Some pics from Cannell Plunge June 17, 2006 (all photos courtesy of Bill P, Bill O, and Jerry)

Click on the pics for larger, higher resolution versions (250k to 600k) stored at mac.com

After several weeks of emailing Bill Porter, Bill O'Neil, and Jerry the weekend was finally upon us. Bill P picked me up at 12:30pm on Friday and we wasted no time loading his truck with my gear and bicycle. We hit a small brush fire on the 5 near Castaic and figured this would hold up O'Neil and Jerry enough that we could head to Quaking Aspen campground, pick a good site, and head back down to Kernville to place the end of the ride pickup. Sure enough we were able to pick the best spot in the campground and soon we had our stuff setup and were headed downhill and then downriver to Kernville with an empty pickup. After a few minutes of hanging out in Kernville we saw O'Neil and Jerry drive by but unfortunately they didn't see us. It was perfect timing and thankfully after Jerry and O'Neil looked around for only a few minutes they found us in the park.

We immediately headed the hour or so up to Quaking Aspen in Jerry's truck leaving Porter's in town. It was getting late, Jerry and O'Neil needed to set up their campstuff, we needed to cook dinner, and we still needed to drink some beer and get some BSing around the campfire before turning in for the night.

Our headquarters for the weekend.	Jerry sawing a partial deadfall with his pocket knife on the way up to Sherman Peak.

It was quite chilly at 7 in the morning at 7000ft and we were wondering just how cold it would be up at Sherman Pass at 8am and 9200 ft. Temps warmed up considerably in that hour, it was around 55 degrees at Sherman Pass and warming quickly when we arrived. It clearly was going to be a beautiful short-sleeved summer day. In fact, by the time we would get down to Kernville it would be quite hot.

Another small group of riders from Tehachapi showed up in their own shuttle bus, actually a retired school bus, and we wished each other a good day. They said they'd see us out on the trail but since we were going up to Sherman Peak first we didn't see them the rest of the day. It was work to get up to Sherman Peak because we appeared to be the first group of the summer to do it. There were no tracks through the snow or over the deadfalls. On the smaller deadfalls we did trail maintenance and cleared them away, and on the larger ones that would require a chainsaw it took some time to get over or around them. The extra effort on the ascent of Sherman Peak was well worth it because the views from the top were stunning, and the rideable sections were a tech filled funfest.

Top of Sherman Peak with Mt Whitney way in the background.	Descending the top of Cannell Trail off of Sherman Peak.

After Porter booted the cut in his tire well enough to survive the ride and fixed the flat he had suffered not 100 yards before getting back to Sherman Pass we continued on the main part of the ride. The section from Sherman Peak to Big Meadow is open to motorcycles, well, normally it's open but there were plenty of temporary closed signs which didn't keep a few groups of motos from riding it. The trail is basically rolling hills through here but there is a really good grind from Mosquito Meadow up to Deadwood Meadwood. We had had thoughts of descending Deadwood to Horse Meadow and then up Salmon Creek to Big Meadow but since we were a little behind schedule at this point we saved Deadwood Meadow trail for another day. It looks prime, though, as there were no tracks on it and we had been riding moto torn up trail for several miles. The descent into Big Meadow is a blast but unfortunately for me and Jerry we had mechanical problems to deal with: Jerry a flat and broken chain which he decided to ride chainless on down to Big Meadow, and I had serious rear brake fade to deal with. I generally don't ride the rear brake much but on these steeper descents I really could have used a working rear brake. It wasn't so bad dropping into Big Meadow but it absolutely ruined the drop into Cannell Meadow and it took me forever to get down the final Plunge.

Jerry got his flat and chain fixed with O'Neil's assistance and we were on our way with a mellow cruise along Big Meadow. Soon enough we were up on the road and facing our 2nd and last climb of the day up to Big Meadow Pass and the sweet, sweet singletrack dropping into Cannell Station. I had been drinking my water supplies early and ran out of my 120 ounces of fluid (I also had drank some water at the truck after our Sherman Peak out and back) on the descent to Cannell. The two Bills were concerned since Jerry was low, I was out, and we still had a ways to go. We poked around looking for potable water but didn't find any. The one pump at a cattle trough was dead and none of us had a water filter but both Jerry and I were well-hydrated and it was all downhill to Kernville. Neither Jerry and I were worried but I was very thankful to get some water from the two Bills to wash down the last ClifBar I ate.

The cruise through upper and lower Cannell meadows was beautiful. It was flat but my legs were pretty much toast at this point. If I had still had my legs at that point it would have been a blast riding the twisties. After some really fun tech stuff along the narrows of Cannell Creek to Pine Flat we hit the spectacular view of Lake Isabella at the top of the Plunge. It really feels like you are sitting on the edge of the world.

Bill P and Jerry cruising through Lower Cannell Meadow.	Us getting ready for the Plunge.

As I had mentioned earlier I was suffering complete loss of my rear brake so it took me forever to get down the Plunge. Because of my brake issues the actual Plunge part of the ride wasn't my favorite but I'm sure it will be the next time we do the ride. Except for one rattlesnake and one cruel hike-a-bike halfway down the descent was pretty uneventful. I conveniently flatted when we hit the trailhead at the highway and since I was pretty toasted at that point I begged the guys to go get the truck so I wouldn't have to change the tire in the heat. I sat in the shade of a pickup at the trailhead and in no time at all Porter was back with his truck and some nice cold water.

Since it was fairly late and we still had to drive up to Sherman Pass to get Jerry's truck we had some killer Mexican food in town. Nothing like a massive burrito to finish off an epic day.

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