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It's easy to feel small on this tour among such giants. The Giant Sequoia is one of the largest organisms on earth and a feature of this delightful tour in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. We'll enjoy a few rides within Giant Sequoia National Monument among these living pillars of history, but we'll also explore the excellent collection of trails in the surrounding Sequoia National Forest including the infamous Cannell Plunge. This trail system is highlighted by its large losses of elevation - numerous times we'll start our rides in high pine forest and end in classic California vegetation like oak and chaparral.
Our initial and closing base camp will be alongside the Kern River in a comfortable lodge. It's a very relaxing setting to return to each day after our ride. We'll also spend two nights at the Camp Nelson Lodge in Giant Sequoia National Monument. Both locations will find you enjoying tasty dinners and campfires under the Sierras' starry skies.
We'll meet on the first morning at the Kern River Inn B&B to get everyone loaded up for the first day's ride. This will be our lodging for the first two days, so feel free to book yourself here on your arrival night.
It's hard to argue with our first trail's name: Just Outstanding. The elevation profile alone is just outstanding – we start at 7000 feet and descend to 2400 feet!! The route starts with some very flowy downhill through a pine and cedar forest. As we go down the pines give way to Oaks and Manzanita. A climb follows to the next downhill section, which is slower and more technical. We'll be surrounded by granite all around. We have some climbing to gain the next ridge, but you'll receive plenty of payoff for your work. From the ridge, the bottom falls out with a fast and challenging downhill to the river. Ride length is approximately 18 miles.
Every great mountain bike destination has its signature ride and here it is The Plunge. That's not to say there isn't some climbing along the 26 miles, but the change in topography from top to bottom is breath taking. The group will start out high at 9200 feet and from there the trail goes through pines and along meadows. We climb over a saddle then swoop several miles down a rocky downhill to "Big Meadow". After a little fireroad and singletrack climbing we reach another fun rocky downhill to Cannell Meadow. At this point we leave the big trees and "plunge" 5000 feet in 8 miles to the sagebrush below. Wow. Ride length is approximately 26 miles.
This morning we'll pack everything up early and head up to the Giant Sequoia National Monument. We'll be transferring to the Camp Nelson lodge as well.
Day three is a jaw dropping jaunt through the Giant Sequoias. This is a nearly all-downhill trail that follows the Tule River and navigates through the Wheeler Sequoia Grove. We'll start very high in the Sierras on a recently revitalized section of trail. Two-thirds of the way down, huge Sequoia trees are visible for much of this final section. At one point we actually ride through the middle of a live Sequoia! The vegetation is very lush and the forest is dense with little sunlight getting to the forest floor. The seemingly endless ferns may have you scanning the trees for Ewoks. Ride length is about 12 miles.
We start up in a lush cedar forest and climb up singletrack for several hours. The effort is challenging, but you will enjoy spectacular views of the Needles and the High Sierra along the way. Once at the top we'll take a well-deserved break and enjoy the surroundings that inspired the likes of John Muir. We lose some serious elevation on our descent, and for the brave, some advanced trailside features. Don't worry; almost all the features have ride-arounds. Chocked full of smiles, we come to the Belknap Grove of Giant Sequoias. This is the least visited Sequoia Grove in the Sierras. These trees are huge!!!! You just can't describe it; you just have to see it. More flowy downhill continues with Sequoia groves giving way to pine and oak forest. Ride length is approximately 12 miles.
We bookend our trip with another route through the Giant Sequoias. This time we ride through the incredible Freeman Grove in Giant Sequoia National Monument. We'll start with a short dirt road warm up before turning onto the Freeman Trail. While only 4 miles in length, it never fails that we spend a lot of time stopping to admire these wonderful giants. After the trail ends we finish out on one of the more scenic dirt roads you'll ever pedal on. Ride length is about 11 miles.
After a great week of riding, we'll shuttle everyone back into Kernville to the Kern River Inn B&B. Thanks for joining us on the Giant Sequoia Tour!!!
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