Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Cannell Trail & Cannell Plunge
Kernville, CA

Sept. 4, 2005

Today  I joined about 15 others for Dennis' (The 0gre) Cannell Trail and Cannell Plunge ride, high in the Sierras above Kernville, CA. It consists of about 20 miles and a couple thousand feet of climbing through beautiful high altitude conifer forests and across several meadows. The high point is about 9,4000 ft.  Eventually you go down some really gnarly descents, some old rocky creek beds, and through a narrow canyon to about 7,500 ft. When you get a beautiful view of Lake Isabella many miles below, you have reached the top of the Cannell Plunge, which then descends 5,000 ft. over the next eight miles. With often deep sand, many narrow rutted spots, steep drop-offs, and a lot of dust, this is a very challenging ride.

Tim (UncleMTB), Larry (BigLarry), Bill, and Arnold (FloppyRN) and I set out from the 9,200 ft. drop-off at Sherman Pass down the Cannell Trail, while the rest of the group went in the opposite direction to do the bonus climb to 9,900 ft. Sherman Peak. However, early on BigLarry stopped to put his armor on and we never saw UncleMTB again. So it was just the four of us until near the end of the Plunge when the other group caught us.

BigLarry was a bit slower on the uphills but faster on the downhills, particularly the technical sections. While early on Bill was faster on the uphills but slower on the technical downhills. However, Bill soon became accustomed to the more technical downhills and he became quite the expert by the end of the day. FloppyRN was doing great until about five miles into the ride when a tree snapped his hydraulic brake cable and he had to complete the rest of the ride without a rear brake. But it didn't seem to bother him that much because he was always with us. I'm not particularly fast but I'm used to plodding along like a tortoise with few stops. I got a bit impatient on the longer stops but hopefully it didn't show. People always wait for me so I should wait for others when necessary. But the knees tend to hurt when they cool down and they were really hurting as we left that fireroad near Big Meadow. However, it was nice to see all the sights I normally fly by. I had never really looked backward up the Plunge before.

Despite a prediction of 100 degree temperatures the weather was just about perfect most of the ride and perhaps just a bit warm toward the bottom of the Plunge. This was my seventh time doing this ride and the first without a helmet cam. I've always been a more skilled rider while wearing the helmet cam and this day was definitely no exception. I missed a lot of stuff I've done several times before. Perhaps I have a bit more courage while wearing the helmet cam, or more likely I'm a bit dumber. And this is the first time I've gone a bit slow and stopped to look around. The Plunge is quite a bit more difficult and scarier when you slow down and actually look around you. I guess with the helmet cam on I've always just concentrated on the person in front of me and tried to go as fast as possible. But for a change I didn't feel completely exhausted at the end of the ride.

Thanks Dennis for putting this ride together! Nice to meet everyone and great riding with BigLarry, FloppyRN, and Bill. I didn't get many names so if you have any to add to those below please let me know. Cannell Trail/Plunge elevation profile, courtesy of BigLarry

Click on an image to enlarge it

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Bike shuttle Getting ready Arnold on
the bobsled run		 Larry and
Bill		 A stranger we
leap fogged 		 Arnold
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Larry Big Meadow Big Meadow Big Meadow near
Big Meadow		 Larry
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Bill Arnold Larry Bill Bill Arnold
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Larry Me Arnold Larry Larry Cool rocks
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Lake Isabella
fm. top of Plunge		 Top of
the Plunge		 Larry on
the Plunge		 Arnold, Bill
the Plunge		 Bill on
the Plunge		 Larry on
the Plunge
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Larry, Arnold,
Bill, the Plunge		 Arnold on
the Plunge		 Bill on
the Plunge		 The Plunge The Plunge The guys
on Plunge
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Bill on
the Plunge		 The Plunge ?? on
the Plunge		 ?? on
the Plunge		 Joseph on
the Plunge		 Regrouping on
the Plunge
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Near bottom
of Plunge		 Dennis Joseph Andy Reggie Dennis (seated)
post ride
 

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