I've never even been close to either of those two areas...but, #2, appears to be the best bet. Posted by GhostRider a 31 year old Downhiller on 11/07/07
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Re: RFI Kern Breck/Mill Creek loop
Hey DOC...if you want to make a loop out of this ride you may want to do it this way. Go to the Old Kern Canyon Rd just off 178 about a mile after 178 becomes a 4 lane highway. Park at the trail head for Mill Creek (this is where you will finish). Back track by riding down (and UP) back to 178 and back to Cow Flat start (about 2.5 miles). Head up Cow Flat to Breckenridge (15 miles of dirt road, awesome views of the canyon) Road. Then 6 miles of road to Squirell Meadow (the last mile or so of this road is STEEP) where you will find the trail head for Mill Creek. After this it's 7 miles or so of pretty nice S/T down to where your car is waiting. It's a TOUGH ride with all the elevation gain, but it's a GREAT work out! I have a GPS map of it I could send you if you need it. It's approximately 33 miles total mileage with about 5000 feet elevation gain. IMHO you may want to do a different ride if you're in the area if you want ALL s/t...
Jim Scarry Posted by ScarryFast a 42 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a 2001 Stumpy Pro/2003 Titus Switchblade from Bakersfield on 11/23/07
Also, last time I tried this, it got really steep just as I was crossing from Milano Ranch into the NF. It looked like I was still a ways from Squirrel Meadow. Do you mean it gets even steeper further up?
Also also, not so much interested in all-s/t, I like having a good mix on a ride this size.
Hey there Doc...as I recall the road up from Milano Ranch is steep even in granny gear, it's "only" about a mile to a mile and a half but it really is a steep son of a gun. If you want a good mix of fire road and s/t you might want to think about leaving a car at the bridge at Delonegha (about 2 miles from where the 2 lane turns to 4 if you're coming from Bakersfield on 178) and then shuttling up to Shirley Meadows. Start there and do the first part of Just Outstanding then riding Rancheria for about 20 miles or so to Oak Flat. From there it's 16 miles of generally downward s/t to the bridge where you left your car. From there you could make it even longer by heading generally up river towards Keyesville (another 21 miles or so of s/t). Of course then you would need to have left a car at Keyesville instead of the bridge. Someday I'm going to do it this way. We did the Shirley Meadows to the Bridge ride this past spring and it was one of the BEST rides we ever did. 5 of us railed the s/t for an hour and a half down to the bridge, never more than 15-20 yards apart. SWEET! There was a bit of Poison Oak at the start of the S/T at Oak Flat, but it was generally awesome riding. FYI Posted by ScarryFast a 42 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a 2001 Stumpy Pro/2003 Titus Switchblade from Bakersfield on 11/29/07
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