After using Google Earth to find some really fun stuff to add to local road rides, I wanted to see if there was anything of interest in the area near the cabin at Syllamo. I’ve always wanted to figure out a way to get up & down the mountain to Hwy 5 without using the death trap that is Hwy 9 (the road that takes you from the White River to the cabin neighborhood). To my surprise, there is a whole network of unmarked roads just across the highway. We found our way down and back up without too much trouble.

We also explored an abandoned forest road (apparently part of Old Hwy 5) that cut across the Orange and Blue Trails. The end result was a little less singletrack that what we normally get on a Syllamo trip (also, in part, due to halfway bonking on Saturday and an Arctic airmass w/25mph winds on Sunday). We still rode through the requisite rock gardens, ate catfish, and put some Christmas lights up on the cabin as a surprise for my parents (I wasn’t going to post the photo or say anything on here about it, but since they said that they may not make it back over anytime soon, I figured they’d want to see).

Speaking of rock gardens- SYLLAMO’S REVENGE IS AN NUE RACE IN 2011!!! That’s right… 100 miles of racing on my most favorite trail system ever. Can’t. Wait.

I feel like I’ve been a little off my posting game lately. Eh. It’ll come back like rock garden mojo…