# 'Beat the heat' Sierra ride. Pavement, dirt, horses, and gunshots



## freighttraininguphill (Jun 7, 2011)

The temps at the lower elevations on Sunday were in the upper 80s to 90, so I decided to go a bit higher for my weekly climbing, which started out in the dirt and ended on the road. 

I picked a trail I've never been on before, Fleming Meadows. This is at the bottom of Mormon Emigrant Trail, which is actually a road, not a trail.

I rode this trail in a counterclockwise direction, which gives you a nice climb for about two miles. It gets steeper at the start of the singletrack.

I caught up to three equestrians at the beginning of a singletrack descent, so I hung back a little and followed at what I thought was a proper safe distance. When they stopped in the middle of the trail, I stopped. That's when the last rider noticed me and said "Oh my God you're right behind us". Then she said "You're lucky our horses are okay with bikes".

Now maybe I'm wrong, but to me her tone of voice made it sound like she was peeved that I was there, and that she thought I was too close to the horses.

They pulled over a short time later and I thanked them as I passed. This is the first time I have had any kind of questionable encounter with equestrians. I don't know anything about horses other than to yield to them and try to stay out of their way, so if I did something wrong on yesterday's ride I really didn't mean to.

Lesson learned: always announce myself, or hang back even further. Maybe even stop and chill for a while to let them get far enough ahead.

When I finished the loop I rode the initial 1.5 mile climb up Mormon Emigrant Trail, which levels off and turns into a descent. If you ride this road to the end, it's supposed to be a 25 mile climb. I'll have to try that someday.

As I climbed I kept hearing gunshots, so when I reached the top I got out my point-and-shoot and took a little video. I wish I had my new Zoom Q3 with me yesterday, as it records in stereo and the echo of the gunshots richocheted off the mountainsides for several seconds after the shots were fired. It would have sounded even better in stereo.

Here's the video of the gunshots, with plenty of bird sounds mixed in.

https://vimeo.com/40865645

Here's a screenshot from the video as I came to a stop behind the equestrians.









View of the snow-capped Sierras from the bottom of Mormon Emigrant Trail at Jenkinson Lake.









"YOUR GPS IS WRONG!!!" warning sign near the bottom of Mormon Emigrant Trail (screenshot from helmet-mounted ContourHD). This road is not plowed in the winter.









Trailhead at the gravel area I parked in. The picture doesn't show just how steep this trail is. I'll have to check it out someday.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

I ride Mormon about 2 or 3 times a year. It's a great ride, but no water, and constant climb with little give. It pops out at the abandoned Iron Mountain ski resort which is well worth exploring if you don't mind ignoring the mostly falling down no trespassing signs. If you're feeling good, I recommend you keep riding up to one of the resorts on Silver Lake off of Highway 88 for lunch. I can't remember the name, but the summer resort downstream from Silver Lake (you turn onto a single lane road at the overlook above Silver Lake and descend about a mile down (not a bad climb back out)) has very good lunch options and is very friendly. If you're feeling really tough, you can pass Silver Lake and ride up to Kirkwood to the restaurant on Highway 88 for lunch also. Even better food and during the summer you can sit outside on the deck. Of course if you're feeling really, really, tough, you then continue onto the top of Carson Pass. This is a favorite ride of mine.

Another road to try in the area is Kyburz Road out of Kyburz on Highway 50. Like Mormon Emmigrant it wanders up through the pines along the American River. There is water at a campground about 1/2 way up, but otherwise no services. The first 3 miles is a death climb of 18%, but then it gets much easier and much nicer and the river is gorgeous. Some great swimming holes. You pop out on the top of Mormon Emmigrant if you follow it all the way up. You can also turn left about 1/2 way and loop back to Highway 50 about 10 miles east of Kyburz. Very cool ride.


http://forums.roadbikereview.com/commuting-touring-ride-reports/mormon-emigrant-trail-179061.html


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## freighttraininguphill (Jun 7, 2011)

Ridgetop said:


> Another road to try in the area is Kyburz Road out of Kyburz on Highway 50. Like Mormon Emmigrant it wanders up through the pines along the American River. There is water at a campground about 1/2 way up, but otherwise no services. The first 3 miles is a death climb of 18%, but then it gets much easier and much nicer and the river is gorgeous. Some great swimming holes. You pop out on the top of Mormon Emmigrant if you follow it all the way up. You can also turn left about 1/2 way and loop back to Highway 50 about 10 miles east of Kyburz. Very cool ride.
> 
> https://forums.roadbikereview.com/commuting-touring-ride-reports/mormon-emigrant-trail-179061.html


That almost sounds like the Silver Fork Road climb I did last September. It started with a nice steep one mile climb with grades in the teens, then leveled off and climbed for another 14 miles. It ended at Mormon Emigrant Trail.

Pics from that ride


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Nice. Any pictures of how the video camera is mounted to you? I can only assume chest mount based on the angle and what is in the shot. Can you share how you've hooked that up?


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## freighttraininguphill (Jun 7, 2011)

krisdrum said:


> Nice. Any pictures of how the video camera is mounted to you? I can only assume chest mount based on the angle and what is in the shot. Can you share how you've hooked that up?


I don't have any pictures of the camera mounted to me, but it is mounted on the GoPro "Chesty" chest strap mount.


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

Hard to understand the horse people on this one. The horses certainly knew you were there, and weren't spooked, or the people would've (or should've) picked up on it.


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