Bikepacking The Baldy Bruiser – Hardest Tour Yet

Bikepacking The Baldy Bruiser – Hardest Tour Yet

Around this time a year ago, I was already wrapping up a 3000+ mile bike ride across the country. Now, a year later, it is certainly different.

Instead of going on a huge epic bike ride, I had barely made it out to a couple of bike trips, one to Refugio State Beach in May and then a quick overnight jaunt into the nearby mountains for National Bike Travel weekend.

I would have been on my way to New York City from Chicago at this time if my Chicago to New York tour with Adventure Cycling Association had not been canceled (we needed just 1 more participant).

So when my friends, Jeff & Lori, emailed me to see if I wanted to attempt the Baldy Bruiser, I became curious. It was their attempt to get back to riding shape for the Great Divide. They had ridden the Divide last year starting from the border of Mexico and New Mexico all the way up to Butte, Montana. They were forced to stop due to the inclement weather conditions. This July, they are planning to continue north from Butte until they end their journey at the new finish line in Jasper, Alberta.

What is the Baldy Bruiser?

The Baldy Bruiser is a bikepacking route that was created by a gentleman named Cass Gilbert who posted the route on Bikepacking.com.

It starts at Big Bear Lake and follows fire roads to the Pasadena area.  The trail is only 146 miles long, but don’t let the short mileage fool you. The ascent is 19,300 feet within those short mileage. It’s essentially on dirt trails 80% of the time. It’s rated at 7.5 out of 10 in terms of difficulty.

Some of the more curious photos are of riders carrying their bikes over large boulders.

This definitely piqued my interest.

The climax of the ride surrounds the mountain Mount Baldy on both ends of the route, where you reach about 7800 feet at the highest point. All indications point to one of the most difficult rides in my life.

Disappointed riders

Riders

Besides myself, Jeff, and Lori, we had 2 more riders who joined us. One of them is Sang, my brother-in-law, who ridden with me on multiple occasions, including across the country on the Southern Tier / Tour de Forty last year.

The other rider is Wesley. Wesley was one of the original participants who jumped on board my MeetUp group that I started a few years ago. He has since been on multiple solo bike touring rides and has recently moved onto offroad riding with his new Surly ECR. He recently completed the Stage Coach 400 route prior to this trip and was excited to compare that ride to the Baldy Bruiser.

In other words, we were all experienced bike travelers, but all that didn’t really matter as this ride unfolded.

Waiting for a rider

Equipment

Knowing that this would be a challenging ride, I knew it would be beneficial to pack as light as possible. Here is what I brought on my ride (some links may go to affiliate site):

Riding the Metrolink to San Bernardino

Day 1

We all agreed to meet on the 2nd Metrolink Train (302) coming out of Los Angeles Union Station on the morning of.  Wesley jumped on from Union Station, and I was to meet him at the following station in Cal State LA. We then caught up with Jeff, Lori and Sang at the Claremont stop.

It was a familiar and warm reunion as we caught up with one another’s lives. Our conversation was around the various trips we’ve all been on since the last time we saw each other, which was over a year ago.

When we finally made it to our last stop in San Bernardino, I realized I had left my Osprey Hydration backpack on the train and had to wait another 20 minutes before the train allowed passengers to board for the trip back into Los Angeles.

This was the first of many unfortunate incidents on this trip.

Ignorance is Bliss

Before I start writing about our journey, I want to mention that sometimes being ignorant is a good thing, but this time around, it certainly kicked us in the butt.

We ambitiously thought we would be able to tack on an additional 8000 feet of riding from the San Bernardino Metrolink station up to Big Bear. What we thought would only take a day and a half, took us 2 whole days of miserable riding and walking.

I digress so let’s get into some saddle time on the bike.

Single Track Walk

The Detour

We rode about 6 miles east towards the trailhead and decided to stop by at a Farmer Boys restaurant to have lunch. As soon as we got out, I looked down at my front tire and realized that I suffered my first flat.

“No problem,” I thought. Unfortunately, the tube I had brought with me was also defective. Instead, I spent valuable minutes patching the punctured tube which was caused by nasty goat heads.

To be on the safe side of things, we decided to go get some spare tubes as I did not have any more at this point. We went to the nearest Target only to find that they did carry the 26″ tubes, but only with a Schraeder valve. I needed a Presta valve. :/

We were already 4 miles off our route, but we reluctantly decided to continue to ride south into the City of Redlands to the nearest bike shop. By the time I got out of the bike shop with 2 new Presta tubes and a patch kit, I had a $25 charge on my credit card and an extra 5 miles away from our route…, which meant we added 10 additional miles for the day and a few more hours.

I personally felt responsible for this debacle as I should have been more vigilant about my equipment, but everybody seemed to be okay with this unexpected detour.

This is how I knew that we were all going to get along just fine for this ride.

Day 1 Wild Camp

A Daunting Single Track Ride

We finally got back on our route and found Greenspot Road. We proceeded to go east until we found Weaver Street. That was where the initial ascent began. Weaver became Highland Avenue as we continued to get closer to the foothill of the mountains.

We eventually made a right on Van Leuven Lane where the road seemed to steepen further. By the time we made it to the water tower, everybody’s heart rate was up and our backs wet with sweat. We finally saw our dirt trail for the first time.

The single track riding wasn’t too bad, however, combined with the hot conditions, it made things unbearable.

Luckily, we found sanctuary through several water sources. To be able to quench our thirst and filter a few liters of water helped rejuvenate our spirits. A few of us were worried about not having a water source as we ventured up the mountains.

We eventually made it out to wider fire roads. What felt like 20 miles on paved road was merely 3 or 4 miles. The climbing was relentless. As 6 PM rolled by, we decided it was time to make dinner on top of a plateau off the side of the road.

By the time 8 PM rolled around, any flat location for overnight camping was looking really good. We passed up several locations which served as a base camp for folks who were target shooting. There’s something discomforting to see the entire ground covered by bullet shells and pieces of clay discs.

We finally settled on a turnout overlooking San Bernardino. Discretion was not the goal as we knew we wouldn’t be asked to leave if anybody found us up there. The only vehicles rolling through were random explorers in their 4 x 4 trucks. Probably looking for a spot to shoot their guns. We actually heard a few rounds go off overnight.

Each of us unloaded our bikes and set up camp. Tonight wasn’t going to include a shower, so baby wipes were going to be used instead as the next night promised an indoor location.

Day 2 - A Long Way Up

We all agreed to be up early to start our ascent towards Big Bear. Everyone knew it would take us the entire day and night to get up to the lake.

The ride was actually really pleasant on this second day. We actually had some downhills to enjoy in between the climbs. This was something different than the previous day.

We even got to a nice river section where we took a few hours to enjoy our lunch and dip into the water to cool off. A nice treat before the inevitable 4000 feet of climbing.

We even rode pass a rattlesnake sunning itself on the road.

There were plenty of off-road vehicles and motorcycles to share the fire roads with us on this day. With a flick of their wrists or a gentle press of their pedals they easily put the miles between us while creating a fine cloud of dust for us to ride through.

The ride after lunch can easily be described by one word, “miserable.” Most of the journey was spent off the saddle as we got over to Clarks Grade. We quickly learned that any roads that had the word “Grade” on it meant that it was going to be steep. Clark’s Grade was not an exception. I pretty much walked the entire way up Clark’s Grade until we reached the Big Bear side on Skyline Drive.

By the time we reached the top, it was almost 9 PM and the weather dropped down to low 60s or maybe even in the 50s. We quickly pulled on our riding jackets and turned on our riding lights.

Once again, my equipment failed me. My front light after a few minutes of usage, self-dimmed and I was riding in the dark. Luckily, I had a headlamp and used that to help navigate in the darkness. It took us another hour or so to get off the fire roads.

Wesley & Jeff Walking Up

Much Needed Indoor Stay

We ended up on the road at the south end of the lake on Big Bear Blvd. We were all exhausted as we traveled across town with one thing on our mind, “Get to Motel 6.”

This may not have been spoken, but everybody’s pace quickened as we quietly pedaled through town, past the lake and eventually made it at the hotel lobby to check-in to our rooms.

I shared a room with Wesley and Sang while Jeff and Lori was on their own. We all agreed to meet up at 9AM the next morning.

Our hotel keys had the comforting logo for the town’s Dominoes Pizza. We took advantage of this information and ordered a large pizza and a 2 liter Coke.

The pizza arrived within 30 minutes and was consumed faster than that. We all cleaned up from the past 2 days of being in the wild. We were exhausted and happy to be indoors on a bed, even if it meant sharing with another person.

Day 3 - Altitude Sickness Is Real

My body didn’t allow me to sleep in the next day. Instead of waking up at 8 to get ready, I was wide awake at 6. Shortly afterward, Wesley and Sang were talking about having breakfast at 8 AM.

We ended up walking over to the Broadway Cafe. Jeff and Lori also joined us at 8. Luckily for us, there was an all you can eat pancake breakfast on the menu. Everybody took advantage of this feast, but only Wesley and I ordered more pancakes on top of our initial breakfast.

The owner and staff were super friendly and asked us where we were headed. I highly recommend stopping there if you have the chance.

Once we got back to our room, we packed up our bikes and got out by 9:30. The plan was to restock over at the supermarket back in town before hitting the road again.

Once we got to the supermarket, we took turns watching the bikes and do our shopping. I picked up my supplies at the Dollar Store, while other folks shopped at the Vons or Stater Brothers.

Before we threw our legs on our bikes to find the next part of our ride, Wesley confessed that he wasn’t feeling good. He said he had a headache and was feeling bloated. We initially thought it was the food that he had been eating, but he later told us he had felt this way in previous trips up to Big Bear.

Having seen this on my trips with Adventure Cycling in Colorado, I knew this was a common symptom of altitude sickness.

We all had a quick discussion and agreed to stay an extra day in Big Bear while Wesley acclimated to the thin air.

Checking in Serrano Campground

Taking a Zero

A quick Google search found us a campground along the way out called Serrano Campground. They had about 6 sites opened for walk-ins at $35 a night.

We visited a local Starbucks for some more caffeine and a local bike shop before we checked into the campground.

The campground was occupied by larger groups spending their first few days of summer vacation with their kids and family.

No surprise, we were the only group there without a motor vehicle. It provided an easy ice breaker for other campers to approach us as we tell them where we rode in from and where we were planning to go.

As soon as quiet hour came around, the campground was absolutely still. You could hear nearby neighbors enjoy their deep slumber through rhythmic breathing.

Day 4 - It Was BAD

To say that this day was bad is an understatement.  I should, however, recognize that we all made it through the day in one piece without major injuries. That’s really what’s important here. As much as I complain, we did not suffer from injuries or worst yet.

With that in mind, today’s ride was pretty bad in my humble opinion. Yes, it started out great with a gradual climb to the fire road on Rim of the World Drive which is on the North side of the lake.

The descent was fantastic until we came into Holcomb Creek. That was when the terrain became treacherous. The road became unfriendly as it pointed up steep sandy ramps.

On several occasions, we lost footing while pushing our bikes up. Many of us toppled over as we slipped onto our rear ends. On other occasions, we needed to pick up our bikes and carry it over boulders. Jeff took the worst of these crossings by losing his footing and having his bike crash down, head first with him. Luckily, he didn’t suffer more than a few scratches. His bike also was dinged up, but was rideable.

I had myself a mental meltdown after I had to retrieve my food bag when it was dislodged from my Salsa Anything cage. I had to hike back about a mile before finding it. I didn’t feel comfortable scaling some of these rather technical mountain bike trails and boulder drop-offs.

I foolishly threatened to leave the trip once we made it out of these rocky terrains exclaiming, “I’m not having fun anymore.” I must have sounded pretty pathetic, but I wasn’t the only one who shared this feeling as Lori also did not enjoy herself. Once we got back on paved roads in Lake Arrowhead, I used this angry emotion to power myself to endure a long climb up Hook Creek Road.

Riding down to Holcomb Creek

A Mirage?

At the top of Hook Creek Road, Jeff and I stopped to wait for the rest of our group and to our surprise, we spotted the Cedar Glen Malt Shop.

It was a burger and shake kinda place which had a 50s diner feel and the aroma of fresh burger patties being grilled while their fryers were busy doing its job of making crispy vegetables.

Our spirits were lifted as soon as the food arrived, and we all savored the delicious goodness of our meal. That was a welcoming surprise, and we were so grateful to have that show up at that point in time. It’s funny how the road gives and takes. At this moment, it was almost redeeming itself from the earlier torture that it had put us through.

Camping Where?

Our lodging plan was very loose on this day. We naively thought we would make it over to Blue Jay, which was about 6 miles Southwest of Lake Arrowhead.

Realistically, we were all drained and would rather take in a shorter ride at the time and do more miles the next day.

Our Google search yielded a campground called the North Shore Campground, which was about 2 miles away. We would have to take the main road at Highway 173 to the Northeast area of the lake. This campground was on top of another grueling climb across the street from the hospital. Kind of comforting to know that we weren’t too far from a facility in case something happened.

The campground was a first come first serve with very few campers. There was probably about 3 other groups there besides us. There were no showers, but they had running water. This was our first night where mosquitos became a problem.

We all set up camp, cleaned ourselves first and then tended to our bikes. All I remember was that I was out as soon as my head hit the sleeping pad that night. The strain from the day finally brought relief to the evening.

Bouldering across the path

Day 5 - Finally Enjoying It

The next morning, we left the campground without anybody coming up to us to collect our camping fee. It was unintentional as we had our money ready to pay but nobody came around.

We rolled out of the area and tried to find a diner for breakfast near the Jensen’s Minute Shoppe. The only diner in the area was closed for renovation so we bought food from Jensen’s deli.

After breakfast, we discussed what was the plan for the day. We thought we would make it out to Lytle Creek. This would require some more tough riding with some serious elevation gains and loss.

We followed some really confusing routes out of Lake Arrowhead through many narrow isolated roads that took us into Blue Jay and then Aqua Fria before we left the neighborhood streets and rejoined the familiar rutted out dirt roads.

We pushed our bikes once again up the dirt grade and found ourselves on a shaded plateau where we had our first glimpse of Mount Baldy. The mountain range seemed so far away as we tried to outline our path on distant trails. We renegotiated our final resting spot to be at Silverwood Lake State Recreation Site.

This meant it was going to be a shorter day in terms of mileage. As if the riding gods heard us, the remainder of the ride was much easier as we descended down the fire roads to reach the other side onto Highway 138 with a smoother and faster cruise into the Silverwood Lake campgrounds.

The Last Campground

Silverwood Lake campgrounds were $45 for a primitive site and $50 for a site with water and electrical. Since we didn’t have any of these amenities, we decided to splurge and get ourselves a site with water and electrical outlets for our drained electronics.

The first campground we were assigned was not shaded, so Sang scouted out the area and found a better site with more coverage and went back to the check-in kiosk to change our reservation. They kindly obliged.

Jeff and Wesley decided to see if they can get to the camp store to pick up some cold drinks. Jeff came back with some goodies while Wesley decided to stay at the beach to dip into the water.

We spent much of our afternoon lounging and chit chatting about the trip, discussing whether or not the next day would be our last day of riding as Wesley needed to get back for work. Lori was pretty much done with the ride as well. We all agreed that this was a better conclusion to the ride than suffering through more of the anticipated climbs.

We enjoyed some good quarter showers before we all watched a rookie mobile home driver try to back his trailer into a space for over an hour. Reality TV at its best.

Map meeting

Day 6 - Homeward Bound

The next morning we rolled out of the campground by 8 AM. We got back onto Highway 138 and circumnavigate around the other side of Silverwood Lake. This is an impressively sized lake.

We rode up the wide shoulder for a few more miles before we found the trailhead to Cleghorn Pass.

I felt much stronger this day. I spent most of my time on the saddle as we slowly made it up and over the mountains. I did suffer from another flat tire, which I quickly replaced with my last inner tube (I forgot to mention that I had my second flat on Day 4).

Interestingly enough, the route that we took did not match what was used for the original Baldy Bruiser route. I later discovered that the fire roads were recently repaved so that it wasn’t as steep and daunting. Many of the trails that the original route wanted us to go on were closed off, making it an easier ride than expected. Thank goodness for that!

In the end, we found ourselves face to face with Mount Baldy once again before our long descent into Cajon Pass. We saw glimpses of Victorville and Highway 15 with cars making their way north towards Las Vegas or coming home from the high desert.

We all eventually made it off the fire roads at the Cajon Junction. Everyone inflated their tires back with more air for the on-road travel and continued our journey home on Cajon Blvd which is the old Route 66 road (a preview for my future fall trip with Adventure Cycling).

We were getting hungry as we churned in more miles on the way home so, at Devore, we decided to visit Papa Tony’s Diner. This was a bustling diner when Route 66 road was around. Now it’s tucked away from the new road only to be discovered by nostalgic diner hunters.

We all enjoyed a final meal together with an assortment of burgers, steak, and Mexican food before getting back on our 2 wheeled steeds to ride the remaining miles back into Fontana and joining up with a busy population of pick-up trucks and impatient drivers.

We made it there with 20 minutes to spare before the next train left after 4 PM. We were all glad to jump onboard and exited the train at our respective stations. We wished each other a safe journey home and promised to finish this ride in November when all of us wrap up other rides of our own.

Group ride out of Silverwood Lake

One Week Later

Now that I’ve been home for the past week, I can’t help but feel nostalgic about our trip. Even though it was the toughest riding I’ve ever done, it was actually really fun.

Throughout the ride, we jokingly commented on the level of fun we were having. Level 1 was that we were having fun while it was happening. This was what you would hope to achieve every time you’re doing something enjoyable. Then there’s Level 2 fun, which is a miserable during the time of the the event, but you later think back and resolved that it was actually fun. Finally, there was Level 3 where you almost died doing the activity only to look back and thought it was fun. During the ride, I swayed between Level 2 and 3 and leaned more on Level 3, but now that I’ve had some time to think, this was more of a Level 2 kind of fun.

I find myself missing it even though it took so much for us to get through. The saying,”What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” certainly applies here. Believe it or not, I feel that I’ve grown just as much as I did when doing my cross country ride last year in those 6 days. That’s why I can’t wait to wrap this ride up in November as we pick up from where we left off and make our way to Pasadena. Who knows, the Great Divide may not be just a pipe dream especially when Jeff and Lori said the Baldy Bruiser is a much more difficult ride.

Are you interested in doing the Baldy Bruiser? Is this ride on your bucket list or have you checked it off? In any case, let me know your thoughts about it in the comments below. If you have any questions, feel free to ask as well in the comments. I’d be happy to share my knowledge.

Resources

For your convenience, here are some links that will help with your planning.

  • Closest Bike Shops in San Bernardino
    • Cyclery USA, 415 Tennessee St Redlands, CA 92373, (909) 792-2444
    • Don’s Bike Shop, 700 E Redlands Blvd Redlands, CA 92373, (909) 792-3399 – WE DID NOT VISIT
Tent view
3 Comments
  • Anonymous
    Posted at 12:50h, 16 July

    did the baldy bruiser on june 25th 2019 was one of my favorite trips ever, little creek to baldy was the hardest part, until the skilifts and mountain resort appeared out of thin air! I brought a full suspension mountain bike and am glad I did, the devils staircase was 100 percent ridable and the first day was 99 percent ridable for me so much fun only got to level 3 on the hike a bike up baldy, from there out was so amazing with a screaming road ride decent to camp Williams where we slept by the river we thought about your v ideo a lot on our trip as it was the only one out there you almost have to be a real mtb rider to enjoy this route, or else it will probably be the hardest thing youll do

    • Johnny Lam
      Posted at 23:06h, 01 October

      Wow, thanks for watching!

  • Anonymous
    Posted at 13:16h, 17 July

    was incredible ride, you need a full suspension bike to ride it all without walking the climb up to baldy from little creek is the hardest day