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| Description.
Start
at or near the spring (see Circuit 1) but
follow the dirt road further uphill and you will soon arrive at a
fork. Take the left road which traverses the hillside and soon forks
again - keep to your left. You will arrive at a fence and tall gate
that says 'Los Palmitos'. Carry your bikes across the fence with some
difficulty (Mel and JJ know the owners so this is OK; perhaps later
a ramp will be built to pass this fence). Continue along; on the left
you will see a hillock with a switchbacking dirt road cut into it.
If you like steep climbs, make the detour to the top of this hill;
it is centrally located within the Potrero and has a great view. Continue
along the dirt track which forks again. Follow either fork - the right
one is a little more adventurous. The forks rejoin but soon divide
once again - follow the right fork. As you enter an arroyo, turn sharply
left and downhill. The singletrack begins here. Pass the old, abandoned
homestead of Las Tenerías and admire the huge pecan trees that
grow in the arroyo, giving it shade. Continue downhill on the trail,
keeping more or less to the left bank. A mildly technical descent
follows, including rough sections, a log crossing, and a narrow bridge
of railroad ties. There is also a small spring on the right. After
another downhill run, the trail turns sharply right and enters an
area of thorny thickets. The trail continues serpentine but level
for a bit, then starts rising where the Potrero's main arroyo can
be seen momentarily on the left. Near here you'll hop the fence again.
Continue along on the gently rising, long singletrack in a south-easterly
direction. Easy at first, the trail becomes increasingly more challenging
after it crosses a gravelly wash. There are some rock steps, steep
uphills, and rough bedrock sections. Just before another wash is reached,
the trail turns left and avoids it by climbing and traversing a steep
hillside - this is technical with big wipeout potential should you
pitch on the downhill side! Above here the going gets rougher still
(steep rocky uphills), and somewhat bushier. If you persevere this
far, you will arrive at a dirt road which continues uphill to El Pinito,
the uppermost rancho in the Potrero. Originally our bike trail passed
through here via an excellent return trail which was, unfortunately,
completely washed out in the flood of 2002. You can hike it to view
the desctruction - it will be a major civil engineering project to
repair! In the downhill direction, the El Pinito road descends to
the main arroyo from where you can follow a gravelly doubletrack all
the way back into the canyon. We recommend, however, reversing the
trail the way you came because it is much more interesting and affords
one a chance to bathe in the spring. |
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