Visiting My First Love | El Prieto Trail | Pasadena, CA

[@gmazz0913]

Never done El Prie, but we used to run that place hard in the 90s. We used to do the the 11 mile up hill trail and the 9 mile one that both lead up to Mt Wilson. Did that 9 weeks in a row. One of the best trails to decend up there is the Sam Merril trail. Ends up in Alta Dena.

[@hillrunner2]

I use to run that trial from the Rose Bowl parking lot all thru. the 90's, it was empty most of the time on Sat. mornings. Thanks for sharing will try it on bike. Yeah!

[@frankgomez6050]

Sweet I rode el prieto different i think since It later forked to the ken burton trail

[@jimrutherford2773]

I used to ride the El Prieto trail a lot back in the 1990s, and it was a very technical trail with tight switchbacks. Looks about the same today except towards the bottom there used to be a rock wall that hung into the trail and made it almost impossible to pass through without hitting your bars. No room for mistake because of the drop off on the other side.

[@FlowJunkie65]

I rode Brown Mtn/El Prieto all the same in the 1990s and I remember that huge boulder toward the end -- I hit my right shoulder against it once and that almost pushed me into the ravine to the left. When you get to the "round top" of Brown Mtn fireroad, you can also turn left and start ascending toward the trail head of Burton Trail that would take you down into the Arroyo (canyon). El Niño however did a real number of the canyon back then and you had to cross the stream a ton of times because of all the damage. BTW, it would bring you back to where you split off to the right for Brown Mtn fireroad and El Prieto singletrack or left into the canyon. I hear Burton was badly overgrown, but I haven't ridden that trail since the 1990s.

[@DrDeuteron]

what happened go brown mt fire road? Used to hit 40 mph on that thing....but not looking like that.

[@TheBikingViking]

It's still there! Mount Wilson folks did some work on it, apparently Ken Burton kicks ass right now.

[@DroppingIn]

I've shuttled Mount Wilson but have never done El Prieto as a loop on its own. You've inspired me to try it this weekend.

[@TheBikingViking]

Hopefully the conditions are good. There was a brush fire up there on Monday. I think it was around Sunset Ridge trail.

[@DroppingIn]

@@TheBikingViking oh man...I need to check. I wouldn't want to drive up there and it be closed down.

[@CraigslistUser310]

Thanks for the video. I was curious about this trail. Did your GoPro 7 last the entire ride up and down? Or did you have to replace the batteries?

[@TheBikingViking]

Hey L.C! I dont usually film the uphill, I turn it off and on and do full recording of the downhill. I only had to use 1 battery.

[@1188clean]

Would you say i can try this on my hardtail?

[@TheBikingViking]

I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s some pretty gnarly tech spots but if you got the skill you can do it.

[@PapaSumoto]

Is 2 hours an exaggeration? I heard 1 hour for whole loop

[@TheBikingViking]

depends on your fitness level. The climb itself is at least 30-45 minutes depending on how much of a goat you are.

[@trailladymtb7700]

Great video on El Prieto!It was really clear and I can see details about the trail. Gonna run a bell for sure...gotta plan and I am really looking forward to riding El Pri someday.

[@johnsenderman2462]

Lol practice shooting your weight to your back wheel on switch backs it may help you swing the bike around faster.

[@TheBikingViking]

Thanks for the tip! Sharp turns on a 29er is tough. Ill try getting back further.

[@ricardozavala9729]

The Biking Viking Great video my one of my favorite trails, I have a 29er too, another thing that helps a lot too is open your self wide when your turn. I never have problems with my 29er.

[@lizzypicardi]

One of the most fun Trails in the area. A weekly ride for me.

[@AdrianCampos-ev4xl]

How many miles is this trail ? Looks like fun

[@theydisintegrate]

I rode El P today. It's cool to see how it was different. Log crossings are all gone and stream crossings all have water now. And it looks like some of the dirt washed away so that rocky sections have more exposed rocks, growing rocks in the rock gardens! There are 2 boulders at different parts on the trail now, left from the rains early last year when there were landslides. I was there one day last February or March while it was raining lightly and all the trail builders were out on trail trying to repair the damage from the storms. They were so enthusiastic as I was going down the trail they would jump to the sides yelling at me "send it!"

[@AdrianCampos-ev4xl]

Im planning on hitting this trail when i visit california How many miles is it? Looks dope🤙🏼

[@TheBikingViking]

@@AdrianCampos-ev4xl it’s an 8 mile loop!

[@AdrianCampos-ev4xl]

@@TheBikingViking thanks man 👍🏻 about 1-2 hour ride?

[@TheBikingViking]

@@AdrianCampos-ev4xl 2 hours sounds right, im a little slower at the climb usually takes me like 45 mins to get to the top.

[@AdrianCampos-ev4xl]

Thanks brotha im hitting el P for shure! What other trails you recomend near el p have you done cherry canyon?

[@542eastWA]

Nice one man!

[@TheBikingViking]

Thanks for watching!

[@WildMeff]

nice vid

[@TheBikingViking]

Thanks for the comment! probably my most talkative video

[@WildMeff]

@@TheBikingViking yeah it's good to get some context. I ride a Trek Fuel too, a 2019 Ex 7 same color.

[@jonholter8054]

Get a E bike enjoy the ride up and down

[@googlemail5045]

Buy a e Bike and you can ride a lot more trails in the area

[@TheBikingViking]

Maybe one day. I love my Evil Wreckoning and I ride park a lot too.

[@learnonedooneteachone3822]

What a nasty trail. Doesn't look like much fun.

[@TheBikingViking]

It's a great trail! it has a wide variety of challenging sections.

[@learnonedooneteachone3822]

I see that. Looks like flat city for the novice. I'm in the Auburn CA area. I think we are spoiled. That trail looks like it needs a bit of maintenance. Why didn't you move those loose boulders on the trail? Maintenance is an honor to perform and much appreciated!