We got down there, and Tom, Rob, Max and Anson took the inaugural run while Dave and Chris shuttled. We were greeted with techy rock sections and steep switchbacks were interspersed with wet clay. Stopping became difficult as the dirt sections were a bit too slick, and your clay filled tires made the rocks a bit interesting.
Towards the end of the first run, Anson's rear derailleur fell victim to some vicious chain-suck and broke clean in two, so that bike was out for the day. At the bottom of that run, we were all a little down. After a long food and water break, we rallied and took a different descent with Anson shuttling. This time we found ourselves in a quite heinous, sustained rock garden... Another long food and water break ensued to get our stoke back.
After much discussion and more than a few snickers and PB&J's, we decided to hike the first trail we'd come down and session a series of plank banks and jumps, work on jumping, and take pictures. What was looking like a bummer day because of conditions turned around, and we got some pretty sweet photos.
Anson takes a trial run off of the top jump. Photo by Max McClorey
That's more like it. Photo by Max McClorey. Also, see if you can find Chris in this picture.
Rob styles a nice, pointy, slabby switchback. Photo by Anson Moxness.
29er FTW. Dave rocks through the bottom jump sequence. Photo by Anson Moxness.
Tom airs it out over a creek. Photo by Max McClorey.
Also, it bears mentioning that the Hardest Wreck of the Trip award went out on this trail. It was won by Anson Moxness, after he lost a pedal over a jump. This is the last picture we have; after that Max abandoned his camera post to make sure Anson was okay. Shame on him. Still, you can imagine where this is going. Ouch.
Things go downhill from here. Photo by Max McClorey.
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