Adams June 8

Adams is probably my favorite trip of the year - I block out 5 weeks between June 1 and July 4 to await the opening of the road to Cold Springs, perfect weather and partner availability to make it happen. My wife understands, but doesn't love it. This year the road opened earlier than usual in June, and there were trip reports from the end of May saying the corn cycle had set up nicely. John and I headed down on a Saturday night, arriving last at the camp ground at about 11 (as is customary for us for some reason). Luckily I only drank one beer so had a great sleep, and we decided to slumber until 6 as there's no need to get up there too early. Two of us were fast too - we started at 7 and summited by 1:30. John is a great partner - enthusiastic, collaborative, fit and fun. He appreciates the fact that a day on Adams is a gem not to be taken for granted. Perfect corn harvesting off the top (lookers right of the main track from the false summit to the true summit) and down the SW Chutes. Of course a bit of bushwhacking to get out, but not too bad and overall a spectacular day. With about 7,000 feet of climbing, you're leaving all your worries on the mountain. Looking forward to the next one...

Let's Ride!

The nice weather has been drying out the trails around town and I was psyched to try some of the three new ones the Evergreen MTB Alliance opened up this year at Tiger. Four of us (Loern, John, Kendall and I) rode up to the top of the East Tiger Summit on a beautiful Saturday, talked it up with several other riders before heading down to Preston then up to Fully Rigid. A few technical challenges and a mostly dry trail made for a great ride. We met a guy up there who steered us away from Swamp (?) trail so we rode up the road from the end of Preston, and down Fully Rigid to Joy Ride. Some nice drops (mellow for the Duthie crowd) and technical moves on Fully Rigid make for an interesting ride, but I would definitely like to see some faster downhill sections up there.

All in all a fantastic Saturday out with the boys.