9-14-08 Oriflamme Ride

[dionysius]

Bobonel, Cammo and myself met up at Wynola Road for a trip down the Banner Grade. We accessed the trail at the bottom of the grade. Here's the track for the trip



Chris, we were supposed to go through Rodriguez Canyon, but looking at our track on the map we missed it. Oh well, still a great ride. A short stop at Golden Chariot mine.



Pictures of our participants



A smaller mine dug into a hillside



The local bug



The trail down into the valley



Gazing out over the valley



Another shot of the trail going down into the valley





Chatting with the park ranger



Some holes in the rocks made by the local indians from times past



The rangers stated that the area was used during the early 1930s as a WPA camp. Nice day, we ended up at the S2. From there we looped back around towards Julian.

Denis

[BorregoWrangler]

Nice run and great pics. That's a fun trail. Thanks for the report!

[OLLIE]

Froggo and I ran that a few months back and camped there. We then ran Rodriguez Canyon at night.

DaveK took me on this the first time. It was also the first time my son experienced the dirt.

[big dave]

I want to go there sometime in the winter. Whatever im driving by then should be ready to rock all winter long.

[mbisson]

Looks like a great day covering some interesting ground. I wish I had seen the original post earlier. You guys were already gone by the time I saw it. Maybe next time.

[BoBoNel]

i'm lost on the whole rodriquez canyon thingy then........hmm.........i've been there 3 times now and all times have come out and done differant things at the bottom ......at that green belt area (where we talked to the rangers). i finally found the map i was looking for while we were on the trail (it was under my seat) and that was more detailed of the area.
had a fun day. it was nice seeing you again denis.

[OLLIE]

i'm lost on the whole rodriquez canyon thingy then........hmm.........i've been there 3 times now and all times have come out and done differant things at the bottom ......at that green belt area (where we talked to the rangers). i finally found the map i was looking for while we were on the trail (it was under my seat) and that was more detailed of the area.
had a fun day. it was nice seeing you again denis.

If you look at the map in the first post, Rodriguez Canyon is shown bisecting the loop that is made by the purple GPS track.

[dionysius]

Chris I had a good time, next time we need to take a left to get into Rodriguez Canyon. This trail deserves several more trips, when the weather cools off it should be even better.

On the hill above the Golden Chariot mine is the wolf sanctuary, something we noticed while viewing the scenery and confirmed by the park rangers. So that's what the fenced area is on top of the hill.

Denis

[dionysius]

Ollie, have you done Rodriguez Canyon from the Banner access? How's the trail there?

Denis

[OLLIE]

Ollie, have you done Rodriguez Canyon from the Banner access? How's the trail there?

Denis

I've done it both directions. Once at night with Frogeye. The trail is very doable by even a stock rig but you need to watch your line because it could bite you if you don't pay attention.