Gambrill/Watershed Conditions?

[scrapel]

Has anyone checked out Gambrill or the Watershed.....think it is ok to ride there some time later in the week?

[DaveG]

Has anyone checked out Gambrill or the Watershed.....think it is ok to ride there some time later in the week?
A couple of buds of mine went out there last weekend and it's pretty tough going. Basically you had to pedal downhill, kill yourself on the flats and most uphills were unrideable. These guys are strong riders too. 3-4 inches of slushy ice. I'm hoping that the warmish weather will melt a lot of the snow.

If you get a chance to make it out there later in the week let me know so I don't waste a trip on the weekend :)

Dave

[punga]

Anyone care to speculate on how Gambrills and the Shed will look this weekend, perhaps on Sunday? It didn't look like there was much rain up there last night and today's wind should help dry things out.

[DaveG]

Anyone care to speculate on how Gambrills and the Shed will look this weekend, perhaps on Sunday? It didn't look like there was much rain up there last night and today's wind should help dry things out.

Went about 3 miles (one mile road); took close to an hour and a half. The northern part of the watershed was still under 4-6 inches of wet slush. No idea how much melting ocurred this week; hopefully a lot. I'm not too optimistic about the conditions this weekend, but it's really hard to predict.

Dave

[DaveG]

Went in the morning (8) and the trails were still frozen. Went from the lower Gambrill lot. By the time I got back @ 10:30 or so, the trails was thawing, but still not bad.


I was very surprised at how good the trails were. It seems that every time I think the trails will be good they suck, and everytime I think they will suck they're good. :)

Dave

[punga]

Damn, I skipped riding this morning because I didn't think it would be ridable.

But, I scored some points with the girlfriend by suggesting that we take the dogs for a hike at Schaeffer Farms. Bad idea, the gates were closed (good for the trails I supposed). We drove over to Black Hills and hiked for awhile. It was sloppy in places and there were fresh tracks.


Went in the morning (8) and the trails were still frozen. Went from the lower Gambrill lot. By the time I got back @ 10:30 or so, the trails was thawing, but still not bad.


I was very surprised at how good the trails were. It seems that every time I think the trails will be good they suck, and everytime I think they will suck they're good. :)

Dave

[crashedandburne]

I was very surprised at how good the trails were. It seems that every time I think the trails will be good they suck, and everytime I think they will suck they're good. :)Dave


Yup....Perfect riding there yesterday. Had a great time myself. the only problem I had is where I haven't been riding much in the last couple months, my fingers were taking a real pounding. Did the long yellow and red loops before I had to give up. :D

[DaveG]

I was really surprised at the amount of melting. I think I'll not "predict" conditions anymode :D

Dave

[punga]

Actually, i took my que from Phillip vanW on the listserv. He said things wouldn't look good on the ridge based on his experience. I guess next time, I'll just have find out for myself.

I was really surprised at the amount of melting. I think I'll not "predict" conditions anymode :D

Dave

[scrapel]

Anyone ride gambrill or the shed this weekend......how were the conditions

[Jeep]

We went there yesterday. We rode the yellow and another loop close to the hamberg parking and it was great. Some climbs had just a bit of mud but it was mostly dry.

It was my first time there and I can't wait to go back soon. It is an awesome place to ride.

If anyone wants to go back this week I am your man. Drop me a email.

Jeep

[scrapel]

Jeep I am going tommorrow...will arrive around 9:30ish and plan to do a long easy pace ride. I am going to park in the lower parking lot along gambrill rd.

If you want to hook up and ride let me know

Dave

[UpOnTwo]

A friend and I did the Yellow trail yesterday 2/20 around 1:00 pm and it was great! Put it this way, I was able to roll my bike into my living room when I got back home. The bike is clean!

[joep]

I did the yellow and blue trails today (2/21) with Joe Y. We rode from Gambrill up to the Shed. Conditions were good in the morning but got real sloppy near noontime as the stuff started to melt. We got off the trails and rode the road back to the cars.

JoeP

[langer]

We went there yesterday. We rode the yellow and another loop close to the hamberg parking and it was great. Some climbs had just a bit of mud but it was mostly dry.

It was my first time there and I can't wait to go back soon. It is an awesome place to ride.

If anyone wants to go back this week I am your man. Drop me a email.

Jeep
hey jeep, i'm heading there thursday morning if the conditions are appropriate. neither your email or private message link is working...
by the way, we shot a couple of emails back and forth about the 24 hours of big bear, but i somehow lost your address.
-jon

[Jeep]

Hey Jon,
My email adress is jprheaul@yahoo.com. I am up to a ride on thursday. I will email you personnally.
Sorry scrapel I missed your post, Hope the trails were good.

Jeep

[scrapel]

I didnt make it to the trails on Tuesday...figured all the rain on Monday night would make things a mess.

[crashedandburne]

what's the latest intell on Gambril? Buried in snow or ridable?

[scrapel]

Anyone ride Gambrill or the Shed today?

[MeddlingMonk]

I rode Gambrill yellow loop today (3/6) and yesterday.

Overall it was a tough ride. A few inches of snow over most of the trail and a lot of the trail only had hiker foot prints, we were the first to break trail for bikes.

A lot of work, but a lot of fun. Not much snow left so with warm temps tomorrow it could be a mess.

[pgendell]

We rode the Yellow Trail yesterday too but ended up turning around about 30 minutes into it. Downhills were rideable, flats were fine but it was hike-a-bike uphill. And I had spiked tires. The little extension at the end of the yellow trail that loops around back to the parking lot was great - it looked like someone had dragged something on it which packed down the snow (kids on a sled?). We actually started off the day at the Patapsco park and ride but turned around when we saw the mud and headed for Frederick. There were tons of riders heading in, though.

[cbass]

that sucks...avalon needs a break right now.

[UpOnTwo]

I agree with the last post that Avalon is in BAD shape with the weather we've been having. But everybody keeps riding it almost every day. The weekends when I ride by in my car, I just shake my head at all the riders I see. :mad:

[scrapel]

I rode gambrill's today, there were a few inches of snow on the trail but it still was a good time. At the end of the ride the snow was melting and some muddy spots were starting to show. Probably will not be very good this weekend especially with the rain coming our way.

[punga]

I rode gambrill's today, there were a few inches of snow on the trail but it still was a good time. At the end of the ride the snow was melting and some muddy spots were starting to show. Probably will not be very good this weekend especially with the rain coming our way.

According to Phillip W this afternoon over the list serv, Gambrill looks to be pretty good right now, maybe little damp from the rain today. And a little mud never hurt anyone (as long as it doesn't hurt the trail), this is mountain biking we're talking about. :D

[DaveG]

A little snow, a little mud (if you go later) but all things considered not too bad.

If you hit it early when it's still frozen it would be great.

Dave

[punga]

A little snow, a little mud (if you go later) but all things considered not too bad.

If you hit it early when it's still frozen it would be great.

Dave

I hit the trail at 9:30 until 12:30 and things were pretty good. Some spots were wet and there were patches of snow and ice along the way. You won't stay clean, but a majority was dry.

Go have fun! ;)

[bikerRob]

3/13/05 >> Temp. 33'F, slight wind, partly cloudy >> I started my ride today around 2:30 in the middle of the shed where all the Forest roads meet. I rode west, crossing the stream up the forest road toward Gambrill road. I couldn't help but notice how knarled all the forest roads have become...Hey, that's a good thing because first it makes riding the Forest roads almost like riding the single track and second because it keeps all the casual Sunday drivers off the forest roads.. :D While the roads were wet in spots, roll was pretty good. It was a long climb to Gambrill Rd and boy am I out of shape. Once at the top I began the clockwise ride across the shed. Trails were a little soft in spots with a couple small sections that still had snow. After leaving the area of the lakes in the NW quad, I headed east and began the down hill towards the middle forest road. Along this section once again it was soft and muddy in spots but do-able. I tip my hat to the people who built all the log pyramids along this section....lots of fun doing these. I then cut across the road to do the middle trail still headed east. Once again mud in some sections but over all not bad. At the intersection I headed south hoping to get the great downhill back toward where I had parked my jeep. It was along this section that I felt a little guilty. this trail was very soft and muddy in spots. If I had to do this section again I would probably wait a couple weeks or take another trail.

This was my first ride with my new F/S, Hyd. disc equipped bike. I now understand the beauty of disc brakes but having discs also tempts one to ride when conditions are very muddy and that's a big No No. So now I have to deal with my first guilt trip.. :( ..I will console myself with the memory of riding those log pyramids...doing those with F/S...it was as smooth as butter-on-a-babys-butt. ;)

Rob

[piperj]

I rode the Yellow Loop (minus the extension past the power lines) this morning at about 10:30. Starting at the lower parking lot, the trails were in great condition. There was a little bit of mud just as you left the parking lot, but I don't really remember hitting any more mud until I got closer to the power lines. Yes, there was a bit of snow left in some places, but mostly after the short rock climb just off of Gambrill Road (that nice little climb with two approaches just off of the access road). The double track running along the power lines was pretty messy, but the short section between there and the road crossing was great. Once you crossed the road, there was a bit more snow, and a few more muddy spots, but overall, the Yellow Loop was very rideable. The ironic part was, after doing the whole loop, I hit the most mud on the last 100 feet before the parking lot. You would have sworn from looking at my bike that I was mud bogging it the whole time.

All that I can say is... Damn, it felt good to be rolling again. :D

Lets see what the weather has in store for us next... :confused:

[CountZero]

Trails were largely dry, with a few soaking wet spots. Rocks are dry. The lower fire roads are in bad, bad shape.

[bikerRob]

4/11/05 >> Sunday the watershed was great! Not an ounce of mud to be seen on the trails I rode. I didn't , however, get a chance to ride the trail that goes East/west thru the middle of the shed. I had to cut the ride short due to a late start or I swear I would of rode the whole damn thing! :D The forces of Bikedom were out in full schwing Sunday.. :cool: . The Gambrill parking lot was full as was the Hamberg Rd. lot where I was.

Rob

[piperj]

If you went by Gambrill's (and yes, that is an apostrophe. I am referring to the parking lot that belongs to Gambrill State Park ;) ) parking lot between 9:00 and 11:30, I was one of the bunch you saw parked there. I did the yellow loop, this time including the extension. There may have been one spot on the entire trail that was even a little damp. Talk about a sha-weet ride! I was trying to figure out where I could sneak in another ride in the afternoon.

[punga]

Anyone care to guess what it looks like after tonight's rain? I'm hoping to get out in the late morning, 11 or so.

[bikerRob]

5/01/05 >> To my utter amazement.. :eek: ... the ride I took today thru the Watershed turned out to be just great! All of the Shed forest Roads were as dry as a bone (...dem bones, dem bones , dem dry bones!) Ok...so I'm happy.. :)
Actually, I would have thought the rain last night would have left things a little moist, but such was not the case. The only mud I saw was toward the middle of the shed around the three way intersection...just a couple puddles, and easy to get around. It would have been a banner day had it not been for the ATV tracks that I saw along a couple of the trails that had me kind'a pis*** off. These things can really tear some trail up when they want to and sho' nuff' they did.. :mad:
Oh, another not-so-good-thing-worth-mentioning...I saw some evidence of trail booby trapping..the minor kind like someone dragging thorns across one of the faster downhills.. :mad: ..it looked deliberate to me. Luckily, I didn't flat, however I was going too fast at that point to try to stop to turn around and clear it out...so..if your going to take the downhill from the middle of the shed that heads south toward Mountaindale Rd. be real carefull. ( I wish now that I had stopped and cleared the trail.. :( )

[ridethewomble]

I rode the yellow trail (clockwise) at Gambrill today. Conditions were great but ...

We've had this discussion before, but parts of the trail are getting double-tracked. I'm not talking about alternate routes around big log stacks; that's cool, and it helps the long-term health of the trail by giving people who don't want the challenge of the obstacle an out. I'm talking about new lines opening up all over the place, especially on the extended loop of the yellow trail. The section of the extended loop right after you cross the road was double-tracked all over the place, especially around the rock gardens. There were a bunch of newly-isolated rhododendron stumps in the middle of the (newly widened) trail. The most egregious double track was on the long climb back to the fireroad on the extended loop. There was actually a new line around a rock garden with a drainage bar in it. :mad: The new line will completely circumvent the drainage control.

The thing that's really stupid about new lines around rock gardens is that the soil in the new line erodes away very quickly, and the underlying surface is just as rocky as the section that was bypassed. The very existence of the rock garden says the new line will soon look like the old one. All those double-tracked sections are doomed to look like the power line fire road someday.

I know there are a lot of constituencies using the yellow trail. I also know I'm preaching to the choir. It's just a real pisser to see new lines opening up on some of the best singletrack in our area.

[cbuki]

Blue and yellow trails were awesome four days ago and it hasn't rained. Great speed on yellow is possible. Lots of fallen trees on parts of blue trail that mean some humping.

[adoucett]

Caution to anyone taken the trail down to the Lower Hamburg road parking area. Make sure you take a good look at the log jumps and drops prior to hitting them. We found some of the landing zones booby trapped with sticks and rocks last weekend. :mad: They were obviously placed there by someone. The objects had been placed at every jump/drop off. Luckly we usually check them out before bombing down that section. If you catch that stuff at speed it won't be pretty.

[gmorris]

No surprise really. I've pretty much expected to see one some day at Gambrill. On the tough powerline climb leading up to where the abandoned cars are, about 3/4 way up on the right, 6 inches from the trail was undeniable a timber rattlesnake. Very wide but probably only about 3.5 feet long. I noticed him as I was heaving past. He didnt rattle at me, but when I got off my bike and came back to get another look he actually started slithering toward me so I decided it would be a good time to leave.