Endo at Hemlock Hills!

Got up to Hemlock Hills around 9:30 and parked at the lesser known North Shore parking lot.

I took the new reroute up into the park - it was great!

While bombing at triple speed going north on a long downhill on the orange track - I suddenly and completely unexpectedly did an endo and hit the ground pretty hard. I guess my pedal might have hit a rock - all very weird as it was easy double-track!

Well the cure for hurt is of course pretend it doesn't hurt and keep riding... So I keep riding north and turned east on the Blue connector. Being timid and bruised up, I decided to walk the dam section but then rode up to the Green. 

On the Green, I first went south a bit and then turned around and went all the way north to the Ned Mountain parking lot. Its a fun trail and the weather was simply awesome!

 Trail Blazers!

I rode back south all the way on the Orange double track and saw Mike, Dave and Kathryn busy blazing the new reroute in to the park. They suggested I check out the other new reroute.

I GPSed the new section but here's a rough sketch of where it is (real maps to be updated shortly)

This roller (before the reroute section) looks easy from the side but straight on? kinda narrow...

 The reroute started here - it was awesome. There are some tough spots  (didn't take photos...)

This gnarly tree caught my fancy...

I backtracked on the reroute and encountered the blazers back at the roller.  I made sure to tell them how awesome the new trail was,,,

I then proceeded to the climb up the Green (now back east of the Orange Double track). When I stopped for a breather, this tree looked like there was braille on it!

I keep riding upward and took a breather at the summit of the Green/Blue loop and had a apple.

Finally I sailed on out of the park on the new reroute...

 

..and wondered why my elbow hurt so much. It was now a lumpy bruise and OMG there was blood on my knee :-)  !

Despite the embarrassing Endo  - it was a great ride!

Out Of Nowhere - Great Trail!

Friday evening I got together with Mike to GPS the now approved Out of Nowhere Trail in Hemlock Hills. It's a great trail! Its very scenic in spots and the black diamond section is freakin' amazing.

Out Of Nowhere - soon to be added to the FCNEMBA maps :-)

Hard to tell from the photo - but a nice mini roller

Ooo yeah!

At the Overlook

My favorite section - -stunning!

gnarly tech...

"God's Work" - an amazing natural huge roller

Trailwork at northern Hemlock Hills (White Trail)

Trail session at northern Hemlock Hills.

Photos of trail work in progress and the White Trail. We built a B line (lots of benching) and pieced together some really serious rock work up top and at the bottom. Photos below wee taken about healf way thru our sesseon.

Bennetts - trimming

2-24 - Wet, wet, wet weather, seemingly forever put a damper on riding so we focus on trimming the always prickler-strewn, overgrown main trail at Bennetts.

before 

after

BTW - some of the trail itself was like quicksand - eager to gobble your boots in 4 inch deep muck!

Exploring Pine Mountain

The early morning crappy weather (overcast, sporadic rain) turned nice (sunny!) after a couple of hours.  We came in via Bennetts Pond / Rt 7, and after exploring the stream crossing, we headed along the south side of the pond then over the White Trail and up the first hike-a-bike Red Trail. Most of the rest of the time was spent exploring the hillsides "off the beaten track".

The highlight of our "tour" was finding quite a few more natural overlooks on Pine Mountain - the terrain there was amazing!

Stream Crossing

 Bennetts Pond :-)

Heading Up the Red

At the Kiosk

Click to enlarge

Exploring...

Wicked Rock Gardens

Many Overlooks (ooo yeah!)

 Hidden Stream

As we traveled eastward over an incredibly picturesque ridge, we had to dip into this ravine and cross this raging stream. I can image this spot must be heaven in the summer greenery...

Conclusion

The Pine Mountain area is amazing - it's no wonder Charles Ives spent a lot of time there! LINK