Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Cannell Trail & Cannell Plunge
Kernville, CA

July 26, 2003

The last time I did the Cannell Plunge I screwed up the camcorder so I've been anxious to return to make a video. A few weeks ago I began soliciting for people to share the Mountain and River Adventures shuttle with me. However, 10 days before the scheduled date I became quit sick and I wasn't sure if I was going to do the ride, even at noon yesterday. But I decided to go ahead and take it easy if necessary. I met Bill Porter (Mountain Bike Bill), Michael Paul (Yeti Rider), Dennis Baker (the Ogre), Bryan Lee, Bill Sornson (Sorni), and Miles Todd at the Bakersfield Motel 6 in the morning and we headed to Kernville. 

The shuttle dropped us off at Sherman Pass, a little above 9,200 feet. Before proceeding down the Cannell Trail towards the Plunge the group decided to first climb in the opposite direction to Sherman Peak at 9,900 feet. I didn't feel that great and even on a good day I can't just start climbing cold. So I just proceeded along at my own pace and told them to meet me on the way back down. However after about 45 minutes I lost most of my gears because the rear derailleur cable either stretched or slipped. After fidgeting with the cable for a while I decided to try to repair it, which is always risky for a typical academic like myself. Fortunately I had folding pliers and an allen wrench set, and I seemed to do a pretty good job since the gears worked perfectly the rest of the trip. I then went back down to Sherman Pass and the gang showed up fairly soon thereafter.

We then took off down the Cannel Trail a lot faster than I would like and after about half an hour I told them to leave me and I'd go at my own pace. I had told the group from the day I proposed the trip that they could leave me so they needn't feel guilty. I ride solo most of the time and I'd done this ride before so it was no big deal. I had stomach problems twice early on but after I got rid of them (literally) I started to feel pretty good and I had a great ride. I'm very slow to warm up and after about three hours on the trail I felt great. The two mile fire road climb and big hike-a-bike out of  Big Meadow were a lot easier than I remembered but the rocky descent down from the hike-a-bike was much more technical than I remembered, perhaps because I was alone.

On the last tip I didn't enjoy much of the Plunge but this time it was great. Either there was less sand at the top or perhaps it was because I was now familiar with it. I moved along much faster than the last trip. I had already decided on some fast music for my video so I had to keep moving. The middle section is fairly smooth and hard packed, and like a roller coaster. I really flew (for me anyway) down it and I think it shows quite nicely in the video. The top of the Plunge was quite sunny but very quickly storm clouds moved in, there was some thunder, and I got sprinkled on a few times. That kept the temperature to near perfect and it also made for perfect shadow less light for the video. I actually made several left hand downhill switchbacks but I seem to have a lot of trouble going to my right. I didn't even attempt any of the really gnarly switchbacks at the bottom.

Despite being sick, having two weeks off, and doing the extra 90 minutes at the start, I still finished this ride an hour faster than the last time. The Plunge wreaked havoc with my ears, they are still plugged up more than 24 hours later, and I'm a bit more congested than I was several days ago. However, the trail and weather were perfect, I met some great guys, I got some of my best video ever, I had no falls, and I got in nearly 8 hours of riding! What more could I ask for? 

Be sure to check the other guys' websites for their reports, videos and/or photos. Here is the trail map at 1:100,000. Sherman Peak, to the northwest of Sherman Pass, is not shown.

[ Home ]