Today is my co-worker Tripp's birthday, and we had the day off (that was probably because of MLK, though), so I celebrated by heading into the Forest. It was a cloudy day, with a high that was predicted to hit 50, but I don't think that ever happened. I started at the ranger station on 276, then right on 477, and up Clawhammer.
By the time I hit Buckhorn Gap, my feet were frozen solid. I dug in my pack for a Stinger Waffle, and ran across a pack of toe warmers...YAHTZEE! Within a few minutes I had blood flowing again, so I hung a right on Black Mtn. Trail.
This was only my second time riding this section of Black, and it was much better than the first. That was an early ride after moving here, and I'm much more used to the hike-a-biking now. I finally got to test out the robot shoes, and they were great for pushing my bike up a mountain. It wasn't long before I reached the overlook.
It was cold and windy on top of the world, so I moved on, looking forward to some descending. The trail was sloppy in places between Turkey Pen and Pressley Gap, due to the freeze/thaw cycle, but not too bad. Please avoid the sloppy areas if you can when riding up there. Unlike me today, you should try to ride when it's still frozen up there. After more fun descending, I took Thrift Cove instead of continuing on Black in order to avoid more slop. What a great ride.
I feel cheated. You got a great ride in on my birthday and I was stuck at work!
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