Hemlock Hills Hell

After a very productive FCNEMBA Trail building session in the morning, I decided to forego lunch and explore a bit of the northern trails in the park. At the advice of a well-seasoned local rider, I headed on south on the Orange Carriage Road and meant to turn on the White, eventually heading up to do the Purple Loop clockwise.

My "Ride"
Well I missed the turn for the White, and ended up taking the Blue instead. It was a carriage road as well but after a short bit, the single track intersected from the North so I stopped and took two photos: (1) looking back on the Blue Carriage Road and (2) Looking north on the single track I was about to ride on.

Looking back on the Blue

Turn to Head north

The next two photos are really indicative of the whole ride from this point on. These were barely used trails and the leaf cover (often up to two inches thick!) made finding the actual trail difficult and the traction was--more often than not--TERRIBLE!

First Footbridge

Where's the Trail?? (Too many leaves)

The next section I rode--the brown-colored straightaway on the map--was a carriage road but with the thick leaf cover, even that was harder than normal to ride. I ended up riding all the way to the kiosk on Bear Mountain Road but eventually (after minutes of scrutiny looking back) saw the small bridge that indicated the start of the Purple Trail. 

Purple Loop

Due to leaf cover, the Climb was practically impossible :-) I couldn't even find the trail most of the time and there was minimal traction so it was sadly a long hike a bike. Right before you get to the top, there is an insane steep section which was mostly slick rock and I slipped once on all the leaves. At this point I was cursing!

Outcropping near the slick rock climb

Well the Overlook was nice - you are up over a few hundred feet. The ride down was pretty challenging (for me) - lots of shorts descents over rocky sections and with the leaf cover being so thick I didn't want to misjudge things and end up hobbling out of there with a broken ankle so I shamefully walked a lot of it. Thank God for the occasional Purple Blaze cuz I often had to stop and try going in a couple of different directions until I found a blaze.

The Purple Trail Lookout

The Big Mistake

At the bottom of the Purple, I met the White Trail (it was leafed over and very narrow but discernible) and for some reason I turned left when I should have turned right. I rode out to the Footbridge and Dam (photo below) and stupidly thinking I was STILL ON THE PURPLE, I made a right on the White thinking I was heading west back towards the car. WRONG!

The Old Dam and White Trail Footbridge

Well the next section was rough and probably doable by even a weenie like me when there's no leaf cover. I was pissed off at this point anxious to get the hell out of the park at this point but I was totally confused (I didn't real know how confused I was yet!!).

It was a slog on the White Trail
(and I was heading in the wrong direction!!! duh!)

But it was a pretty neat trail!

Finally  I ended up on the Yellow and had to traverse the canyon which is an absolute ridiculous climb. But at this point I finally recognized where I was and knew exactly how to head out!

$&#$&#^$!!

The cursing got much worse at the is point as I had to slog up the South side of the canyon on the ridiculously steep and super rocky Yellow Trail. Just getting a foothold on the seemingly endless leaf strewn rocks and boulders was a freaking nightmare but I made it to the top and my anger chilled a bit since I finally knew exactly where I was (I had been here before).

The next section of the Yellow was still a bitch  - better for mountain goats than bikes but once I got a bit further west - the terrain eased up and I rode out. The double blazes stopped at one point and finding the Yellow was a difficult but once back on the Yellow, it was a downhill easy ride out to the Carriage Road and the Parking Lot. Man, I was glad to see the car. 

Lesson Learned

Don't ride in the late fall at places you are unfamiliar with! Due to all the fallen leaves, the trails are invisible...