Tag Archive for: nearby city

Star Lake

Giant at Star Lake on the Heavenly Valley to Armstrong Pass Trail

After my 2 crashes on the Curly Lake trail in Montana in August I was really looking forward to getting back on the trails. This trail came highly recommended to me, as offering some of the best scenery in the Tahoe Basin. I was told that it was a very strenuous ride, but I was convinced I was up for it… Boy was I wrong, I got slaughtered on this trail!!

Trail map heavenly valley to armstrong

Trail Stats & Information

Nearby City: Minden

Length: 23.43 total miles

Trail Type: Point to Point

Skill Level: [ What the books say ] Aerobically: strenuous. Technical : easy to difficult (mostly moderate)

Skill Level: [ My opinion ] Aerobically: extremely strenuous. Technical : moderate / difficult

Duration: 5 – 7 hours [ my time ] 6.20 hours

Trailhead Elev: 7,500 feet

Top Elev: 9,000 feet

Book Description

This section of the Tahoe Rim Trail passes through some of the most scenic and wild country available to mountain bikers in California—and it’s also one of the least traveled. If you feel left out because you’re not allowed to ride your bike in wilderness areas or national parks, then this is the trail for you. Highlights: Views of Carson Valley, a pristine subalpine lake, a well-built trail, a wonderful wilderness feeling. No motorized vehicles are allowed on this trail.

My Experience

Although I had not been on the bike for a month due to some injuries I acquired on the Curly Lake Trail in Montana, I was pretty stoked and confident that I was up to doing this trail. I was warned that this trail was pretty strenuous, but that doesn’t mean much in most cases.

I was dropped off at 11.00 am the Stagecoach ski lift at Heavenly Valley, I planned to do the ride in about 5 hours, but luckily for me I made a calculation mistake, and told my girlfriend to pick me up at the Armstrong Trailhead at 5.00 pm, which gave me an extra hour… and boy did I need that extra hour!!

The trail starts at the ski lift with a moderate climb, nothing too serious, the first 2 miles were pretty well used by hikers. After the first mile the trail becomes very strenuous and rocky, and it continued to be very rough for the coming 6 miles, and I walked about 80% of this section, and even the walking was strenuous. It took this trail 20 min. to slap me in the face, and made it clear that I was bang out of shape, and this trail was just too strenuous.

Luckily for me, although the first 12 miles is uphill, it is not at all steep, it’s a gradual climb, and the scenery is just stunning.

Completely slaughtered I finally made it to Freel Pass… this is where the fun starts.. downhill all the way to the end!!

The downhill was absolutely superb, narrow rocky singletrack, with superb views. You will really want to open up on this section, but you will soon realize that, that is not a good idea, there is a lot of loose sand / gravel on the trail.
If you do not like narrow rocky singletracks with long drop-offs, then you should avoid this trail. There are also 2 extremely tight switchbacks on this section, hit these too fast, and you will have about 6 seconds to learn to fly, ‘cos it’s a hell of a long drop before hitting the ground.

From Freel Pass to Armstrong Pass is fantastic, but heading down the Armstrong Pass Trail is like a dream come true.. sweeeeet singletrack , smooth and rocky, fast and slow and everything else a mtb’er longs for.

Conclusion

The first 15 miles of this trail is just brutal, I don’t care how fit you are, or how technically gifted you think you are, you will spend a lot of time walking this section. Luckily it is not too steep, and it is very scenic.
The real fun starts at Freel Pass, from here it is 99% downhill or 1.5 hours of some fantastic downhill.

Other Info:

Traffic on Trail : Groups of hikers at Heavenly and at Armstrong Pass

Wild Life : I did not see anything.

Scenery : excellent scenery

Other : Take extra water and energy nibbles.

My Trail Rating : 8.5 / 10

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Hyalite to South Cottonwood Trail Bozeman Montana.

The Hyalite to South Cottonwood Trail is a real Jekyll & Hyde Trail, definitely not a trail for the cocky gung-ho riders, and definitely not a trail to test your $89 full suspension Walmart Mongoose.

But, if you are up for a scary challenge then this trail is definitely the dogs bollocks!!

Hyalite to South Cottonwood Trail Bozeman Montana

Trail Stats & Information

Nearby City: Bozeman

Length: 11.4 miles

Trail Type: Point 2 Point, or loop ( for loop add about 14 miles )

Skill Level: Technically very difficult. Physically difficult.

Duration: 3-4 hours

Trailhead Elev: 6,600 feet

Top Elev: 7,920 feet

Book Description

The History Rock trail almost immediately begins a 3 mile climb out of the parking lot. The first 1/2 mile is a good warmup before it becomes steep and sustained for about 2 miles to a junction. This is all cleanable, but will definetly get your heart pumping. Once you reach a meadow with beautiful views of Mt. Blackmore, you know you are done climbing, from here on it is downhill.
Technical switchbacks, rocks and roots will make this a terrifying ride.

My Experience

Traihead was easy to find, it was well marked easy to follow. The first 20 minutes on the History Rock Trail was easy going, and I was pretty confident I would manage to reach the top without stopping.. 10 minutes past History Rock and I was walking!! and I probably spent 10-15 walking, this trail was killin’ me!!.

The strange thing about this trail, is it looks and feels easy, it is not overly steep, the trail is in good shape, not rocky or many roots, but that was just deceiving!!.. I am a fairly decent climber, but you would have to come from a very good stable to make it to the top of this one without stopping and walking.

Once at the top, it all opens up to a mountain meadow with stunning views, and right there in front of you, is a beautiful very narrow singletrack dropping down as far as you can see.. I am not much of a poet, but when I saw that I almost became one!

I was off like a greased whippet screaming down the smooth singletrack, just as I was hitting take off speed, the trail became rocky, and I was up & down like Bangkok Betty still going too fast, then out of nowhere a 130 degree switchback was in front of me. Don’t ask me how I did it, but I managed to get around it in one piece, but I had been warned, this trail is not to be taken lightly. The 5 miles that followed were darn right abusive and pretty scary, absolutely zero room for error, if you fall on this trail, you are gonna have some serious bacon… and that’s if you’re lucky, this is definitely not a trail you want to fall off your steed. Uncomfortable with large rocks and tech switchbacks?.. how about a 3 foot fall on a switchback? thank the lord I saw it on time and managed to come to a safe stop, ‘cos if you Endo here, you are gonna have 5 seconds to learn how to fly, or get hurt very badly..

This is a fantastic trail, but to fully enjoy it you have to remember 2 very important things.. Go too fast and you are gonna get seriously hurt, and go too slow and you will get seriously hurt

Treat this trail with respect and don’t forget to thank the ” Trail Guardian” if you make it down in one piece.

Conclusion

Great Trail with a high buzz factor and some great views, really sweet singletrack. The climb is physically very demanding, and the downhill is pretty abusive and technical

Other Info:

Traffic on Trail : no one untill the last mile from the Cottonwood TH

Wild Life : too tired to notice while climbing, and too much concentration on the downhill to notice

Scenery : Some very scenic stretches

Other : Just be very careful and Good Luck

My Trail Rating : 8.5 / 10

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My first time riding in the Bozeman & Big Sky area. Arrived on another glorious sunny day, set up camp and headed straight to the bike shop for a map and advice. There are plenty of trails to choose from in this area, but I quickly opted for the Bangtail Divide Trail.
So, did this first Bozeman trail impress me? or was it a big disappointment?

Bangtail divide Trail

Trail Stats & Information

Nearby City: Bozeman

Length: 23.8 miles

Trail Type: Point to Point with shuttle or loop [ for loop add 8 miles to total length ]

Skill Level: Aerobically: strenuous; Technically: easy

Duration: 4-6 hours

Trailhead Elev: 5,560 feet

Top Elev: 7,950 feet

Book Description

A relatively new trail to the area, the Baingtail Divide trail was completed in 2003. The trail spans from the Brackett Creek Trailhead to Stone Creek for a total of approximately 23.8 miles. The trail is well built and hardly technical, but due to the length, is considered an intermediate trail.
Built with bikers in mind, the trail has excellent descents on both ends of the trail with a couple big grassy meadows that provide a great view of several mountain ranges to include the Briders, Crazies, Absaroka, Gallatin, and Madison.
There are several different ways to ride the trail. You can car shuttle from one end to the other, you can ride it as a loop if you add about 7 or 8 miles of highway riding, or you can ride it in sections by using Olson Road which puts you onto the southern part of the northern 1/3 of the trail. The most common choice is to ride from the southern to north (Stone Creek to Brackett Creek)

My Experience

Trailhead is easy to find, the trail is well marked. There is a lot of climbing on this trail, but it is definitely doable, just put your steed into low gear, switch off , and enjoy the climb. This trail is in my books technically easy, but it is a long ride and a long walk out if anything goes wrong, so go well prepared. I did this trail as a P2P (point 2 point) starting at Stone Creek and finishing at Bracket Creek, however this trail can be done from both directions.

Conclusion

Oooohhh yes!! this trail is what mountain biking is about, not too strenuous, 23 miles of sweet singletrack through stunning scenery. The trail is well maintained and well marked. The scenery is fantastic, and it came with the smell of fresh pine and 1000’s of wild flowers. The 2-3 hour total climb is rewarded with a fantastic smooth downhill with in most places more than enough visibility to open up to a fair speed.. Don’t open up too much, cos there are a few very tight switchbacks that appear out of nowhere, and some have some pretty brutal drops that you definitely don’t want to hit going too fast.. If this trail doesn’t put a smile on your chops, then nothing will!

All in all, the Bangtail Divide Trail is a definite “Must Ride Trail”.. I did this one in 4 hours 29 min. and I enjoyed every second of both the riding and the scenery.

Other Info:

Traffic on Trail : 5 mountain bikers, one jogger, one hiker

Wild Life : I did not see anything

Scenery : 23 miles of scenery

Other : Take extra fluids, don’t forget the bug repellent there are ( were) lots of pesky horseflies.

My Trail Rating : 9.5 / 10



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