Saturday, August 14, 2010 - Top of the List Ride Today!

Wow! What a fantastic ride today! We were out about 4 hours, covering the 10 mile outer loop, with great views of the Pacific Coastline and one looking right down 101 for miles. The trails had just a few spots with some stone, but mostly they were dirt and pine needles. Again, the forest seemed ancient, with moss hanging from limbs and covering all the stumps, but this time there were very few cut stumps. Apparently there have been fires and wind storms that all but flattened the forest back in the 1930's, so the oldest trees were more than 70 years old, which around here makes them a good 30 inches in diameter. The trails had placards at every intersection, making it impossible to get lost, and there were even informational placards discussing points of historical interest and one that showed animal tracks so that you could get to know who you're sharing the trail with, from muskrats to bears. Be sure to take the short loop up to Cape Mountain, there's a regular little museum exhibit up there, with blown up pix of what the forest looked like in 1934 after it had been razed by Mother Nature, not to mention a great place for lunch. The trails were well groomed, no problems at all. We even passed through the Dry Lake Trailhead, which, in addition to a parking area for day use, also has an area with multiple corrals, a group camp as it were. All in all, this one definitely goes to the top of the list for trails, making the only drawback the lack of easily available water and the lack of knowledge on the part of the folks at the ranger station.