October 29, 2000 - Frederick Watershed Mountain Bike Ride

High Adventure 3D Map of the Trail
Elevation Graph

A few members of the High Adventure Club attacked the mountains and trails in the Frederick Watershed area.   

Riders: Animal (Ed Ramsey), Gadget (Bob Zinn) , and Cyko (John J.)

Below: Animal loads up the bikes for the big ride.

  Ed loads up the bikes at his house.

Ride and Trail Descriptions:

Animal and Gadget took their Mountain Bikes and tackled new trails in the Catoctin Mountains within an area known as the Frederick Watershed.  The watershed is located between Gambrill and Cunningham Falls State Parks.  The parking area is located on Hamburg Road between Gambrill Park Road and Fishing Creek Road.  There are two trailheads across the Hamburg road (North) from the parking area that takes you into the Frederick Watershed area.  Another trail south of the parking area takes you to Gambrill State Park.  Cyko, a pharmacist from Brunswick, Maryland, joined Animal and Gadget.  Cyko drove up as we were just about ready to begin the ride.  Cyko was familiar with the trails in the area and agreed to lead the ride on the North West (left) trail. The weather was partly cloudy with the temperature around 50 degrees. 

The terrain was mostly flat and easy for the first half mile of the ride.  Trail near Hamburg Road Parking Area.  Click to enlarge picture.

During this section of the ride, Bob's front wheel became loose and almost fell off after jumping a few trees.  Quick adjustments were made and the group continued on a mile long 270-foot elevation decent to a small lake.  We had to dismount the bikes to get around a small tree.

  The lake along the trail.  Clik the thumbnail to enlarge picture.

We approached a small lake and took a break. Gadget needed to make additional adjustments to his bike.  The rough riding began to take its toll on his bike.

John and Bob repair the bike.  Click to enlarge  picture.

Animal took pictures of the repair efforts made at the lake.  Before we took off again, Cyko began to tell us stories about when he had jumped off a big rock near this lake.  Animal and Gadget urged him on to repeat the jump off this 6-foot ledge.  He was not wearing his protective knee and elbow gear, and Cyko came to his senses and aborted the reenactment.    One of the many streams along the trail.  Click to enlarge picture.

From the big rock by the lake, we continued a quarter mile down the very steep, rough and narrow trail that paralleled a stream on the left. 

About three quarters of the way, we stopped near a 12-foot drop-off to the stream.  Cyko told us how he jumped the stream from the 12-foot ledge a few weeks ago.  In the process he broke the bike's crank.  Cyko likes to ride trails every week and said he even went on a night ride.  Back to the trail... 

We continued down the steep narrow trail to the Fishing Creek Road.  We turned left onto the road and followed it for about 0.8 miles to a short distance to Delaughter Road.  We turned left on Delaughter and immediately crossed a stream.  Yes, we rode right through the water.  With our shoes and socks soaked, we began to climb. About 3/4 up the mountain we turned left onto a logging trail.  We passed a house on the left and turned left onto another trail that would take us back to the lake and parking area. 

Bob stops to take a breather.  Click to enlarge picture. The team took one more break. Both Animal and Gadget were beat up from the many falls during the ride.  Both had bloody shins that took a few days to heal.  They can't wait to do the ride again.

Ed helps load up the bike.  Click to Enlarge  picture.

Below: Cyko and Gadget are already planning their next trip.

  Cyko and Gadget look over a map of trails in Pennsylvania.


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