March 24, 2015

For this ride I started off on fire road 423 at Turner Run.  I rode out, and just past the second fire road turn on the left.  Just up a small incline in the road from that turn is a turn off for parking/camping with a bit of fresh gravel at the entrance.  In the back of this parking area is a small berm that starts off a well marked and heavily used trail.  There were a lot of hoof prints and pony poo and it was more heavily marked with different colored paint and marking tape as the trail continued.

I rode down and back, making it a 15 mile ride in about 2 1/2 hours.

There were often arrows marking harder turns in the trail.

Eventually the trail popped out below Slate Lick Lake.

On the same side of the lake, if turning to the right and proceeding over the stone wall and up the large hill, several other markers could be seen showing the start of other trails.  I was at my “point of no return” and did not want to risk checking these trails out but I suspect one will lead back to the fire road I started from.  It is also quite possible that these markers and what appears to be more than one trail head all converge into one trail.  Ill have to explore more in the near future.

We saw some geese down at the lake and a red tailed hawk on on the fire road.

February 20, 2015

My phone (and tracker) cut off at the turn around point.  (straight line did not happen) total ride was about 12 miles in a little over 2 hours.

Last Saturday I hit up Turner Run. We were expecting snow in the afternoon and the road into Turner Run is not one I would want to drive on if there was any snow so I figured it was a good time to hit that location.

Tacked up and ready to load up and head on out.

Ash was particularly excited to get his trail ride on!

I parked at the top, and trotted on in the fire road, past the closed gate.  I checked out one of the turns to the left, and a few side trails, but only briefly.  The one on the left, which is marked on the map as a fire road shows it winding much further than it actually goes.  the road ends and there is an unkempt trail that continued on along the path marked on the map.  I saw some horse poo, but it was a bit of a pain to ride since it was so over grown, so I quickly turned around.

I really wanted to check out the side fire road that I had turned around at the last time I was up there.  This side fire road is marked as being very short on the map, although it is quite a bit longer in reality.  It starts with a closed gate and it provids some amazing views.  There was a log freshly down across the road that required Simon to do a little climbing, but otherwise it was a well kept fire road.  It ends in a tall yellow grass field, and a trail continues, turning up the mountain face.  Again I saw pony poo along this trail.

I checked my tracker at this point, which read 6.27, and then my phone promptly turned off.  AHH, this phone shutting off is getting old.  I will be investing in an upgrade soon.  Here I was in the middle of no where, with no person likely to be in this area for a while, days in the least, and my phone shuts off.  Now that I have become accustomed to having a phone on me when I ride alone I have begun to look at it like a safety blanket.

I called the day at that point and headed back the way I had come.  There were some light flurries and I enjoyed the views.  I also managed to drop and break my point and shoot camera, which I take on these rides.  I had stuffed it into my hoodie pouch after snapping off a pic of the amazing view and then proceeded at a solid canter when it flipped on out and crashed to the ground.  My fault.  I never put my camera in my hoodie pocket for just this reason, and I even have a little camera saddle bag attached to Simon’s breast plate just for its storage.  I climbed off to collect the pieces and took the opportunity to water the dogs.

I did manage to get a few good photos on the ride before my phone and camera died.

The whole ride ended at about the 12 mile mark and took a little over two hours.  this ride felt considerably easier than the one the previous week at Marshall Run.  I am sure part of it was the significant difference in the temperature.  Last week it was around 50 degrees and this week it was around the 30 degree mark.  This week was also almost all fire roads and Simon and I could make really good time.  There were also no big climbs or descents.  Last week there was a good portion of ice roads to slow us down and winding hilly trails.

We did get that snow during the week, and excessively low temperatures to prevent it from melting.  And we are expecting anther storm on Saturday, so it looks like there will be no trail riding this coming weekend.  I guess training for the spring LD Endurance ride, Fox Catcher in Maryland will have to wait a week.

giant bird tracks.  I should have laid something down for size perspective.

Simon at the end of the ride.  Ready to head back home.