Maybe It’s Time To Build The Ark

Holy shit.  It’s been raining like crazy around here.  The creeks here in town have been flooding, going from a few inches deep and a mild trickle to ten plus feet with a raging current.  The creek that runs next to RTS is no exception, so we had to get out there to see what was going on.  I got word from TomTom that he was out there Sunday with Good Guy Greg to find retrieve one of the bridges that had been washed away.  They got it back in place, but I met TomTom out there Monday night to anchor it down.  I couldn’t believe how much flooding there had been out there.

It washed the little fishes out of the creek and laid them to rest on the shore.

The reroute of the creek we did a few months back was no match for the rush of water, and it washed away some of our hard work.

I mean, it even washed trees down the creek until they could go no further.

TomTom got to work driving rebar into the bridge to secure it, while I fixed the rock armoring in the low lying area just past it.  That bridge won’t move again.

As for the rock armoring, it should stay in place if (or should I say when) it floods again.

Other than that one area, the trail was in excellent shape.  While every other trail takes days to dry out after a torrential downpour, I have faith that ours can be ridden anytime.  Even in the rain.

Yeah, that’s right.  Have at it.

We walked the rest of the trail, eventually ending up at our newest section, Beggar's Canyon (that’s a Star Wars reference by the way.)  It’s a deep ravine that’s all downhill, and we finally got some trail cut in that will make you  pucker up while you scream for joy. 

Unfortunately the photos don’t do it justice.

The beginning:

A little (hard to see) overview:

This part is a lot steeper than it looks:

This is the crown jewel of the trail, and I’m glad we finally made it.  Most of the trail is full of tough climbs, rocks, roots, and screaming technical downhills, but this section is just there for fun.  After all, you deserve a break after working your ass off for two miles.  It won’t be long before we get to the end of the first loop, although I suspect we still have at least a mile to go.  I predict that we will have worked about a year to build a quality 3+ mile trail, but it has been worth every single minute we’ve spent out there. 

I guess we’re tooting our own horn, but whatever.  Who gives a shit.

With everything other trail in town staying closed all the time due to wet conditions, we will soon have a place to go no matter what Mother Nature decides to do.  Hell, it might even be our go to trail from now on even when it’s nice outside.

And yeah, we’re kinda proud. 

By the way, in case you don’t own a calendar then you should be aware that tomorrow is a holiday.  That means I won’t be here.  Don’t worry, I’ll be back Friday.

Lucky you.

Don't blow your fingers off while you celebrate the Fourth of July.