Someone once told me, regarding mountain bike racing, that if you ever got off your bike you should be instantly disqualified. I responded by suggesting that if you never got off your bike, you probably were not riding difficult enough trails. Whether my statement is true or not, lately it has seemed that the relentlessly steep trails seem to lead to some of the most rewarding areas and riding.
For some time we have been wanting to try and ride to Cascade Saddle from Big Springs. We heard it was steep, knew it was a popular motorcycle trail and had ridden the first 3 miles where it did indeed get steep, but could not find any gps tracks or much about it after that. Supposedly it is 5 or 6 miles to the pass. Saturday we decided to give it a try.
Miles 1-2 are normal riding, scenic, nice trail, kosher stuff, 2-3 get steeper with some hike-a-bike, 3-4 the riding stops and the pushing and carrying begins. But this is not your momma's hike a bike. These are steep, loose chutes, that climb straight up the mountain in places. But, the views, the views were incredible.
In the end, we didn't make it all the way to the top. Snow began to cover the trail in a lot of places and a huge avalanche, above, blocked the path entirely. We hiked over it for sometime, but not knowing what to expect and needing to get home for a city carnival we promised to take our kids to forced us to turn around.
The views were fantastic, the climb was even fun, but descending this trail is pure bliss. The top is a hang back, super steep, baby head filled, rocky chute decent, followed my mellow rough trail riding and finally smooth cruising.
After it was all said and done, we ended up climbing 3,100 feet in 4.1 miles. The ride able part is about 15% grade and after that I have no idea. It took us about an hour and a half up and 20 minutes down, but it is worth every second. We heard that you can access the top of this trail from a ride in Wallsburg, the plans are already in place...finding new rides, one trail at a time.
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