Indigo Epic Trail
- Thread starter mike14
- Start date
Up to 25mm of rain on Friday and a little on Saturday/Sunday.
If I was looking at riding the epic trail on Monday how would it be looking? I've ridden Beechworth and Yack before and they seem like they'd drain/dry off pretty well (especially Beech).
If I was looking at riding the epic trail on Monday how would it be looking? I've ridden Beechworth and Yack before and they seem like they'd drain/dry off pretty well (especially Beech).
Daniel Hale
She fid, he fid, I fidn't
Did it from beechy end this morning, there is fair bit of climbing for just 2 descents, to yak descends 6km, into beechworth 3 .2 ish. Was tough ish slog on the SS, fairly open, not technical, the descents are similar to trk 3)4 at Harcourt, shallow Berms. There are lots of climbing switchback cnr, where u climb right in the cnr, not my fav design. Saw 3 ebikers heading to yak, 1 guy in-between yak-Bworth return then guy & girl just before beechworth. Some smart peeps were self shuttling the yak 6km descents, I reckon lots will do this. Only 1 boggy section on whole trail fed by a spring. There are some rocky creek sections at yak end not that fun to ride. In today's mtb world I don't think it will get high usage, people will do 1 or 2 then look for more descending
rowdyflat
chez le médecin
Yep .A SS is not ideal.
Most locals think its great and parts are but the Yack side of old track meanders all over , drops unnecessarily on the way up making the climb harder and has wasted design opportunities on the way down 7/10 from me.
Solid effort on the single speed, and a 7/10 is still a good ride in my books. As per my "What did you do with your bike today" post I rode it this week with my boys and loved it. We were camping at the Yack trailhead campsite and set off from there, lovely weather and tracks were in great condition. Awesome signposting on the vast majority of the trail though I did use Trailforks a couple of times either to confirm things or to check how far to the next whatever.
That uphill rocky creek section you mentioned Daniel I quite enjoyed and to make it more amusing just a little beyond that was a reasonable tree roll that my eldest broke his elbow on last time we came to Yack about 4 years ago... was good to ride it this time and stop to reminisce. Rode past some bee hives and through a neat damp section (loved the smell of honey while riding through the bush) and thus started the first decent climb up. I believe Beechworth is ~200m higher than Yack? So already there's some altitude to gain and this was a reasonable sustained climb... gained a good 100m in a short space. Some cool meandering, a fair bit of the Yack side was alongside old water races so pay attention unless you want an unpleasant diversion! Then a really quite steep drop down into a river valley. Sucked to loose so much vert so quickly but the ride along the valley was nice, espesh hearing the river below and a few waterfalls... it had pissed down the previous day so there was plenty of water moving along. Dropped down to water level at one point and across a bridge, this was a good point to have a drink and a bite then dunk my head - it was a little humid and I'm soft.
After that started the heinous climb and as Daniel mentioned, plenty of climbing switchbacks. I was cooked about 80% the way up this, stopped probably 5 or 6 times for a break but strugged up the asshole of a thing and gained about 200m. The peak of the climb is where the figure 8 crosses over and you come to a fork - left for Beechworth, right for Yack. We chose left 'cos we were out of food. An interesting set of tracks into B... machine built flow, a bit of undulate then a decent descent. Good fun, just hard on already dead quads. Rode past the 2 caravan parks and into town for some supplies, some more water and some food.
At this point we'd set off at 11 and it was 3 when we rolled into Beechworth. Spending an hour to eat and grab stuff for dinner I was genuinely worried I'd screwed up and we'd be in the dark riding back, not to mention having to walk a fair bit due to dead legs but the break did us good and the climb out past the caravan parks and the lake was really quite gentle and comfortable. A tiny bit of fire road and there we were back at the junction in the figure 8! Back up to the top then turn right for home, this is where the track turned (in my head at least) from an interesting and OK 6/10 back country adventure into an 9/10 awesome day out. Think Flickety Sticks / Krushkas for those that have been to Derby, this 6 kays of flow descent just felt amazing. Fast, plenty of jumps, just solid forward facing flow, very few berms or places to brake and lose momentum. I'd do the whole loop again (another day) purely for this part and I can see why people shuttle this bit.
Anyway, after that downhill there was a few more kays of undulation and then a cool steeper, more bermed descent before landing back on the original Yack tracks for a cruise back to the trailhead and a loop back to camp. Saw lots of people riding it and probably 2/3 of them on e-bikes for what it's worth. Thanks to whomever made these tracks happen, they're a great feature for the area and worth a go at least once if you like back country adventure riding. Just be prepared for a cunty climb or two.
I've missed a bunch of stuff in my ramble including a couple of other machine built downhills during the Yack->B segment that were good, some really cool riding through very ferny valleys, some old historic sites with clear mining activity from days gone by... would I do it again? Yep. I enjoy XC backcountry rides even though my legs nearly failed me. I love riding through Vic high country bush so this is right up my alley... though I can see an e-mtb at some point in my future
That uphill rocky creek section you mentioned Daniel I quite enjoyed and to make it more amusing just a little beyond that was a reasonable tree roll that my eldest broke his elbow on last time we came to Yack about 4 years ago... was good to ride it this time and stop to reminisce. Rode past some bee hives and through a neat damp section (loved the smell of honey while riding through the bush) and thus started the first decent climb up. I believe Beechworth is ~200m higher than Yack? So already there's some altitude to gain and this was a reasonable sustained climb... gained a good 100m in a short space. Some cool meandering, a fair bit of the Yack side was alongside old water races so pay attention unless you want an unpleasant diversion! Then a really quite steep drop down into a river valley. Sucked to loose so much vert so quickly but the ride along the valley was nice, espesh hearing the river below and a few waterfalls... it had pissed down the previous day so there was plenty of water moving along. Dropped down to water level at one point and across a bridge, this was a good point to have a drink and a bite then dunk my head - it was a little humid and I'm soft.
After that started the heinous climb and as Daniel mentioned, plenty of climbing switchbacks. I was cooked about 80% the way up this, stopped probably 5 or 6 times for a break but strugged up the asshole of a thing and gained about 200m. The peak of the climb is where the figure 8 crosses over and you come to a fork - left for Beechworth, right for Yack. We chose left 'cos we were out of food. An interesting set of tracks into B... machine built flow, a bit of undulate then a decent descent. Good fun, just hard on already dead quads. Rode past the 2 caravan parks and into town for some supplies, some more water and some food.
At this point we'd set off at 11 and it was 3 when we rolled into Beechworth. Spending an hour to eat and grab stuff for dinner I was genuinely worried I'd screwed up and we'd be in the dark riding back, not to mention having to walk a fair bit due to dead legs but the break did us good and the climb out past the caravan parks and the lake was really quite gentle and comfortable. A tiny bit of fire road and there we were back at the junction in the figure 8! Back up to the top then turn right for home, this is where the track turned (in my head at least) from an interesting and OK 6/10 back country adventure into an 9/10 awesome day out. Think Flickety Sticks / Krushkas for those that have been to Derby, this 6 kays of flow descent just felt amazing. Fast, plenty of jumps, just solid forward facing flow, very few berms or places to brake and lose momentum. I'd do the whole loop again (another day) purely for this part and I can see why people shuttle this bit.
Anyway, after that downhill there was a few more kays of undulation and then a cool steeper, more bermed descent before landing back on the original Yack tracks for a cruise back to the trailhead and a loop back to camp. Saw lots of people riding it and probably 2/3 of them on e-bikes for what it's worth. Thanks to whomever made these tracks happen, they're a great feature for the area and worth a go at least once if you like back country adventure riding. Just be prepared for a cunty climb or two.
I've missed a bunch of stuff in my ramble including a couple of other machine built downhills during the Yack->B segment that were good, some really cool riding through very ferny valleys, some old historic sites with clear mining activity from days gone by... would I do it again? Yep. I enjoy XC backcountry rides even though my legs nearly failed me. I love riding through Vic high country bush so this is right up my alley... though I can see an e-mtb at some point in my future
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
Is there somewhere to get changed at the Yackandandah end? I've managed to engineer an afternoon in the area, and then I'm staying three nights in Bright.
If the bike doesn't come out of the car this trip someone will die.
If the bike doesn't come out of the car this trip someone will die.
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
That will do. I'm driving down from home. Even for someone as XC as I am, I'm not driving 7 hours in knicks
.
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
If this means you're driving home nude just make sure you don't park with leather seats roasting in the sunlight before you jump in.That will do. I'm driving down from home. Even for someone as XC as I am, I'm not driving 7 hours in knicks
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
9/10. Can recommend.
Loved it. Feeling it now. Gonna feel it more in the morning.
Didn't hit full send because I'm down here for work, and that starts tomorrow. Not a good look snapping your ankle the day you arrive.
Probably just as well because halfway down the flow trail coming back I encountered four retards on motorbikes coming up the trail, despite it being clearly marked as one way, push bikes only. The look in the second guys eyes said he knew full well they were in the wrong. Luckily I was going slow coming into an valley apex and heard them coming.
Can confirm there is no where to change at the start of the trail. But there are public loos in the main street of Yackandandah.
Loved it. Feeling it now. Gonna feel it more in the morning.
Didn't hit full send because I'm down here for work, and that starts tomorrow. Not a good look snapping your ankle the day you arrive.
Probably just as well because halfway down the flow trail coming back I encountered four retards on motorbikes coming up the trail, despite it being clearly marked as one way, push bikes only. The look in the second guys eyes said he knew full well they were in the wrong. Luckily I was going slow coming into an valley apex and heard them coming.
Can confirm there is no where to change at the start of the trail. But there are public loos in the main street of Yackandandah.
rowdyflat
chez le médecin
We rode the Beechworth side of the Indigo Epic.
Leaving Beechworth it is not well sign posted eventually we found the way .
The way up is a hotch potch of previous tracks and roads some was good mostly not impressive .5/10
The track down is all machine built not steep but great really fast and flowy. 8/10.
The Yack side is better overall but harder.
Leaving Beechworth it is not well sign posted eventually we found the way .
The way up is a hotch potch of previous tracks and roads some was good mostly not impressive .5/10
The track down is all machine built not steep but great really fast and flowy. 8/10.
The Yack side is better overall but harder.
Calvin27
Eats Squid
You know you can shuttle that bit alone and it's a 15 min or so blast, the kicker is it's about exactly the same time it takes the car to go down, so it's very efficient!
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Calvin27
Eats Squid
I did not need to know this.
Did you not realise every second car in beechworth has a shingleback?!
beeb
Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
I'll have to see if I can snag a lift!
To be honest, I haven't made it across there yet - but do plan to in future and will probably just pedal-power half loops to start. Trails sound good as.
Calvin27
Eats Squid
It's good but don't expect miracles. I think the positives are that it doesn't get as much traffic as melbourne trails so holds up well and that you don't have to pay a crapload to access them like mystic. These days I don't bother with mystic when heading up there.
