Patrick and I had read the write ups on the trails in the American River Canyon and they all mentioned nasty things like “...goes up vertically for 1000'...” etc, etc... Going up 1000' under my own steam isn't exactly my idea of fun, so these type of trails were being studiously avoided if at all possible. 

But it's so pretty around there and hard to resist. Come Saturday, we took the ponies up the hill and rode out from Cool along the High Trail and had a great time. On the way home I was snapping pictures out of the window and caught sight of the Confluence Trail perched on its ledge on the opposite side of the river and decided maybe we should just cycle around on those trails - not to do a loop or anything, you understand - just to explore the area a bit and see what's there... So Sunday morning, we flopped out of bed, stuck the bikes in the back of the truck and set off up the hill again. 

I've lived in several countries, but every time I go up to the American River Canyon, I remember why it is that I'm not likely to be moving again soon.

We dropped into the bottom of the canyon and parked up along Old Foresthill Road on the right. Everyone seemed to be heading north along the North Fork, so we opted to follow the Middle Fork for a ways and see what it was like...

Coming down hw-49 from Cool the previous afternoon, looking across to Foresthill Bridge and the confluence of the North and Middle Forks of the American River. You can see the Confluence Trail cut into the side of the hillside 50' or so above the river on the lower right side of the picture.
 

Same area with your head swivelled to the right - this is looking further east along the Middle Fork. Keep going for ten miles, and you get to Poverty Bar. 

Riding on ledges when you're not warmed up yet is very disconcerting. I squawked a lot and got off and walked a good portion of this first part of the trail, and wished for a horse to ride (horses are a lot less wobbly and not nearly so likely to go plummeting over the edge, as I felt I was likely to when my tyre bumped into the next rock).

This photo doesn't really work to show what's going on with regard to going-down-ness and going-up-ness. Where's my IMAX camera when I need it?

Most people apparently opt to do the Lake Clementine - Confluence Loop in a clockwise direction from the bottom, so that they can gonzo-downhill the Confluence Trail section, but personally I really liked doing it anti-clockwise because the uphill was gradual and, most importantly, *doable*, so you didn't end up a demoralised, puffing, limp person half-way up, who had no desire to be there, let alone finish the trail.

But of course we weren't going to do the whole trail, were we...? oh no, we're just exploring, remember? We don't want to go the whole 1000' up...
 

Here we're looking down at the Quarry - used as the penultimate vet check on the Tevis Cup 100 miles horse endurance ride which is held on the WST every year. They also have a human foot race. Now that *is* insane.

Patrick says we have to go back and take more pictures, because these don't show how rocky and tricky the trail was. Hardly surprising - how am I supposed to take photos and ride on a rocky, tricky section? Too hard.

Now we've crossed Old Foresthill Road and Foresthill Road, gone over the ridge, and we're heading down Lake Clementine Road. 
 

You really zip down this section and get chilly because you're all damp from the slog up the hill.

We opted to ride along the top of Mammoth Bar OHV area for a while, before cutting over the ridge. However there are several options available to you at this point. Either way, you still have to go up and over and the last bits are guaranteed to get you puffing (or walking, if you're me <grin>).