The Pedro's Revenge (Gnarly) Loop
By: Liam Wescott
This is a slightly different version of the Pedros Revenge (Long) Loop described
elsewhere in this section. The chief difference (aside from
length,
which is essentially nil between the two rides) is one of
difficulty.
This ride descends down the double-track behind Pedros Monument.
This
ride is a tad over 31 miles long and there is somewhere around 4,000
feet of
elevation gain in the course of this ride. A determined rider or
group of
riders might (I emphasize the "might" there for reasons that
should be fairly obvious shortly), just might finish this ride in under
3
hours, but most people take between 4 to 6 hours all told to complete
it,
depending on which version they are doing, This can be a
long,
taxing, grueling endurance fest so be prepared. Bring lots of
water
(especially if it is a hot day!) and a fair amount of food and/or
energy
bars. You will need both. Also, this is NOT a ride you want
to take
a beginning rider on!
You start at the turnout on the Steese Highway where the Pipeline goes
right by
it and there's an Alyeska tourist shop there. Ride east (away
from town)
on the dirt road there and start heading on up the hill. You'll
climb a
couple little hills, then a pretty big one, before you top out at
Gilmore
Trail, a paved road. Take any of the little connector trails to
Gilmore
Trail and there you are. Turn left here and start climbing up and
up for
a couple miles or so. You come up to a little hill (called Mount
Lulu
Fairbanks on the maps) and Gilmore Trail drops down. At the bottom of
the hill,
the pavement essentially ends and there is a turnout and a "State
Maintainance
Ends" sign. Keep on going uphill on the dirt portion of Gilmore
Trail.
You follow this dirt road for a couple miles or so and at roughly 7
miles into
the ride, you will come to a double-track going off to the left
(northeast). This is the Trapper Trail. Turn left here and
head out
on this trail. It is essentially a 4-wheeler road now, so watch
for
traffic from ATV's and 4-wheel drive vehicles! This double-track
is level
for the first quarter-mile or so, then drops down and winds and wends
along for
a little while. It generally has several deep ruts, puddles, and
erosional
gullies here and there. It bottoms out before coming to a little
hill. You have two choices here. You can either go left
(the longer
way) around this hill or right (the shorter way) straight up this
hill.
The left track is described in the other version of this ride.
The right
track is what is mapped and described here.
This trail goes straight up the hill and can be climbed (in granny
gear) by a
determined rider right up to the very top, if you're really, really
into
machoistic displays of stamina. You top out by a rocky
viewpoint.
Stop here, take in the expansive view of the Tanana Valley, and then
keep on
going down the hill on the other side. The trail drops down,
levels off,
then climbs up a little incline and comes out on a road at a
T-intersection. Going right takes you to some radio antennas
(which you
should NOT do) so you can only go left. You drop down a bit, come
around
a bend, and then perhaps 2/10ths of a mile or so where you came in on
this
road, there is another road going off to the right. Take this one
(you
can't continue down on the road you're on anyways because it's now
blocked off
with fences and large "No Tresspassing" signs, which you should NOT
ignore!) and start climbing up another hill. The road levels off
before
coming up around another little radio antenna. You skirt around
it to the
left and drop down into a powerline.
Follow this powerline, first straight, then to the left. It drops
down a
quick descent before it comes out at a little clearing. There is
a
double-track going off to the right. Take this double-track and
start
climbing up the hill. Off to your right, you will see the Fort
Knox Gold
mine through the trees. This double-track comes out on Fort Knox
Gold
Mine road. Turn left here. Technically, you're not supposed
to do
this (because this part of the road is closed to the public) but you
don't have
much of a choice. Follow this road up and out. After a
couple
hundred feet or so, you'll see signs aimed the other direction
announcing that
this road is not for public access. You're now free and clear
(the trail
you came out on is about 300 feet or so past the point where the road
is closed
to the public) and it's now smooth sailing all the way over to Cleary
Summit. Right to the ride, avoid the big ore trucks, and ride
down to
Cleary Summit, a few miles away.
Cross the Steese Highway here and climb up the subdivision road on the
other
side. Follow it for a mile or so until it comes into the True
North mine
road. Turn right and follow this road for another mile or so to
the first
left (NOTE: as of July, 2005, there are no ore trucks coming and going
from the
True North mine, however if that changes in the meantime, BE CAREFUL to
avoid
these trucks at all costs! These are BIG trucks and they can't
stop in a
hurry!) where you start up another little hill, your last hill of this
climb.
Follow this road for a little bit and take the first left (the right
fork goes
up to the golf-ball radomes on Pedro Dome) and skirt around the summit
of Pedro
Dome. Follow this road for a couple miles or so until you come to
a
little double-track dropping steeply off to the left. If you pass
this
turnoff, you will eventually end up at the True North mine site.
Take this double-track down a fast, somewhat technical descent that has
lots of
gullies, ravines, ruts, etc. that will grab your bike if you're not
careful. You drop down, level off, and drop down again until you
come to
a T-intersection. Going straight on ahead takes you over to the
Elliott
Highway, as is described in the other version of this ride. Turn
left
here. This takes you over to another road that puts you out on
the
infamous Pedro Monument Descent. Follow this road down and then
to the
right, up a little rise to where it levels off before descending.
You are now on the aforementioned Pedro Monument Descent. There
are a
couple of things about this descent you should know before attempting
it.
One, this descent is EXTREMELY dangerous
and not for the faint of heart. This descent is very technical,
hair-raising, and difficult. You MUST know what you're doing in order to descend
down this
hill at speed! Two, you MUST have good brakes before attempting
this
descent! If your brakes crap on you when you're bombing down this
hill,
you'll be in a world of hurt quite a ways away from immediate help.
That said, start dropping down this hill, first straight, then down to
the
right a bit, then straight again before you come out at the bottom, on
a road
behind the Pedro Monument. This double-track has lots of large
rocks,
ruts, ravines, gullies, etc. as well as tall grass in places that can
hide much
of same. There are also a number of trees and brush bending in
from the sides,
waiting to scratch at you, so have fun with it, but be careful coming
down!
Follow the road out to the monument and then turn right at the Steese
Highway. It's now about six miles or so of road riding back to
your car
on a gentle downhill grade that you can ride at 30 miles an hour if
you're so
inclined. When you get to the Steese/Elliott intersection, turn
left at
the Steese and follow it all the way back to the pipeline viewpoint.
Congratulations, you've just completed the Pedro's Revenge (Gnarly)
Loop.