Oh... what a great trip!
Saturday I rolled out of bed around my normal time... noon... got on the bike, took a 3.5mile or so ride down to Timberline, headed up Big Chainring and then up FS 80 to T-line's summit. That road is really nice now, regraveled, driving access allowed, drains well. Scaled the top part of Salamander to the top of the mountain for a nice break, then took a new trail down: Sidewinder. Starts off an "Experts Only" ski trail, crosses under both lifts, travels with the fall line on an intermediate trail for a while, then cuts into the woods and intersects the 24 Hours of Canaan downhill right below the 'moon rocks' section. From there it continues with pretty good pitch and technicality to a horse trail. Here you can either stay on it or take a right turn onto a muddy, uphill, rutted trail. The horse damage is amazing... amazingly sad that is. At the terminus of this slog, you come across to the Mid-Station and plunge down some more good downhill to the base. Then, after pulling some sweet drops and air out of waterbreaks, I headed back up the 3.5mile or so climb to my cabin.
Sunday I took-off into the woods early in the morning on FOOT, to go pick some blueberries. Picked all afternoon: the result, 18 CUPS of Canaan blueberries. Some of us just have a secret spot
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Yesterday, Monday, I went over to Blackwater Falls State Park for some biking. Drove to Pendleton Overlook, took the Pendelton Trail down towards Pendleton Lake, crossed the dam, and got in a groove on the Dobbin House Trail. Pretty technical ride. Rode the loop the hard way... a lot more bumpy uphill than necessary. But it was a pretty fun ride, a lot of roots, a lot of big roots, but the dual-suspension Kona handles them well.
And that's about it...
