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Subject: Boggs to Harbin Hot Springs/Middletown
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 00:55:33 EDT


This past weekend was the BTC-East Bay, Boggs Mtn Bike Camping trip. This was
the first of 3 multi day trips planned by the club this summer. There were
about 12 riders, during the weekend. A great time was had, and I am sure
Eric, who was the ride leader, is planning on doing a full ride report about
the trip. I did one ride with the club, on Friday, in which we rode 22 miles,
and included all the singletrack in the park. This report is about a solo
ride I did on Saturday.

I have done Boggs, located about 10 miles from Middletown, in Lake County, 2
times before this weekend. I enjoy riding the buff, legal singletrack, but
find the lack of variety in park limits it appeal to me. I much prefer the
challenges of Coe, the excitment of Downieville, or the beauty of Marin. I
wanted to be part of the BTC camping trip, but one ride in the park would be
enough. To make things more interesting, my plan for the second day was to
try to find a dirt route down to Harbin Hot Springs, and then ride from there
to Middletown to be picked up for the car ride back to the Bay Area. I had to
be in Middletown no later than 2pm. If I missed the appointed time I was
screwed. Eric warned me he had wedding to go to, and would wait 10 minutes
and no more.

I tried to find if anyone had done a dirt ride from Boggs to Middletown, and
while one person said he heard of someone who did it, I was unable to contact
anyone who could give me advice. I tried, with no luck to get a detailed topo
map, but did have a large scale topo map out of the DeLorma book. I also had
a AAA road map for Lake County, and the trail map for Boggs Mountain. None of
the maps were very helpful. I wasn't at all certain that I would be able to
take dirt down to hot springs or to town.

There were several dirt roads that go off from the park, and after doing a
short ride with the group Saturday morning, I chose Big Springs and just
started following it down. Some of the other dirt roads looked like they
might hit pavement soon after leaving the park, and I really wanted to see if
I could do this on jeep/logging/fire roads. Boggs is at about 3,200' of
elevation, and Middletown might be 500 or 1,000'. So, I hoped to have a big
downhill. The dirt road descended quickly, but then forked. I chose the more
used one, and in a short period it forked again. This continued for a couple
of miles. I would go a short distance and then have to make a choice. I did
not come across any buildings, or signs (like No Trespassing), and little
evidence of vehicle use. It was exciting to think that probably no cyclist
had been on some of these dirt roads, but I was also somewhat nervous about
dead ends, or coming to fence, or getting totally lost. Since there was such
a maze of roads, at this point going back, and retracing my route, would be
almost impossible, and also I was descending like crazy, it would be a very
hard ride back up.

Several more forks and choices and the road conditions started to get worse.
The woods at the top gave way to more open areas, with great vistas of
canyons and beyond. Coming around a corner I startled some cows, which fled
down the road. The road was getting more washed out, and I crossed a small
creek, all the time descending. After about 4 miles, and maybe 2,000' of
vertical downhill (almost like a ride down Tam) I came to a gated fence,
which I climbed over, with pavement just on the other side.

I guessed the road was Big Rock Canyon, and I had a 5 mile pavement ride to
Harbin Hot Springs. I still had a couple of hours before the scheduled pick
up, in town, so I soaked in the large warm pool, swam laps in the spring fed
cold pool, had an ice latte on the deck of the cafe, and even did a short
ride on some singletrack at the resort. I felt totally refreshed and then did
the 3 miles of pavement to Middletown.

So, the adventure turned out very well. I'm not sure if the next time I am in
Boggs (if there is a next time) I will try to do something like this again.
Again I am impressed with the places my bike takes me, and the good times
that I have cycling.

Danny Forer