Camping Groading

Our annual camping trip brought me to the land of dirt roads and hills. Well the first trip out didn't have any hills but it did have a few segments I was going to try for.  But my effort fell flat.

I had a 26 second lead until this happened.

Then the battery in my watch died.

I climbed a hill with no view.

Otherwise it was a great ride.  My second ride of the trip was somewhat unplanned.  I headed out to the north of the campground.  About 10 miles out I decided to ride 10 miles further to the top of Evens Notch.  I hadn't planned on a 40 mile ride, luckily the national parks have water at campgrounds.

Pump up your tires and pump up your water

I'd never climbed Evens from the south.  My goal wasn't so much a KOM but to make it to the top. My legs felt like stumps by the end of this ride and I'm not sure why.

Made it.

The last ride of the week was the big adventure.  It started with climbing Hurricane Mountain Road.  This beauty is a 2 mile climb with an average grade of 10% and a maximum grade of  27%.  It's a bitch.  It seemed steeper this time.  This wasn't the biggest hill of the climb but it was definitely the hardest.

That trail doesn't look that great.

I took a beautiful dirt road that follows a rolling river for about 5 miles up a mountain.  When I got to my planned cutoff to get back to camp it looked not all that trail like.  So I continued up the better trail option only to find out that it eventually turned into a rocky hiking trail. But on my way I did get to see a moose.

Excuse me sir, may I pass through your trail?

I eventually convinced him or her to move off to the side but it was definitely on the moose's schedule.

I also found a small patch of chanterelle mushrooms.

So back to the not so trail like trail I went.  Some parts were quite fine.  Some parts were swampy and buggy.  It was one of those trails where after a certain point you just give up trying to keep your feet dry and you are trudging through calf deep water.

But I made it to the other side. 

Since i was already wet and muddy and there are no shower facilities where we were camping I took advantage of a very refreshing (AKA cold) mountain stream. I'd kind of like to find this spot again.  Did I mention it was hot out? I stayed wet for about 10 minutes.

There was a nice pool that was deep enough to submerge in.

About 2 1/2 hours later than expected I was done.  10 miles/hour and 100' of climbing/mile.  I'm a tired puppy.

No Strava, I don't think I will be riding this route again.  Maybe pieces of it without the hike-a-bike.

Life is Good.