bad moon rising

Saturday morning I had to be in Pisgah not to ride, hike, run, waterfall hunt or bushwhack but instead to sign some papers so I could be put on the official list of trail work volunteers for PAS, our local bicycle advocacy group. My decision to join PAS and volunteer to be on the work crew was not an easy one and I had typed out a long thing about my take on trails but deleted it and will just say that I'd really like to see regular trail maintenance done by mountain bikers in Pisgah and I'd like to be a part of it.



Not much was said at the meeting but the Forest Service representative made a good point: their are volunteers who have been doing trail work in Pisgah on the same trails for 40 years. They were working on Black Mtn. long before anybody ever dreamed of pushing a bicycle up there and now they are jumping out of our way. The Forest Service has greatly limited what can be done - we can't leave the trail corridor - which is perfect with me. Pisgah area trails have a distinctive character and however dated their design might be there is no reason not to maintain what is already there.

After the meeting I rode the North Slope real fast to look for a gel flask I lost Friday night and as I was finishing up the loop I bumped into Mike Brown who was out hiking and we chatted briefly. He is nursing an injured elbow but has a good spirit about it and it was good to talk to him as I think he shares at least some of my philosophy on trails.

Then it was back the Hub to meet Zach for a hectic rush to get ready for a quick backpacking trip. It was my idea to go to the top of Cedar Rock Mountain for the 'super' moon and Zach seemed to think other people might have the same idea but we went for it anyway. When we got to the Fish Hatchery the parking lot was full and we literally had to wait for a parking spot. Not a good sign. We headed up Cat Gap towards John Rock and quickly got away from the masses of people. It is a three mile, 2000' climb to the top of the mountain and on the way up I had time to admire plenty of kick ass old school Pisgah trail work.





It was hot and the local wildlife was out soaking up the warmth. Winter is over.



At Cat Gap I ran down the social trail to get water for the night and then we got a little rain before heading up to the top.



The final push to the top was tough and we were all tired and ready to be done except we got all the way up there only to find others camped there. That sucked. A quick peak and back down to Sandy Gap we go.



Sandy Gap was no good for camping so we went on down the Art Loeb a little bit to the last known campsite we passed and then settled in for the night at a nice little spot. The super moon was hidden by the clouds but it did make a few brief appearances.



We were up and on the trail by eight and back at my house eating breakfast just after ten. That left me plenty of time to dust off the road bike for the first time in a month!