Always Sunny

Saturday I headed to always sunny and warm South Carolina to get a hike in away from the cold rain and snow. Headed down 25 it was a winter wonderland:



But as soon as I hit the state line and made the turn onto Gap Creek the sun was shining and there was hardly any snow in sight:



I met up with Jonathon and Shade at Jones Gap and we headed for a trail we hadn't done yet:



A slight detour to peek at a waterfall:



It turns out that there is snow in South Carolina. A lot of it:



Bill Kimball was classic steep and technical Jones Gap terrain. This time it had the added thrill of being hidden under six inches of snow:





All I could think was if this is what South Carolina looks like imagine what it must be like in Pisgah. Jonathon lamented that he was worried that the Pisgah36 was not going to be hard enough this year.

The return trip came fast with the snow actually making it easier to move quickly down the mountain. All the snow and rain this year means the creeks and rivers are high and keeping your feet dry requires creative thinking:



But in the end feet get wet:



Sunday I headed out to Pisgah to test some top secret gear for the Pisgah36. I have a pulled back muscle and am trying my best to let it rest. So, I ate a big breakfast and lounged around for a little while before finally heading for the woods in the early afternoon. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm and reminiscent of spring. But my goal was to ride on snow and ice so I decided I had better go to where there was likely to be snow left so I hit the North Slope as a warm up.

There was deep snow everywhere and I was walking before I even got to the amphitheater:



I knew the trail was not going to be rideable and thought about turning around right at the start and heading across the street for Sycamore Cove where the sunny South slope would mean less snow and perhaps the chance to actually ride my bike. I stuck it out and walked/hiked/ran my way around the trail:



I literally rode no more than 100 feet and the loop that normally takes 35 minutes took two and a half hours. 30 minutes of that was spent clearing dead fall, the rest was all good old fashioned mountain bike pushing!