It’s been a while that I haven’t posted anything and so much have queued for writing about. I’ll jump directly to the main subject and this post is about the trail from Macchabée to Mare Longue Reservoir. The path is very easy and can be achieved by foot or bicycle. In my case I wanted to attempt that trail again on bicycle because the last time I did that was back in 2007, and up to now, nothing has changed – MTB Trip from Macchabée to Mare Longue.
Start of Trail: 15h40
On this Sunday, me and my good friend Idriss, we drove up to the starting point parking where we unloaded the bikes and started off the trail round 15:40. The path is common to this post up to the junction where taking left leads to the Black River Gorges trail and continuing straight ahead leads to the Mare Longue junction. The reason why I love this trail is because it is not just a straight forward trail and has some nice adventure parts as well…
Junction Stop: 16h00
At 16h00 we were already at the junction towards the main Mare Longue trail and trip-stopped for some seconds to breath and take some snaps before continuing ahead. The interesting part starts when arriving at the closed gate where a little side entrance allows crossing ahead.
Crossing the first river: 16h10
At this point the fun part involves crossing the first small river towards the other side and if it has been raining previously the water level might cause some issues but on that day it was just another easy ride through the river.
Crossing the second river: 16h13
Some five minutes later we were already at the second river and the same thing repeats, except that this second river was a little wider. I really enjoy these kinds of trail because it is fun and challenging.
The last river crossing: 16h22
My favorite! This last river crossing along the path is the widest and deeper as well and most of the time has a nice water level which makes crossing it fun since it’s like riding through wheel-half in water. Some meters after crossing directly reveals the main path towards Mare Longue reservoir.
Junction Stop
At this junction, taking left leads to the reservoir and taking right leads back to the main road and off the trail. For those who don’t want to ride/walk back, the easiest is to turn right and following the main road towards the initial parking spot.
Mare Longue Reservoir
Following the left path rides though an uneven path with lots of accummulated water (if it had rained recently) and lots of mud as well, but nothing to worry about. Minutes later we were already along the reservoir road and enjoying the view. Mare Longue is actually a small reservoir which is fed by those small rivers we crossed and is mostly used for irrigation purposes.
Heading Back Home
At 17h00 we decided to head back home since the sun was getting down rather quickly as well.
It was a fun trip and is on my favorite list of trails.
