Friday, April 08, 2016

Sywash Ridge Ride ~ A Mashup of a Single Track and a Trail in Upper Lantzville

It was Wednesday after work, the sun was out and I was getting dirtbike withdrawal, so I decided to take a detour on the way home and play on the Berg.  After warming the clutch up on some single track trails near a gravel pit at Doumont, I headed off to see if could get to the Eagle's nest cabin a different way.  And afterwards, if time permitted, I would try to find that cabin in Lantzville that Andy had found via John's trails.  Well I was skunked on both counts.  My inadequate riding ability was unable to conquer the trail-come river rock strewn creek-bed hill climb which we saw a truck get up the other day.  Perhaps when it's dry, I'll give it another go.  Then I took a bum turn when looking for the Lantzville cabin and hit upon a little gem of a single track ride in Lantzville: The Sywash Ridge Ride. There are a bunch of hand carved signs in the woods around Upper Lantzville.  I'm not sure if they're for mountain bikes, hikers or quadders.  Certainly, some of the trails (Fire Bucket and Sweet Melissa in particular) present quite a challenge with logs and cutouts, and seem to be hiking trails, so it's best to stay off these.  But Sywash Ridge is a fabulous ride down from the foothills to Sywash Road via the power lines.  I can't imagine how I've missed these trails for so long...Maps Below







Trail uploaded to Wikilocks Here...
Video of the trail to follow...

Sunday, April 03, 2016

Lantzville Fixer Upper: Cabin in the Foothills





Took a quick ride out to the Lantzville foothills to see if the end of John's track was a cabin.  It was!  It's a bit of a fixer upper, but would give you shelter if you really needed it.  I entered the logging roads from the Weigles Rd/Doumont/Biggs side and continued through the new arrangement in the tank traps area using Tim berwests new logging spur.  I'm liking it--no muss, no fuss.  Track is available at Wikiloc.  (Thanks again John).

Here are a few pics:

Panoramic of Immediate Area

Front of Cabin

Left Side (with retired stoves and ice boxes)

 l'arriere

Front Looking Towards Exit Trail

Mountain Biking Trails

Building Dedication/Memorial

At the front door looking straight towards staircase

Table and benches at front window

Upstairs Sleeping Loft

 Big Ol' Cedar