Sourlands Mountain Preserve Conditions
- Thread starter clarkenstein
- Start date
TurkeyTenderloins
New Member
Way way way way to many leaves! Did I mention there were a lot of leaves?! Made it hard to navigate and see the trail.
TeamMuddySprocket
Well-Known Member
12 miles! Wish I wasn't working all weekend..
THATmanMANNY
Well-Known Member
Ate me up and spit me out. It didnt't stop there, just banged my knee on table.
And speaking of leaves... I'm thankful for them. Again gave my map to someone, lost my bearing and ended up going down the connector along Devils Half Acre- Mistake, as I thought I was under control and flew over the handle bars landing about 7 feet below my bike... thankfully. Right in front of a young scout troop... The leaves saved my ass with only a light scrape.
The leaves are a shade brighter where the trail is, at least its worked for me-
The leaves are a shade brighter where the trail is, at least its worked for me-
J-Dro
Well-Known Member
Hopewell Road? I'm confused. Where is this Hopewell Road?
I think Hopewell road is the Conserve (the hunterdon side) versus the Preserve.
So here's my report from Saturday midday with J-Dro:
Snow Conditions: 5" of cold, light, untracked powder in a few spots (= good). Boot tracked to hell in most spots (= bad). (Snow was coming down hard so probably another inch or 2 now.)
Tire Setup: 26 x 2.1" Kenda Nevegal DTC 20psi (with tubes)
Started out on our normal clockwise route from the parking lot to Post 13 to Post 12 to Post 10. This was very boot-tracked. Downhill in boot tracks was manageable but flats or climbing was very difficult, and impossible if the pitch got steep or if your wheel got knocked off track by a hidden root or stick. A lot of granny gear and bar-sawing was going on. A fat bike probably woulda made this easier but I dunno. Wooden bridges were instant fall if you pedaled or turned the bars on them at all. We walked most of them. From Post 10, we rode right back toward the pipeline, thinking we were gonna give up, but on that short, flat stretch I found untouched powder and discovered that it was very nice to ride in! J-Dro decided to bail there but I turned around an headed back toward Post 10 and then to Post 9. This section was also boot-tracked and difficult and there was lots of bridge walking. Once I finally got to Post 9, the "left-straight" option to Post 8 was very boot-tracked but the right "C" trail option was UNTOUCHED powder. I climbed the "C" trail all the way to Post 8 and only dabbed a few times! It was AWESOME pedaling up that climb in untouched powder! When I got to Post 8, I saw that the trail heading further up the mountain was boot-tracked so I decided against it and descended the boot-tracked "left-straight" trail back to Post 9. This was sketchy but doable. Then when I got back to Post 9, I decided to do a second loop up to Post 8 and back since it was so awesome the first time. The second loop was just as good but after it, I was gassed and headed back to the car.
My advice for any park this week is unless it's completely packed smooth or completely untouched powder, riding will suck. Anyone wanna drag a weighted sled behind them as they hike out a loop somewhere?
Right before I discovered that fresh powder was nice by Post 10:
First tracks on the "C" trail climbing toward Post 8:
Made it to Post 8:
Snow Conditions: 5" of cold, light, untracked powder in a few spots (= good). Boot tracked to hell in most spots (= bad). (Snow was coming down hard so probably another inch or 2 now.)
Tire Setup: 26 x 2.1" Kenda Nevegal DTC 20psi (with tubes)
Started out on our normal clockwise route from the parking lot to Post 13 to Post 12 to Post 10. This was very boot-tracked. Downhill in boot tracks was manageable but flats or climbing was very difficult, and impossible if the pitch got steep or if your wheel got knocked off track by a hidden root or stick. A lot of granny gear and bar-sawing was going on. A fat bike probably woulda made this easier but I dunno. Wooden bridges were instant fall if you pedaled or turned the bars on them at all. We walked most of them. From Post 10, we rode right back toward the pipeline, thinking we were gonna give up, but on that short, flat stretch I found untouched powder and discovered that it was very nice to ride in! J-Dro decided to bail there but I turned around an headed back toward Post 10 and then to Post 9. This section was also boot-tracked and difficult and there was lots of bridge walking. Once I finally got to Post 9, the "left-straight" option to Post 8 was very boot-tracked but the right "C" trail option was UNTOUCHED powder. I climbed the "C" trail all the way to Post 8 and only dabbed a few times! It was AWESOME pedaling up that climb in untouched powder! When I got to Post 8, I saw that the trail heading further up the mountain was boot-tracked so I decided against it and descended the boot-tracked "left-straight" trail back to Post 9. This was sketchy but doable. Then when I got back to Post 9, I decided to do a second loop up to Post 8 and back since it was so awesome the first time. The second loop was just as good but after it, I was gassed and headed back to the car.
My advice for any park this week is unless it's completely packed smooth or completely untouched powder, riding will suck. Anyone wanna drag a weighted sled behind them as they hike out a loop somewhere?
Right before I discovered that fresh powder was nice by Post 10:
First tracks on the "C" trail climbing toward Post 8:
Made it to Post 8:
I'll try to swing over today, but it is very doubtful.
As an aside, east mt road is closed towards the carrier clinic - approach from amwell or mountain view.
i doubt it too. its probably very similar to the conditions at 6MR. the mountain faces just the right way where there won't be as much melt as you would expect. i still have a foot in my backyard and i'm very very close to the sourlands.
the exposed spots are probably ok, but i doubt most of the woods will be ok.
during/after the snow on sunday/monday i plan on skiing it again. conditions were prime not too long ago for that.