Jon Pritchett led the two of us on a fantastic loop in the Grouse Ridge area. The highlight was the Bowman Mountain Trail. This singletrack affords amazing vistas as you ride high above Bowman Lake and look north toward the Sierra Buttes.
As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Gold Country Council is working on a great project whereby the Bowman Lake Trail will comprise of a full loop off the Lindsey Lakes Trail. This terrific volunteer project shows that local recreational user groups can and should be building trails on Forest Service land. We have the skills, motivation and ability to create great riding experiences as mountain bikers and equestrians.
It was nice to ride with someone who shares my love of Grouse Ridge's technical trails and amazing scenery. Jon is passionate about expanding local riding opportunities; we are all fortunate to have him as a leader of BONC. Like myself, he sees no reason why we should have to go to Oregon or Utah to experience first class riding when we can develop it in our own backyard. We have lots of public land, cooperative land managers, user groups and the Land Trust to make it happen. In fact, more trails near Grouse Ridge will see expansion/re-routes in the future with mtb/equestrian trail expertise and efforts.
If you are curious about our route: Fuller Lake > Bowman Lake Road > Lindsey Lakes Trail turnoff > a bunch of fireroads > Bowman Mountain Trail > Lindsey Lakes > Crooked Lakes > Carr/Feely > roads back to the Fuller. Next time, I plan to add Grouse Ridge Trail + Spaulding Lake Trail to the end of this loop.
2 comments:
I've been on a shorter version of that loop, going clockwise from Loney Meadows, climbing up and around Bowman Mtn., and back down along Lindsay Lakes and Bullpen Lake Trails to Loney Meadows. The views are fantastic.
Very cool. How long is the shorter version you describe?
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