Story by Chris Vargas
Well as many of you know two of our club members, Ned Reynolds and Mark
Wilson along with Jim O'Connell and Brian Stockdale decided they'd enjoyed
their evening ride in the Santa Ana's so much they'd turn their ride into a
campout.
Well, that's not entirely true. It seems a ride that was intended to go up
Blackstar across the Main Divide and down the Silverado Motorway was
changed when Ned Reynolds suggested they go down "Smash Face," a very
primitive trail that was built by Edison over 3 years ago to access the
power lines that run up Ladd Canyon and into Riverside.
The Warrior's Society found out about the trail when many residents reported chain saw noise
coming from Ladd. We decided to investigate and I led a group of about 8
riders, including Ned, up to Pleasents Peak where people had reported people
working (I later found out after reporting to the trail to the Forest
Service that it was built under permit by Edison).
The reason we named the Edison Trail "Smash Face" is right at the start of
the ride as we rode up the Motorway to the Main Divide Daryl King took and
unfortunate spill jumping a jump right before we reached the Main Divide. He
took a direct hit to the face and was a bloody mess. Despite looking like
crap and being all bloodied up with a "smash face" Daryl continued on the
ride.
We found the "trail Head" on Pleasents Peak and descended the trail. As I
said, it was a very primitive trail that basically went straight down. If
you intended to ride it you had to have your seat way down and your butt
almost dragging on the ground behind your back tire. Only a few of us were
able to ride it with most of the group walking most of it.
Once you reached the bottom of Ladd Canyon and got to Ladd Creek you had to
take great care not to get into the poison oak. We basically had to enter
the creek and carry our bikes through the mud and poison oak until we found
the exit downstream that allowed us to hike out.
That was the last time any of us rode down it and it has never been
maintained since, a fact that Ned did not know before he decided to lead
Mark, Jim and Brian on this adventure. It was a bad enough trail when we
rode it 3 years ago; you can imagine what it was like for our "lost boys"
when they went down it.
Well, I can't say that they were "lost boys," foolish maybe, but not "lost."
They knew where they were and the way out, but just ran out of light. If
you've ever been down deep in the canyons after dark you just can't see your
hand in front of your face; they did the right thing, they did not panic,
they hunkered down for the night. Unfortunately, a panicked wife, despite
pleas from her husband, called the Sheriff to go "rescue" them.
Ned's Club name is "Lone Wolf." I think his partners on this ride would have
preferred "Lone Wolf" had done this ride "alone." Brian Ephraim suggested we
have a contest to see who can come up with the best name for Ned Reynolds.
Perhaps the award could be a t-shirt or something.
Here are Brian's entries:
Ned "Lost on Trail" Reynolds
Ned "Magellan" Reynolds
Ned "GPS" (Gone Past Sundown) Reynolds
I am sure others can come up with some winners. He deserves a suitable name
for his new found celebrity.
Well here are some do's and don'ts:
by Robin Bryson
The Orange County Register, Thursday, August 25, 2005
SILVERADO - Four experienced mountain bikers left late Tuesday for a three-hour ride in the
Santa Ana Mountains and wound up with a 17-hour adventure friends will never let them forget.
Orange County residents Ned Reynolds, Mark Wilson, Brian Stockdale and Jim O'Connell planned a
standard 20-mile, single-track loop up Black Star Canyon and down the Silverado Motorway.
Then came the chance to ride down a primitive, technically challenging wilderness trail known as
Smash Face.
"It's barely passable as it is, and that's kind of the excitement about the trail," Reynolds
said. "It was fun up until about 8 p.m. and then it wasn't so much anymore."
The four decided to turn off the trail to take on Smash Face, a little-known Southern California
Edison access route that runs down Ladd Canyon.
But the route had become overgrown due to last winter's heavy rains. An already tricky exit from
Ladd Canyon Creek became impossible to find with night falling.
The men - clad in short-sleeved shirts, bike shorts and soaked shoes - decided to hole up for
the night and work their way out after daybreak.
O'Connell called his wife, Heidi, on his cell phone to tell her the plan.
But she was unwilling to wait out the night. About 11 p.m., she called in the Orange County
Sheriff's Department, which initiated a rescue effort.
A Sheriff's Department helicopter made visual contact with the men. The four walked out of the
canyon and were taken to the department's command post at about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
"Sometimes we go in the canyons on lost hiker and lost biker calls and many times the story ends
tragically," sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said. "This time it had a happy ending, so
everybody felt good."
The men carried their bikes up a deer trail to reach warmer air, and dug holes to keep off the
breeze.
"We joked around, told stories and teased each other," Wilson said. "We just tried to make the
best of it."
Other than being tired, and scratched from a little trailblazing, the men came through the night
in good shape. Most picked up medication for poison oak. Wilson headed into the office.
Still, the men are chagrined about the rescue effort, and a bit embarrassed about the attention
it's generated.
"The thing that's the most upsetting to these guys is they didn't need a rescue," Chris Vargas,
executive director of the Warrior Society, said.
Both Reynolds and Wilson belong to the society of adventurers who bike and hike trails that they
keep cleared for the U.S. Forest Service.
Vargas said the four made a big mistake by tackling an unfamiliar trail so late.
"The ordeal is the least of their worries, because when their friends find out that they are the
mountain bikers that got lost, they're not going to hear the end of it," he said.
But the unexpected campout hasn't deterred them.
"We have a ride scheduled for Saturday in the San Gabriel Mountains," Wilson said.
Copyright 2005 The Orange County Register
By Mai Tran
Times Staff Writer, Thursday, August 25, 2005
Four Orange County bicyclists emerged safe Wednesday after being
stranded overnight in Black Star Canyon while following a deer trail,
the Orange County Sheriff's Department reported.
The men found their way out of the steep terrain about 8:45 a.m.
Wednesday after following a stream that led to a house where they
were fed breakfast, department spokesman Jim Amormino said.
The men said they were generally familiar with the area because they
frequently spent their weekends clearing mountain-bike trails in the
Santa Ana Mountains. On Tuesday, they said, they decided to explore a
new path.
The men headed out about 4:30 p.m. for what was expected to be a
three-hour ride along Smash Face Trail, which begins at Silverado
Canyon Road.
But at dusk, a wrong turn led to a 16-hour ordeal. One of the men
called his wife on his cell phone and she notified police. "We knew
how to get out, but it was pretty dark even after the moon came out,"
said Mark Wilson, 41.
The men ate power bars and, with temperatures in the 60s, dug holes
and squeezed into them for warmth while they slept.
A volunteer search-and-rescue team in a helicopter spotted the
group's bicycle reflectors but was unable to get to the men, Amormino
said.
"The area was too remote and had no access and there were too many
hanging power lines for our helicopters to land," he said.
About 4 a.m. Wednesday, rescue crews resumed their search but the men
had left their location, following a creek.
They hiked about two miles, carrying their bikes above their heads
and avoiding patches of poison oak before they reached a house where
a woman gave them bagels and water.
They resumed their hike to their cars when they were spotted by
rescuers, who took them to a nearby church.
"I'm just glad everyone is OK," said Jim O'Connell, 30, of Capistrano
Beach, who had scrapes and cuts on his legs. "It wasn't that bad. If
there was a time to get lost, it was last night. It was not cold. We
had fun. It was a great bonding experience."
Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
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