While all you Puffers were asphyxiating in the heat on Sat, Jollybeggar, Charlie & I were staying (sorta) cool in the mud & shade on the North Umpqua Trail.
Here's an abbreviated version of the RR I posted to a.m-b:
The D&T section is overall downhill, but there is quite a bit of climbing. I love those uphill switchbacks. This trail is dead-on gorgeous - big trees, flowers, blue sky, pounding water, blah blah blah, classic Oregon singletrack *yawn* right?
The rhodies are in bloom now - get 'em while they're hot - orchids too, and there are bluebells & bleeding heart down along the river.
We rode the D&T plus the Hot Springs section (baby-butt smooth singletrack through some big trees) in just over 4 hours, which includes a couple of meal stops, a busted-chain stop, and a baker's dozen photo ops.
Lots of mud. (jolly has a different opinion on "lots of" ). Come prepared with plenty of chain lube & tires that shed mud well. Trail conditions vary widely though; we hit mud, perfect pine duff, sand, and ashy dirt, sometimes all within 100 yards, so stay alert.
I was a bit disappointed in the Treadmaps map of the area. (Thanks to the guys at Fundamental Bikes in Roseburg for holding a copy for me!) I was expecting a bit more topo detail (hard to figure out what the elevation line increments were), an explanation of the rating system, and perhaps close-up views of tricky trail intersections.
Many thanks to Jollybeggar's wife for doing shuttle bunny duty & having cold water for us at the end of the ride!
Photos:
rhodies, one of several waterfalls, lovely blue pool, and yours truly. I'll leave it to you to figure out which is which because there seems to be some randomification of photo order going on here.
Here's an abbreviated version of the RR I posted to a.m-b:
The D&T section is overall downhill, but there is quite a bit of climbing. I love those uphill switchbacks. This trail is dead-on gorgeous - big trees, flowers, blue sky, pounding water, blah blah blah, classic Oregon singletrack *yawn* right?
The rhodies are in bloom now - get 'em while they're hot - orchids too, and there are bluebells & bleeding heart down along the river.We rode the D&T plus the Hot Springs section (baby-butt smooth singletrack through some big trees) in just over 4 hours, which includes a couple of meal stops, a busted-chain stop, and a baker's dozen photo ops.
Lots of mud. (jolly has a different opinion on "lots of"
). Come prepared with plenty of chain lube & tires that shed mud well. Trail conditions vary widely though; we hit mud, perfect pine duff, sand, and ashy dirt, sometimes all within 100 yards, so stay alert.I was a bit disappointed in the Treadmaps map of the area. (Thanks to the guys at Fundamental Bikes in Roseburg for holding a copy for me!) I was expecting a bit more topo detail (hard to figure out what the elevation line increments were), an explanation of the rating system, and perhaps close-up views of tricky trail intersections.
Many thanks to Jollybeggar's wife for doing shuttle bunny duty & having cold water for us at the end of the ride!
Photos:
rhodies, one of several waterfalls, lovely blue pool, and yours truly. I'll leave it to you to figure out which is which because there seems to be some randomification of photo order going on here.
