Moody Hill > Lookout Mtn Trail

RIDE REPORTS
1

Small bike ride Sunday. Started at Moody Hill with the intention of of going as far as possible. Luckily I was able to join another group at the TH and the 5 of us made it to the end of the Lookout Mountain singletrack. One of the bikes suffered a dead battery near the end, had to run the working bikes up the hill and steal a working battery to get the dead bike up and out. Ended up having to bail out on some FS roads marked as open but locked up very well at the entrance. While the neighboring property had easy access to the road the homeowner was not happy we were on that FS road and sat there berating us as we lifted each bike up and over the 5 foot gate. 8.5 hours after starting we made it back to the TH and our trucks.

Bike performance: The two 300 2T Shercos handled the difficult trail very well. One of the 450s had the dead battery and both struggled with too much power for tight rocky trails. The Husqvarna 501 did make it all the way through, not easily.

Lessons learned:

  • Never leave the water filter at home.
    • Several of our group had far too little water and ran out hours before finishing.
  • The walkies would have been very helpful
    • While I was planning to ride solo it would have been easy to throw the walkies in the truck just in case.
  • Never ride without at least a basic tool set.
    • Only one of our group had the tools to swap batteries. If that person wasn’t there, that bike would still be in the woods.
  • Route planning
    • The end of Lookout Mountain Trail is a dead end and the trail after Donner Pass Trail is very difficult. As it’s laid out now, you have to do this section out and back to either exit on Donner Pass trail or all the way back down Moody. Technically you’d need plates on your bike if you want to exit at Donner and ride Buckhorn back to the Moody Hill TH.
    • Knowing how the route should be planned correctly now, I would need to carry extra fuel and plan for a full day of riding.
  • Trickle chargers keep your bike ready to ride. Totally worth it.

Overall a fun day on the mountain and everyone got out safe.

Capture
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5 Likes
2

You mean a Phillips? Or a 10mm? Jeezus.
Water filter: I have a Sawyer inline filter spliced into my water bladder, so I can refill from streams. Learned that lesson in 2019 during a death march on the Rainbow Trail.

Sounds like a good, Type 2+ Fun ride. Next time consider looking for riding partners within the group if you’re planning to ride hard stuff solo. In my experience, dirt bike guys often aren’t as prepared as DS or ADV guys on their small bikes, with regards to tools, recovery items, comms, navigation, etc.

3 Likes
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I can at least say I was the person with the tools. The trail didn’t feel like too much of a struggle to me at that pace but if I were solo I would have called it and turned around much sooner. I sure as hell see why going solo at all should be reserved for very well known, low risk riding areas.

That inline filter idea is too good to not do. Thankfully I had plenty of water for myself but that’s no reason to leave my filter system sitting in the garage either. We passed plenty of clear streams too.

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Yep. I’ve heard about that area and would be interested in checking it out. A few of us did some of Killpecker and Swamp Creek a couple of years ago. A bit early, in mid-June, and kept getting denied by snow, having to back track back to the road and pick up the trail again at the next switchback. Type 2, hike-a-bike stuff in places.

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Also good to carry a jumper battery

1 Like
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I went up to Killpecker a few weeks back just to check it out, gave up real quick coming from the North end at an uphill log jump. Definitely want to get up there again with some buddies, probably next year at this point.

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Yeah the deadfall on swamp creek got old and we eventually punted

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And a tow strap and small saw for felled trees

1 Like