Ancients is my favorite loop, and it's good in both directions. I usually ride it clockwise from the circle and use circle switch and Jack's to get to it. You do NOT want to ride Jack's at the end of Ancients counterclockwise so keep that in mind. If you're looking for not brutal maybe skip Jack's altogether.
Yes, that's my Ancients loop. Circle Switch is a tough climb right off the bat, Jack's is super techy, Ancients has some tough climbs but i love the isolation feeling on Ancients. The link does connect you - technically a very short section of Twisty Deer Path proper does. You'll do a short punchy up at the end of Shelf, then cross over yellow doubletrack onto the link which will twist a few times and start going downhill. There are a few intersections in short succession there which can be confusing but just have the app out at that point and you should figure it out. The second left after crossing over Yellow is Jack's. I also think there's a rubber dog head or something marking the start of Jack's.Ok so if
Ok so if I understand correctly, and looking at trail forks to determine this, park at circle (before/after, got it), Ride a clockwise loop: take the yellow trail for a very short time to “circle switch“, continue on to “Shelf”, use “Twisty Deer Path Link” to get over to “Jacks”, then pick up “Ancients” at the end of that and that pretty much takes you back to the parking?
mine thing I notice is on Trailforks, that twisty deer path link trail doesn’t actually connect but comes close to continuing on to Jacks. I’m assuming you can connect some way cause it’s so close?
or am i supposed to do something else?
Sorry for the questions - I’m trying to do this and not waste too much time getting lost and backtracking, cause I have a limited time window.
thanks
New trail off of Ancients near the top of purgatory hill. 👍🚲🐕
Quite possible.Old trail, newly discovered I assume you mean.
How are conditions otherwise? Were the trails leaf blown this year?
it's all rocks so that loop is probably fine. you'll leave muddy but the most of it is honestly between the road and the bottom of circleHow’s the freeze-thaw cycle at High Mountain? I can see the trail reports from TrailForks at the bottom (great widget!) but the reports are only as good as when posted.
I know from previous posts and experience that the singletrack sections drain pretty well, but does the singletrack also hold up well during the freeze-thaw season? I just need a taste of circle-switch, shelf, twisty deer path, and jacks (maybe (I like to keep my organs in their original locations)).
It’s going to be in the 40’s today and I’d like to try and ride without freezing my body parts off for once in the last few weeks.
@RickVaughn , thanks!it's all rocks so that loop is probably fine. you'll leave muddy but the most of it is honestly between the road and the bottom of circle
I saw two whitetail poaching setups in high mountain today, one off ancients and one off of Jack’s. Auto feeders next to tree stands.
Poaching really grinds my gears, I grew up hunting in New England where the deer aren’t acclimated to humans like in jersey, hard to get anywhere near them without spooking them. Even so, forget feeders, a saltlick was considered cheating. Poaching in a non legal park is like shooting them in a pen, pure laziness. And who knows what feed they are using. A lot of them use corn because it’s cheap but it’s terrible for deer.
Good luck. The hunters are cops. Have fun getting rid of them.1-855-OGT-TIPS
855-648-8477
Fish game wildlife hotline
Good luck. The hunters are cops. Have fun getting rid of them.
👎Good luck. The hunters are cops. Have fun getting rid of them.
It’s possible. The one off of ancients is close to the golf course, that did cross my mind. The one off jacks I doubt, but cant confirm.I was riding through that area at night 3 years ago and ran into 2 guys setting up trail cams and bait areas. They were passiac sheriff officers and said they were on golf course land, insisted it was legal. They used a hunting land map app, and from what they showed me they were on golf course property (so was that section of ancients). They also claimed that parts of Jacks ran through course property, not sure how that is possible. Is it possible the areas you saw were on course property? I questioned that Wayne had a no firearm discharge ordinance and they said that was lifted for deer control... hard to argue laws with law enforcement, but seemed fishy. I ride with my dog at night so I stopped hitting that section during deer season... he has a white tail.
Yeah, at the end of the day I’m not going to narc, but I like to vent. Their setups are pretty blatant so I’m sure someone’s already said something.Pissing off illegal hunters that happen to be police officers sounds like a good way to increase scrutiny at the recent explosion in newly discovered trails at High Mountain.