EISPIRATEN

I'm doing a bike race in a few days. As part of the route planning I just went to check on the conditions of a few routes around Oakwilde. Here's what I found.

First I wanted to see the condition of Red's Shortcut. This is a connector I've been to several times, none recently. It was also described in one of the editions of John Robinson's book:
It's similar to how I remember: somebody uses it, and maintains it somewhat, so it's passable, if a bit tight in spots. It's not "good", but "passable".

You start here:



First you walk along the ridge to the powerlines:



This isn't super steep, and mostly clear. You can clearly see the Ken Burton trail switch-backing across the Arroyo:



Right past the last tower, the trail jumps off the ridge to the left. This is steep, but again, mostly clear. The route is flagged. Representative section:



Near the bottom the route drops down a steep gully, and some fixed ropes are available to help:





You don't strictly need them, but it's nice they're there. They also look fairly new. Here I found a genuine "TrailBuddy" trekking pole.



This trail works. I wouldn't dream of bringing a bike here. And you can't even really run this: too narrow and steep.

Red's shortcut dumps you at the mouth of Dark Canyon, near Oakwilde. I climbed the Ken Burton trail to see how quickly I could do this, and to try to gauge how it would feel riding it. This trail is well-maintained, but unless you have a bicycle there's zero reason to come here. At the top is a plaque



and decent views down canyon



Going down was much faster than going up. With a mountain bike this trail would be no problem. But with anything lesser, I think there would be a lot of walking. Maybe. Back at Oakwilde I wanted to see what I would do if I did end up here with a bike. Ascending Dark Canyon would be ideal.

Since the last time I was here the trail has been improved by a LOT. Thanks, trailbuilders! I'm still skeptical you can ride a lot of this (narrow, rough), but you can easily hike-a-bike it if needed. Representative section near the bottom:



Lots of cabin ruins here still:















The big cabin that somebody was trying to squat in a few years ago has collapsed: the walls aren't up anymore, and all the extra materials that were there are gone.

At the top the trail meets a road that climbs out to the right to CCC ridge. This is probably passable, but I wanted to check out the rest of the Lower Dark Canyon trail, that climbs directly up from the canyon to the highway. I found the junction: it's at a major switchback in the main trail: switchback goes right, direct trail goes left. The worst part of this trail is right at the bottom end: there was a small slide, and a tree has fallen, blocking the bottom end of the trail. Past that it's clear and good:





Still steep, and I wouldn't ride it, but there maybe is benefit to hike-bike-ing out this way.

Here's what the upper end of the trail looks like:



Here's my gps track, which I'm about to study closely:

Just curious about your "no reason" to visit Ken Burton without a bike comment. Is it because there are so many riders? Trail is uninteresting? Other? That trail is a gap in my experience.

I just think it isn't very interesting. There are zero trees. It connects to Brown Mountain fire road, which also isn't very interesting. If you're coming from Oakwilde to Brown Mountain peak, it would be a good connector, but that's about it.

Thanks for the report. I believe Bill works on Red's, as well as Dark Canyon. That might be his handiwork, or he might know whose it is.

So apparently Red's Shortcut is described in some canyoneer routes, under the name "Twin Canyon Trail". For instance Brennen's "CCC canyon" page. That would explain why it still exists, and why it gets at least some minimal maintenance.

I used to use it regularly but the bottom section got eroded where the ropes are and got way too brushy. I now go down by the fire station and hike up canyon which is probably almost as quick with what shape the shortcut is in.

David R wrote: ↑Thu Jan 18, 2024 2:42 pm I now go down by the fire station and hike up canyon which is probably almost as quick with what shape the shortcut is in.

I can descend the shortcut in <20 min! The canyoneers keep it passable.

David R wrote: ↑Thu Jan 18, 2024 2:42 pm I used to use it regularly but the bottom section got eroded where the ropes are and got way too brushy. I now go down by the fire station and hike up canyon which is probably almost as quick with what shape the shortcut is in.

What a coincidence...I was just there today. Dropped in from the fire station down to Paul Little, by-passed the dam and kept going about 1/2 mile past Oakwilde. Initial plan was to take Ken Burton and summit Wella Peak, and possibly explore the West ridge towards Brown Mtn...but my body wasn't feeling it, so instead I putzed around the Arroyo. Someone was camped at Oakwilde...I had a chuckle realizing how low the old picnic tables were to the ground. Those must have been some mad floods that brough all that mud. I also went up Dark Canyon a little bit and found a side trail marked by ribbons that based on GPS tracks was the start of Red's Shortcut. Cool.

Nice exploration! That area is completely unknown to me. I have that same book and need to dig it out to look at stuff I missed (a lot).

Very cool! Lo e the mushrooms and waterfalls.