continued after a long delay...
after the rained out ride of day 1, the weather cleared as we were packing up. it became clear to us that we'd probably be better off starting earlier, but unfortunately our house rental was ~45 min from Pisgah, and even farther from Dupont (we were off 74A, heading towards Bat Cave. i always got a kick out of seeing that road sign), and we weren't typically early risers.
but we actually got motivated enough to get out and at the Dupont trailhead by ~11 or so, and headed out under sunny skies. we warmed up on the west side trails from the lot, wilkie and micajah and some quarry trail. they were ok, the best part being the rutted, rooty descent on one of the trails which led to a creek bed...good thing we weren't about 2 minutes late, or we would have been bombing that descent, heading straight for 2 riders on horseback. as it was, we were stopped when we saw them, so no harm done.
we got back to the lot, crossed the street, and headed over to the east (and much more substantial) part of the forest. the plan was to head in on corn mill to the burnt mt loop, then do big rock. the whoops heading down to burnt mt were a blast; really fun to boost off, but we had to attenuate a bit when we came up on some guys climbing the other direction.
got to the burnt mountain loop and did it CW...not a bad climb, and a fast, really fun descent w/ a few opportunities for drops and air. here's a pic of erik, airing it out.
from that adrenaline-filled loop, it was off to some boring trails until we got to the powerlines and made our way up big rock...well, there are big rocks.
no pictures on this descent, but g-damn was it fun. really fast, rocky, w/ some kickers (esp the one at the very end of the trail, when it dumps back into corn mill). we re-grouped and were thinking of doing that loop again, but then erik discovered his shoe was wrecked so it was off to sycamore for a new pair.
once in the store, the skies opened again, and our plan to hit clawhammer was fading fast. the shop guy (great shop and friendly people, btw - highly recommended) suggested we do the Daniel Ridge trail, so that's what we did. the rain had stopped, and we drove the few miles to the trailhead for ride #2 of the day. it was very lush, and snails and salamanders were patrolling the trail surface.
i stopped to try and get a picture of this small waterfall, w/ middling success.
once the climbing ended, the rain started. hard. again. more of a continuing theme, really. as a couple of us waited for the rest to get there, trying to stay dry under a conifer w/ no success, a lone rider came up, and we rode w/ him as he knew the trail. we followed until we came to the spot where the DR trail turned left, and there was a series of logs in a stair-like manner. he walked down whereas we rode, and figured we'd probably be better off getting out in front rather than being behind him. good idea.
this descent was fast, wet, slick, scary, and i almost went off the trail @ fullspeed once. still a load of fun though. we got to wash out in the stream at the end, where a hurricane a few years back took out the bridge.
day 3 was clawhammer or die. we decided to do the CCW loop...up the big climb, then to the west for the avery creek trail. we unloaded at the stables, climbed for about 15 minutes where we ran into a sole rider we'd met the previous day @ sycamore, and he led us on up. of course, torrential rain also started. rich looked at me and said 'i know where the cars are'. i laughed but we plugged away, and the rain ended. it was a pretty long climb for a masshole at roughly six miles, but the grade wasn't bad at all, a middle ring climb pretty much the entire way i think. once we peeled off to the left (the option to the right was to do black mtn the othe way) there was a bit of hike-a-bike until we hit some fun singletrack climbing, w/ wet roots and felled trees. it was pretty foggy.
again, like clockwork, once we summited, pouring rain and thunder greeted us. yay! this trail was a blast to descend, but some spots were really tight w/ overgrown vegetation, and blinding rain meant that some of the drops came up very quickly. i also managed to toast completely both of my brake pads, and put my sole spare set into my front brake about 3/4 of the way down. rich ended w/ a flat.
end result:
happy riders:
all in all, despite the rains of biblical proportion every single day, the trip was a blast, and i'd definitely go back.
after the rained out ride of day 1, the weather cleared as we were packing up. it became clear to us that we'd probably be better off starting earlier, but unfortunately our house rental was ~45 min from Pisgah, and even farther from Dupont (we were off 74A, heading towards Bat Cave. i always got a kick out of seeing that road sign), and we weren't typically early risers.
but we actually got motivated enough to get out and at the Dupont trailhead by ~11 or so, and headed out under sunny skies. we warmed up on the west side trails from the lot, wilkie and micajah and some quarry trail. they were ok, the best part being the rutted, rooty descent on one of the trails which led to a creek bed...good thing we weren't about 2 minutes late, or we would have been bombing that descent, heading straight for 2 riders on horseback. as it was, we were stopped when we saw them, so no harm done.
we got back to the lot, crossed the street, and headed over to the east (and much more substantial) part of the forest. the plan was to head in on corn mill to the burnt mt loop, then do big rock. the whoops heading down to burnt mt were a blast; really fun to boost off, but we had to attenuate a bit when we came up on some guys climbing the other direction.
got to the burnt mountain loop and did it CW...not a bad climb, and a fast, really fun descent w/ a few opportunities for drops and air. here's a pic of erik, airing it out.
from that adrenaline-filled loop, it was off to some boring trails until we got to the powerlines and made our way up big rock...well, there are big rocks.
no pictures on this descent, but g-damn was it fun. really fast, rocky, w/ some kickers (esp the one at the very end of the trail, when it dumps back into corn mill). we re-grouped and were thinking of doing that loop again, but then erik discovered his shoe was wrecked so it was off to sycamore for a new pair.
once in the store, the skies opened again, and our plan to hit clawhammer was fading fast. the shop guy (great shop and friendly people, btw - highly recommended) suggested we do the Daniel Ridge trail, so that's what we did. the rain had stopped, and we drove the few miles to the trailhead for ride #2 of the day. it was very lush, and snails and salamanders were patrolling the trail surface.
i stopped to try and get a picture of this small waterfall, w/ middling success.
once the climbing ended, the rain started. hard. again. more of a continuing theme, really. as a couple of us waited for the rest to get there, trying to stay dry under a conifer w/ no success, a lone rider came up, and we rode w/ him as he knew the trail. we followed until we came to the spot where the DR trail turned left, and there was a series of logs in a stair-like manner. he walked down whereas we rode, and figured we'd probably be better off getting out in front rather than being behind him. good idea.
this descent was fast, wet, slick, scary, and i almost went off the trail @ fullspeed once. still a load of fun though. we got to wash out in the stream at the end, where a hurricane a few years back took out the bridge.
day 3 was clawhammer or die. we decided to do the CCW loop...up the big climb, then to the west for the avery creek trail. we unloaded at the stables, climbed for about 15 minutes where we ran into a sole rider we'd met the previous day @ sycamore, and he led us on up. of course, torrential rain also started. rich looked at me and said 'i know where the cars are'. i laughed but we plugged away, and the rain ended. it was a pretty long climb for a masshole at roughly six miles, but the grade wasn't bad at all, a middle ring climb pretty much the entire way i think. once we peeled off to the left (the option to the right was to do black mtn the othe way) there was a bit of hike-a-bike until we hit some fun singletrack climbing, w/ wet roots and felled trees. it was pretty foggy.
again, like clockwork, once we summited, pouring rain and thunder greeted us. yay! this trail was a blast to descend, but some spots were really tight w/ overgrown vegetation, and blinding rain meant that some of the drops came up very quickly. i also managed to toast completely both of my brake pads, and put my sole spare set into my front brake about 3/4 of the way down. rich ended w/ a flat.
end result:
happy riders:
all in all, despite the rains of biblical proportion every single day, the trip was a blast, and i'd definitely go back.
