Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Cannell Trail & Cannell Plunge
Kernville, CA

June 12, 2004

Last year I did this ride three times and I've been anxiously awaiting the trail opening this year. I had a few people ready to ride with me on May 23 but the road to Sherman Pass was not yet open. George da Trog suggested going on this date but the shuttle company was already booked. Fortunately, however, Bryan Lee came through with a 12 ft. long trailer and we decided to do a self shuttle to Sherman Pass. Over 20 people expressed an interest in the ride. However, arranging carpooling and lodging for such a large group, with people coming from different places and leaving at different times, seemed more complicated than planning the D day invasion. But somehow it all came together and everyone eventually got to the Lake Isabella Motel. Tim (UncleMTB) drove to my house and Neil and I rode down with him in the infamous Glomar.  

After breakfast in Kernville we all met at the park along the Kern River in Kernville and loaded up. Phil from SoCal saw the ride announcement on the web and he showed up to join us, making a total of 17 riders. We made it out fairly quickly and hit the top of Sherman Pass at about 9:30 am. We then split into two groups, the "A" group (Joseph, Phil, Fred, Ogre, Dave, George, Bruce, Alex, Todd, and Max) did the extra climb up to 9,900 ft. Sherman Peak. The "B" group consisting of Tim (UncleMTB), Colette (Impy), Neil (Bug), John (JRM), John P. (Crash), Bryan and myself (Wherewolf) went directly down the Cannell Trail towards the Plunge. Conditions were perfect, clear blue skies and a temperature just perfect for short sleeves. At Sherman Pass we met a group of about 20 SoCal riders who had taken the shuttle. During most of the day we were leap-froging with that group, alternately passing each other.

The sand (decomposed granite) was perhaps even deeper than I remembered, but for the first time I made it through the opening sandy whoop-de-doos without stopping. I remembered two long hike-a-bikes and the first one was even longer than I remembered. The second one, off the fire road after Big Meadow wasn't that bad but we hit it the same time as the SoCal group. So it looked like gold miners crossing the Chilkoot pass into the Yukon. Most of the time Tim, Neil and I stuck together. Impy spent quite a bit of time with us and John and Bryan drifted in and out. John is quite good but he didn't know the trail so he had to keep circling back. Bryan is an excellent downhiller so he left us on the downhills. There were a few falls along the way and Tim bent his derailleur a bit but Neil got it working well enough to continue.

About the time we reached the Plunge the first of the "A" group showed up. Due to a miscommunication most of the group continued on down while Tim, Neil and I stayed together. The rest of the "A" group passed us at various points on the Plunge. As always the Plunge was a blast but it was slow going at the top due to deep sand. We went at a reasonable pace on the upper third so I put that into the video. As always, the middle third roller coaster type stuff was the most fun, and I had to walk the gnarly switchbacks towards the bottom. But it was still fantastic! Others may have gone faster than me but nobody had more fun. I had a minor fall towards the bottom.

Although Neil is a serious hiker and in great shape, he hadn't been on a bike since last October. He discovered the hard way that you use muscles differently biking. He had terrible leg cramps for about the last half of the trip, necessitating several stops. Although I certainly did my share of walking, I cleared much more than on previous trips so I was fairly pleased. However, I feel I could have done more so I'll be back soon. What a great day of riding with a great bunch of people!  Here is the trail map at 1:100,000. Sherman Peak, to the northwest of Sherman Pass, is not shown.

Below are links to photos and/or reports from some of the other riders, if anybody else has some please let me know: George da Trog, The Ogre, UncleMTB.

A few photos by others, perhaps more will be added.

The Group (Tim)	Bryan (Tim)	Top of Plunge (Tim)	Neil & I (Tim)	Neil & I (Tim)
Big Meadow (Tim)	Big Meadow (Tim)	Cool Rocks (Tim)	Neil on Plunge (Tim)	Near Bottom (Tim)
Big Meadow (Neil)	Big Meadow (Neil)	Plunge Rocks (Neil)	The Saddle (Neil)	Plunge Rocks (Neil)

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