Crest is an Adventure

Add Fire, Too?

Riding Crest nearly always ends up being a bit of an adventure. Coyotes, snakes, chunky, loose scree, tight turns and the occasional boulder drop help in keeping things real, as they say. Add in that much of the trail network is unmapped, requiring a bit of exploration your first few times there, and you have a pocket of “old-school” fun. It is not a place to find IMBA-fied trails, that’s for sure. (Well, there is that one “flow” trail out there.)

Yesterday, smoke rose up from behind the water tower side of the park.

Hmm?

Brush fire?

It is a little windy out here. Seems to be blowing north.

Hope it’s not a large house/business fire.

I don’t see any firefighting trucks on the roads.

Okay, so I’ll continue riding.

A family played in the beautiful oak grove. I let them know a fire was not too far away but that if it was heading our way, surely Cal Fire would come to the park to evacuate people. They didn’t seem too concerned.

Here and there, a few ash flakes fell from the sky. Seemingly, though, the smoke was turning more the color of white and less brown/blackish.

Then I looked more northward.

I made my way over to the east side, where from the west side the sky looked a little clearer/bluer.

The trails over there/here are “dirty.” I love it. This time around, I made the climb up the loose/rocky fall line to the top/backside trail without a dab. Later on, coming back through and rolling down all the good stuff, I had to put a foot down on the one turn; didn’t line it up well.

Oh well.

Roll on.

The sky cleared up more, thanks to the firefighters. The news said it was a 30 acre brush fire that was under control in less than 1.5 hours. Again, thank you firefighters.

The American West is very dry this year. Very, very dry. Be safe out there, everyone.

If you’re in this neck of the desert/woods, stop by Crestridge Ecological Reserve and wander/explore. Note: in the summer, get there early/dawn patrol, as there’s a bit of a micro-climate at Crest. It heats up fast.

More on Crest here: https://mtbeer.substack.com/p/letting-it-go-in-crestridge