When You See a Gigantic New Dirt Berm, You...

[GrizzlyGuy]

I just got back from another camping ride with the local dirt bike crew. They were all good riders so we were able to start from a trailhead 5 minutes from my house (yay!). We rode out to the same cool camp site as last time, along Canyon Creek between Sawmill and Faucherie lakes. After setting up camp we decided to take a run up to English Mountain. This didn't work out so well.

Here's a question for everyone: If you are on a trail and you run into the new/gigantic/steep/high dirt berm seen here:




Do you:

a) Stop and turn around.
b) Stop and at least climb up to see what's on the other side before proceeding (as in the pictures).
c) Don't stop or look, just hit the gas!

The two lead riders (Pete and Wink) chose option C and it didn't work out so well for them. All that dirt had to come from somewhere, right? Right. In this case it came from a gigantic hole on the other side of the berm. Pete went down and barely got his bike drug off to the side... before Wink comes flying over and also goes down. Here they are shortly after the carnage had been cleaned up a bit (note deep hole):




For the record, Pete and Wink are both OLDER than I am and I'm no spring chicken! Recovery of our Evil Knievel wannabes involved me driving up on the berm slope and winching Wink's bike back up and over. Pete took a run at it from the other side and managed to ride/jump back over with no further carnage. =D>

Undaunted, we decided to ride back out to the main road and turn onto the easy road that heads up to the English Mountain trail. Unfortunately that wasn't possible as there was yet another new berm:



Note that this is the very same spot that you see me riding past in the beginning of my Sierra Mission video. I'm not sure what is going on behind these berms, but it is clear that somebody doesn't want us in there anymore.

On the way back today we stopped by Webber Falls. These are easy to get to, right along Henness Pass road. Here are the upper/smaller falls that dump into a big deep pool that is great for swimming:







The swimming hole then dumps out into this much larger waterfall. If you look closely in the top center, you can see a little blue-clad man (Serge) standing on the other side for scale:



This is looking further east down the Little Truckee River canyon, beyond the falls.



So there you have it, another mostly successful mission.

[EigerMike]

man what a great looking swiming hole!!!!!!! mini mike said we must do that one! are those forest roads that they blocked like that? oh nice pics too!

[roon101]

Hey GG did i ever tell you that i hate YOU!.
5min from your house.
and you can head over that way.

[GrizzlyGuy]

Get Mini Mike a Mini Life Preserver and he's all set! Unless he happens to drift out of the swimming hole, down those high falls, and on to potato heaven.

Yup, the berms were on forest service roads. I've never seen ones that high before. It must be serious business. Maybe they are opening a camp for space aliens over on English Mountain and they don't want anyone to go in there and see the little green men?

Yeah Roon, it sucks to be me. If I had a dirt bike the single-track trailhead would only be 3 minutes away. Or if our housing association would let us ride ATVs on their fire roads, it would be 15 seconds away and I could leave the trailer at home. One of these days when no one is looking I might just...

[ontherks]

Hey GG, there is actually 2 berms on the bowman lake rd side (don't ask me how I know or about the big horn tracks over them. There is a nice graded road road after the berms. It great for hualing ass and drifting now. And a few log deck landings. Looks like SPI got the road ready to log next spring.

[hemingray]

Yeah Roon, it sucks to be me. If I had a dirt bike the single-track trailhead would only be 3 minutes away. Or if our housing association would let us ride ATVs on their fire roads, it would be 15 seconds away and I could leave the trailer at home.

But then there's the winter when his Grizzlies are hibernating under 74 feet of snow...

I'm continually amazed at how hard Our National Forest is to access at times. I read on another web page about driving on Cuckoo Ridge Rd off the 33 road with pictures, and there's a nice gate there now. Road Closed. Why? It must be Somebody Else's National Forest.

[GrizzlyGuy]

Hey GG, there is actually 2 berms on the bowman lake rd side (don't ask me how I know or about the big horn tracks over them. There is a nice graded road road after the berms. It great for hualing ass and drifting now. And a few log deck landings. Looks like SPI got the road ready to log next spring.

LOL! Good intel, and I won't ask how you obtained this intel. Don't ask me how I know this, but our party did become aware of that second berm back behind the first one. But after discovering 3 different berms on 2 different routes in, we were ready to head back to camp and begin the evening festivities.

Yeah Dave, sometimes their closures make no sense. For years I couldn't do that ride as they had a guard-rail-like thingy closing off the perfectly good road between Prosser Hill OHV and Sagehen Road. I just happened to be riding in that area earlier this year and discovered that they had removed it. Why? Who knows...

[avejoe]

Forest Service must keep us out of the forest so we can enjoy it.

[hemingray]

Forest Service must keep us out of the forest so we can enjoy it.

DOH! That must be it! I had not thought of that.

[The Modfather]

Forest Service must keep us out of the forest so we can enjoy it.

BWAAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAA!

This is MONEY!

[camokids]

so how close are these dam burms to each other? i'm heading up that way on the 28th and i'm was going to go up on english mtn. on those same roads and then up to the mine shafts via the road across from canyon creek c.g.
i'm looking at the nat. forest prefered map from their web site and all those roads in that area are open to all legal vehicles! is there a latest version that the tahoe put out?

a question to then riders who came across the "intel" about the burms, are those burms at the private property boundries? or are there burms on the roads off of the road to sawmill and faucherie?

[Mr. Green]

i was camped right down the road from you guys when you where there, was cruzing around on a black quad and a Ranger side by side (cameo). I was 2 spots down on the creek.

Any ways i was out there for 8 days and at first one of those burms was down since they where just packing down and watering when i got there first. The road goes all the way to the top of the ridge thats in the forest on English (if that makes since). Its the nicest smothest roads out there.

p.s. did you guys happen to find a tire repair kit / tool kit on the road

on the ridge of english

theres a road all the way to here


went to echo since i was up there and tried for some golden trout but they didnt like what i had on me


my boys helping me with my belt


i wish i would have seen that my rear compartment was down and all my tools where spilling out...

[auendave]

Nice pics Mr. Green

[Mr. Green]

so how close are these dam burms to each other? i'm heading up that way on the 28th and i'm was going to go up on english mtn. on those same roads and then up to the mine shafts via the road across from canyon creek c.g.
i'm looking at the nat. forest prefered map from their web site and all those roads in that area are open to all legal vehicles! is there a latest version that the tahoe put out?

a question to then riders who came across the "intel" about the burms, are those burms at the private property boundries? or are there burms on the roads off of the road to sawmill and faucherie?

One of the burms you see posted was off the road to sawmill the others bowman road to jackson meadows the latter has a gate as well saying road closed. Why i didnt see any thing posted where i rode , i did see Sierra Pacific posted all over the place in other spots.

[hemingray]

Great pix from up there! I assume the lake is a hike and not a ride?