Trails: Celebrations and Conditions

I took in some quality experiences on the trail the weekend that made me step back and recognize how lucky I am to live up here.

Today, I did a solo ride out of White Cloud campground (see map) where I started up Pioneer, rode past Skillman, then cut into Burlington Ridge to enjoy some fantastic singletrack conditions. The recent heavy rains have settle things down nicely up there and yesterday's equestrian Poker ride left little impact. The motos trails that are usually duffy for the rest of the summer are packed down, at least for now. The highlight of the ride was descending Hallelujah, which was (pardon the pun) a near religious experience. So head up there now and enjoy it before it becomes a dustbowl again until next winter.

Yesterday, I hooked up the the National Trails day BONC ride at Deadman's Flat (photos). As with last years event, this celebration is proof of how many people in our community love trails and want to build more of them. Sometimes, it is easy to lose perspective of this as you collaborate primarily with one kind of user group. But there are strength in numbers and we should leverage this community as much as possible.