Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Barton Creek Greenbelt
Today I went back the Barton Creek Green Belt to access it from the Scottish Woods Trail. Last time (on June 25th) I started from the Twin Falls Access point. The Scottish Woods access point starts out very steep and rocky. It's about 0.4-0.5 of a mile down to the bottom where it finally levels off. Biking down this incline proved difficult and exhausting. Actually, I'm really surprised that I did not wipe out at any point. A couple of times I stopped and hesitiated at some of the large steps that exist on this incline. The trick seems to keep your momentum and to constantly keep and eye out for the best path through the trail. It was very jarring and both the bike and I took a beating. The bottom of the incline reaches a fork. The incline faces south so at the fork I went westward on the trail that I had ridden on the 25th and continued on it for about 1.2 miles. The trail here quickly becomes narrow with dense vegetation on either side. It's really not suitable for biking but rather for hiking. I turned around and decided to bike eastward. After reaching the fork again I continued on for about a mile. My new Camelbak (1.5 L) hydration pack worked like a charm. However the first few sips from it are hot. The cooler water sits below the warmer water and takes a little while to suck up. But, it's sure worth the wait. I'm convinced that the Camelbak really helped me keep my strength up on the rough riding. After a mile or so, I turned around knowing that I'd have to tackle the incline going back up. After passing the fork I biked up to the incline. It's way too steep to ride up on a bike (in my opinion). So, I walked my bike up. While walking up the incline a cool, gentle rain started. It was a nice way to cool off after the ride. I didn't even mind that I was having to haul my bike up that steep incline.
The incline
Narrow paths
A pic of the water at the Greenbelt
A large tree that fell on the trail
My bike next to the fallen tree
# posted by Robert : 8:22 PM
