Ride #3 Upper Shake Campground and Alley Oop Single Track

Date: April 7, 2012
Location: Angeles National Forest, Saugus District
Bike: 1999 Specialized Rockhopper Comp (I love this Bike)

Okay so for Ride #3 I decided to try a ride from my Trails Book and go to Upper Shake Camp Ground Sawmill Camp Ground and a single track called The Alley Oop Trail. This Ride is located in the Angeles National Forest and is part of the Saugus District. You will need a Forest Pass to park in the lot but that is $30 for the year so not a terrible thing.

I arrived at the lot and put my bike together and found the fire road 7N23 which is the main road to take you up to Upper Shake and Sawmill. This road started going uphill (what else is new) and gets pretty steep which reminded me a lot of ride #2 at Ritter Ranch Park. After about a half of mile the Ranger drove by me and it made a good excuse to stop and talk to the Ranger and get my breath.  The Ranger told me the road was in pretty good shape but there were some ruts after the rain last week and wished me luck on my ride.

As I rode the first mile the rode got a little steeper and I could feel I was getting tired but I seemed to have a little easier time of it than I did two weeks ago at Ritter Ranch Park. At 1.5 miles I was ready to take a break and catch my breath. It was a warmer day and I was glad to have plenty of water with me. I stopped and checked out the views to the North East of the Antelope Valley. I had really gained some elevation in the past 1.5 miles

After a short break I was on my way up the trail heading for the turn off to Upper Shake Campground (Fire Road 7N23B). A steady uphill climb as I approached the turn off to Upper Shake Campground. The gate is closed to vehicle traffic as the campground is closed. But it is open to bikes to go through and ride down to the campground. The ride to the campground is all downhill and really fun to ride although in my mind I was thinking I have to ride up this on the way out. 

Once I arrived at Upper Shake Campground it was a bit eerie as it has been closed for some time, maybe 3 years or more. Empty camping spots and picnic tables and so quite except for the birds and the wind blowing through the trees.  After a look around the place I thought this would be a nice place to take a break, kick back and enjoy the shade and quite surroundings. I saw a great spot in the shade under a tree and thought perfect.

 I headed over there walking the bike and thinking this was going to be a great relaxing spot. When I got over there I noticed this buzzing sound that was getting a bit louder. A quick investigation found the source.. A Bee Hive.. A big Bee Hive. And these Bees were not too happy about me invading their deserted campground. Needless to say I was back on the bike and heading out of there. Back up what just a few minutes ago was a really fun downhill but now a really hard uphill to escape the angry bees and my desire for a nice rest under a shady tree only a memory.  I made it back up to the gate and was really tired out so I took in some water and caught my breath and head back on 7N023 toward Sawmill Camp ground.

I was thinking it would be fun to see Sawmill campground because my Pop used to takes us camping there when I was a kid. He would pack up the Camper and head up there with his buddies that also had campers. It was always really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. Well those thoughts helped me continue on as the road got a lot steeper and I got a lot slower and had to stop more often to catch my breath. Fact remains that I am way out of shape and I was feeling it. As I rode up to the junction to Sawmill Campground I was at just a little over 5 miles. There is a big wide opening where 3 fire road intersect, 7N023 which heads another mile and a half up to Sawmill Campground (All up hill) and an unmarked Fire Road which heads up to Burnt Peek which is easily another  4 miles and another 1000 feet of elevation.  When I got to this intersection I was really tired out and when I got off my bike to look around I got a twinge on my hamstring muscle, you know that little twinge you get when a cramp is coming on yea it was one of those. Okay the last thing I want way up here is a bad cramp and not be able to ride. I took the little warning from my body and took a break and took in some water. It was then I decided that Sawmill Campground will need to wait for another day. I was checking my map and Fire Road 7N08 was the road that would take me to the single track (The Alley Oop Trail) and I really wanted to do that single track.

After cooling off for a little bit I decided to go on Fire Road 7N08 and look for the Single Track as described in my Trails Book. It took some looking to find it but after about a half mile on 7N08 I found it. The trail was barely noticeable and the beginning was really rutted from recent rains. I had to think about if I wanted to try this trail as it looked really over grown and steep. Okay I decided to go for it and started down this single track. The beginning was really over grown and I was getting scratches from the brush and I was wondering if I was really on the single track trail or if I was just on some animal trail. After about a half mile I got a really good visual that I was on the correct trail, a sign, and the sign said Upper Shake Campground one mile.. 

Okay it felt better to know I was actually on the correct trail. It was just a short distance past the sign the this trail got really technical, really steep, very tight switch backs and nice steep cliffs, you don’t want to fall here.. I made sure I had no accident by walking my bike around these switch backs. As I got past this really technical section the trail eased up a bit and I was riding through some shade trees with a cool forest look which was fun but I also could not help but think I was by myself and was there any critters out there.. 

After I rode through this area the trail opened up some more and I was able to go faster .. Fun Fun.. but as I came around a corner I grabbed the breaks hard and was ready to lay the bike down as in front of me was  low hanging branches and I would plow right through them, this would really hurt .. I got lucky and stopped about 2 feet from the branches.  I really missed a really painful situation there.. After this point it was just really fun single track the rest of the way down to Upper Shake Campground. As I finished and rode into Upper Shake Campground I was only remembering the fun parts of this single track and I look forward to doing it again sometime. 

After making the climb out of Upper Shake Campground I was back on Fire Road 7N23 and ready to head back to the car. It is all downhill back and I was glad because I was super tired. After a quick 3 miles I was back at the car and this was all in all a really fun and challenging ride that I know I will make one of my regular rides.. 

As Always.. Have Fun.. Try Not To Die..