Jacob's Ladder

Saturday was my 2nd time riding / exploring the Corner Canyon trails in Draper. I drove 5 minutes from my house to the top of Suncrest, parked and hopped on the still muddy jeep road that runs into Suncrest Dr. near Eagle Crest Drive. The road was deeply rutted thanks to the off road vehicles that ignored the posted no motorized vehicle signs.

I made my way to the bottom of Jacob's Ladder via Brock's, the upper part of Canyon Hollow and then down the dirt road. I started climbing Jacob's Ladder and hadn't gone 100 yards through the scrub oak when a guy who yielded to me muttered something as I passed by. I thought he said, "one-way dude" but wasn't sure. The next biker I saw descending was a lady and I asked her if it was a one way trail and she said "not that I know." So I kept climbing. It wasn't long and the trail became pretty steep as it headed straight up the spine of the sharp ridge. I struggled to keep my balance on the steep grade as I grinded it out in my granny gear and ending up bailing several times. It was definitely a challenge, but I really enjoyed it. The steep upper part of the trail is a mix of banked bobsled-like chutes and unique rocky limestone outcrops.

I made it to the top and could see that everyone else climbed from the other side of the mountain on this double track.



As I caught my breath at the top, I met a few really nice guys (Brandon, Erik and Mike) and they explained that most people do Jacob's Ladder as a downhill ride (of course). They invited me to join them on the descent.

These guys had high-end full suspension bikes that you could tell they'd ridden hard and often. I let them lead out. I enjoyed the ride down, except that I found I'm pretty timid on the hairpin switchbacks. I'll have to practice. After Jacob's Ladder, we rode down Ghost Falls and some other trails that I'm not sure of the name. I finished the ride by climbing up Clark's and then back to my car.