Humbling Experience with MtnRider

Arwen's Mom

Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
Went to Stephens state park today to meet MtnRider. That man can climb like a mountain goat! My husband says to me, while taking the bikes for a walk up this trail "He RODE up that!?" yup. "UGH"

I just kept calling "Ski lift anyone?"
of course once we got to the top, going down was fun. Freaked out Barry just a tad here and there.

But wow, I gotta work on those climbing legs. Maybe that's why I preferred downhilling all those years ago :hmmm:

We first arrived there and parked in the lot near the "Good Shepherd" building. Google maps wasnt much help, neither was the lady in the park office. Had a bit of a hard time figuring out where the "trail head proper" was located. Any help there is appreciated.

We saw LOTS of chipmunks and I got to meet another mtbNJ forum member, so overall it was a good day.
 

pedals

Well-Known Member
It's hard to start from there...we usually go farther down Waterloo rd and make a right just past the jorba field, abt a 1/2 mile on left is Tilcon gate. There is still a bit of climbing there also, but at least you get a warmup. If you ever want to go out during the week, I have time some mornings to ride.
 

jackx

Well-Known Member
Not sure exactly where the "Good Shepherd" building is. Did you start near or go past the Ranger station? Was the "ski hill" the White trail going away from white/red?

Hope you enjoyed Stephen's State Park.
 

Arwen's Mom

Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
It's hard to start from there...we usually go farther down Waterloo rd and make a right just past the jorba field, abt a 1/2 mile on left is Tilcon gate. There is still a bit of climbing there also, but at least you get a warmup. If you ever want to go out during the week, I have time some mornings to ride.


Thanks! Unfortunately due to husband's work schedule we could only try stephen's on a weekend. during the week we stay closer to home.
 

Arwen's Mom

Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
Not sure exactly where the "Good Shepherd" building is. Did you start near or go past the Ranger station? Was the "ski hill" the White trail going away from white/red?

Hope you enjoyed Stephen's State Park.

Actually is was a red trail we picked up from orange. Dave and I dubbed it the Hellacious climb and the Holy Shit down.

I enjoyed the "down" sections immensely... and the abundance of chipmunks :D
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
Nice to hear you're trying new places! Stephens is probably my favorite park to ride (though it's hard to choose one). I was out there this morning too bad I didn't run into you guys. If you ride the white trail clockwise it's not super tough to get to the top. Keep hitting the hills and you'll be amazed at how much progress you can make!

BTW I hope you were generous with the bug spray. I found two hitchhikers, thankfully both were still crawling when I got to them. I stop every 10-15 mins to do a tick check anyway. SSP is one of those places where I ALWAYS find at least one unless its like 30 degrees or cooler.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
BTW if you want a "holy shit down" try the unmarked trail that comes off of the western end of blue. I like to call it "kamikaze". Its basically a fall line trail turned into an erosion ditch and it is super sketchy!
 

jackx

Well-Known Member
Actually is was a red trail we picked up from orange. Dave and I dubbed it the Hellacious climb and the Holy Shit down.

I enjoyed the "down" sections immensely... and the abundance of chipmunks :D

It sounds to me like you took Orange up and then continued on Orange downhill to red (which I think would be traveling on the Orange trail in a counter clockwise direction. I don't typically go on the super rocky side of orange (i.e. counter clockwise from White towards Red, as I recall it can be insanely rocky. The Orange trail clockwise from the White trail is a nicer downhill back to the Ranger Station.
 

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