Beverly Creek, and went down along the creek for and went up again towards Iron Peak following the western arm of Beverly Creek. On this trail were some blowdowns and washouts. So the better part of it was hike-a-bike. To get to the saddle below Iron Peak we had to pass some snowy patches again. From there on the trail is pure downhill bliss down Eldorado Creek until the forest road. The last 9miles on the road are pretty boring but at least fast since it's going only downhill back to the campground.
The ride offers awesome views and great downhills on 28miles with 6100ft elevation gain. Total riding time (with extensive pauses) was about 8h.
The photos:
topographic map
approaching Earl Peak
Stafford Creek valley
Iron Peak
View back from Iron Peak, Mt. Stuart in the background
Finally, four years after the first time, I made it back to do this ride last Saturday. And this time we rode it clockwise, going up Eldorado Creek and down Stafford Creek in the end.
The trail along Eldorado Creek up to Iron Peak is surprisingly well ridable. Someone who has the lungs and the legs can ride everything except for the last steep pitch up to the saddle. I did maybe 2/3 of the climb on my bike. Going down Beverly Creek is a lot of fun since the trail has a nice mixture of technical, rocky sections in the upper part and flowy sections towards the end. The push (at least for me) up from Bean Creek to Earl Peak was the hardest part of the ride. There is not much fun to be had on that part of the loop since the trail is very steep plus there is not much shadow, i.e. by the time of the day that you arrive there you are in the sun for most of the climb. However, if one does the 5 drainages loop in this orientation this is the only part that involves extended hike-a-biking.
Going down Stafford Creek in the end is a blast and much more fun than Eldorado Creek as a downhill. Already because the descent it longer (3000ft vs. 2000ft) and again it's a nice mix of technical and flowy trail.
Riding time with a couple of breaks was 7.5 hours. All the trails are free of snow except for some small patches along Stafford Creek. Views of Mt. Stuart and Mt. Rainier on Saturday were breath-taking. In this orientation this ride has made it into my list of annual to-do rides.
Finally, four years after the first time, I made it back to do this ride last Saturday. And this time we rode it clockwise, going up Eldorado Creek and down Stafford Creek in the end.....
wow, wayback machine is working for me. very cool to see someone else do "this" loop. i did it a few years back, but i went down standup(?) creek, or at least the creek to the west ( i think) of stafford. that was a mistake, but the rest of the ride was fun.
Did a little side trip for the view huh? How about that last switchback descent down Eldorado to the road huh? There is a trail on the left hand side of the road just past the horse camp that will take you to beverly camp if you insist on more singletrack. But, it's painful because it's really raw and a lot of up and down. The horsey folks built it and did not follow the contour lines at all.
Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk... Now you know why Gearz and Monte are such studs for actually doing all 8. Suckfest for sure. The view from the top of Iron IS definately something to behold. And, I love the descent down El Dorado. Good write up. Can't wait for weekend after next for Esmeralda. Just have a few hot rides to get out of the way this week... :thumbsup:
Nice pix!
I actually think now that this ride is better done in the opposite direction. Instead of losing 1,500 feet pedaling down the road like we did, there would be an extra long 3,000' descend down Stafford creek at the end. In fact, there would be more riding than walking that way as opposed to the way we did it.
Anyhow, this is one of those rides where there is more emphasis on the mountain part of mountain biking and less on the biking part. I'd say it's an 80/20 split in terms of time spent hiking vs biking. Going the other way might make it a 70/30.
I was thinking that same thing Saturday night in my tent. Going up the El Dorado and Bean Creek drainages would suck, but since we're spending so much time hiking anyway, why not make it shorter and steeper and give us more descent. Yeah, I'm totally down for trying it in the other direction with Esmeralda as the warmup.
This should be a wake up call for all the epic-endurance riders. Someone is going to have to go out and beat the 6100 feet of vertical. I would do that but my camera is broken so no evidence of the ride. Time to post the "suckfest rides."
Everyone lists the vertical and mileage but I think the main indicator of "suckfest" is the amount of walking up and down with the bike. I know if I had to push more than 1000 feet or so in a day It would probably be a "suckfest."
I have an older version of Green Trails. Trails #1399, #1391, #1391.1 are open for business? I guess I could have just asked Wonko the other day, but it didn't occur to me at the time.
I have an older version of Green Trails. Trails #1399, #1391, #1391.1 are open for business? I guess I could have just asked Wonko the other day, but it didn't occur to me at the time.
This should be a wake up call for all the epic-endurance riders. Someone is going to have to go out and beat the 6100 feet of vertical. I would do that but my camera is broken so no evidence of the ride. Time to post the "suckfest rides."
Everyone lists the vertical and mileage but I think the main indicator of "suckfest" is the amount of walking up and down with the bike. I know if I had to push more than 1000 feet or so in a day It would probably be a "suckfest."
An old thread it is, but I think we beat the 6100' a year before this thread was started. Unless I missed something. Just been going back and looking at Teanaway threads, thinking of a recon Thursday and Friday.
8 Drainages
An old thread it is, but I think we beat the 6100' a year before this thread was started. Unless I missed something. Just been going back and looking at Teanaway threads, thinking of a recon Thursday and Friday.
8 Drainages
Didn't mean to snubb the stoke, you should get stoked! This ride is still awesome, I will do it again. I was glad to find this RR from someone else that liked it. I've seen RR's from others that didn't like it, it's not a ride for the masses by any means. Good on anyone who attempts it, complete or not.
I'll probably do it clockwise this time. There are some hike sections going CCW that would be totally ridable and the climbing sections in the CW direction might be shorter and steeper according to some, instead of long and drawn out.
Bike's ready to go, re-cabled today. Greased everything I can grease. Changed shifters and rear der. Again. Can't make up my mind on those.
So, is 8700' the next mark to beat? Thinking about it right now I can visualize a 12 Drainages without too much trouble. :skep:
Nice video - makes me want to go there right away again .
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