The weather gods & my work schedule finally aligned properly to allow
me a few rides this week, and Momma & I sought relief from the 90+ heat
in the shadow of Mt Hood. Did the Eightmile-Knebal Springs loop, which
was in absolutely perfect shape. The trail was slightly tacky in the
bare spots & covered with lovely soft pine needles elsewhere. We
stopped & soaked up the view of Hood, Helens, Rainier and Adams at the
halfway point. (This is the ride that the guidebook says is "not much
for views". Hmph.)
It's been a year & a half since I'd ridden Knebal, and I had
conveniently blocked the hellacious climb out of Fifteenmile Creek from
my memories. I won't make that mistake again. At least not until I've
had a few Old Boardheads down at Full Sail.
Eightmile is still my favorite trail - talk about low investment/high
payoff. Wowee. The view from the firetower was stupendous this
weekend.
I tried a new trail snack - "Alpsnack - the exciting Hemp Treat from
Europe." (Wonder what crazy6er's going to have to say about *that*. 😉
) The local grocery store was giving away bite-size versions on Earth
day and I saved mine up for a bike trip. The dark chocolate is the
best, of course. Still, no pre-made snack can compare with my own
rosemary egg salad with havarti on olive bread. I'm all about the
food.
Today, I opted for a quick spin through Post Canyon to check out the
candystripe & phantom orchids. Over the winter, the trail elves
replaced a couple of the old, rotting bridges with newer smooth ones &
refined some of the structures up on Family Man. Toilet Bowl is
already starting to have mild "ball-bearing" action on the way down -
this summer is going to be hell for dust. *cough cough*
gabrielle