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15/24
Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Henry Coe State Park Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 2: Sierra View camp to Mississippi Lake /

I begin the dreaded climb up the Willow Ridge Trail that will take me to the top of Willow Ridge above Mississippi Lake.

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05305-lower-willow-ridge-trail-800px.jpg Well, that short downhill was fun! At the bottom of the hill, I reach Los Cruzeros and take a break.ThumbnailsAs Willow Ridge Trail rises, it passes through a brushy area with pretty red-leaved poison oak reaching out into the trail.Well, that short downhill was fun! At the bottom of the hill, I reach Los Cruzeros and take a break.ThumbnailsAs Willow Ridge Trail rises, it passes through a brushy area with pretty red-leaved poison oak reaching out into the trail.Well, that short downhill was fun! At the bottom of the hill, I reach Los Cruzeros and take a break.ThumbnailsAs Willow Ridge Trail rises, it passes through a brushy area with pretty red-leaved poison oak reaching out into the trail.Well, that short downhill was fun! At the bottom of the hill, I reach Los Cruzeros and take a break.ThumbnailsAs Willow Ridge Trail rises, it passes through a brushy area with pretty red-leaved poison oak reaching out into the trail.Well, that short downhill was fun! At the bottom of the hill, I reach Los Cruzeros and take a break.ThumbnailsAs Willow Ridge Trail rises, it passes through a brushy area with pretty red-leaved poison oak reaching out into the trail.

It starts out fairly easy and, at first, has great views back down to Los Cruzeros and across the mountains.

The road in the middleground winding down the hill is the Mahoney Meadows Road that I just descended from Poverty Flat Road to Los Cruzeros.

"Dreaded climb?" Well, this is the third time that I'm climbing Willow Ridge Trail. The trail rises about 1200 feet in 1.6 miles. The 10-ton bike (or is it a dead horse?) must be dragged upward most of that distance, little by little, which gives the body quite a work-out, for which it is not yet ready on just day two of a bikepacking trip.