It was another great weekend in Cloudcroft. The temps in Lubbock finally reached 100 degrees about the time we left on Thursday, and it was a cool 72 degrees when we arrived at the cabin and a chilly 67 degrees inside the cabin. JD, Jill, Amy & Vince all arrived on Thursday night.
On Friday, we drove to town and rode the usual trails except Amy didn't drop off a car and was committed to climbing back up to town on the bike. There are 4 options. Three of these had been tried recently by various members of our groups, and not one of them had been popular with anyone other than Rick, Vince or me. So we decided to do the 4th option--climb back up the singletrack. Rick and I had done this once when we first started riding up here last spring. It turned out to be a great option (as long as it's not too muddy). Amy made it back to town, and the climb received good reviews from everyone. We had a late lunch at the BBQ place, and it turns out later Friday afternoon is a great time to go because you don't have a long wait.
Everyone still felt like riding on Saturday, so we loaded up the bikes to ride in the James Ridge area. Rickey, Vince and I started at the bottom of 16 Springs Canyon Road and Amy, JD and Jill drove up the the James Ridge Lookout and met us out on the trail. We had another pleasant ride in perfect temperatures. Amy and crew headed back to the car early for about a 10 mile ride, and Rickey, Vince and I rode on to pick up a few more miles and to ride our favorite trails, but some storms moved in and cut our ride a little short. Afterward, we made a trip to the Western Bar for some Moose Drools then to the ski resort for our favorite pizza.
JD and Jill left Sunday morning, Amy hiked, and Rickey, Vince and I decided it was time to try the Rim Trail again. It's a very technical trail with some great views through a lot of different terrains with lots of rocks, roots, screaming descents, tough climbs, dense forest with ferns changing to rocky/sunny slopes, and areas with very narrow trails. We were all having some difficulties keeping our balance on a particularly awkward and narrow section but were nearing the top when I lost my balance over the left side of the trail and crashed about 5-10 feet below. Luckily I only got some scrapes and bruises and landed on a log with my bike falling on top of me. They dragged me back up on the trail, and we continued on. It was a bit scary to say the least, but I'm ready to go back and explore the next section of trail!
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| New flags on the Harkey Pedestrian bridge over Highway 82 on the Switchback Trail |
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| Rick and the bikes |
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| The scenery near the end of the Switchback Trail while sitting on a log and waiting for the group on a perfect 75 degree day |
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| Rick at the top of the singletrack climb |
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| Top of the singletrack climb |
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| Large male elk with huge antlers--first time we've seen one during the day in our subdivision |
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| Some interesting wildflowers at the top of "walker hill" |
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| Short rest at the top of "walker hill" |
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| Sunday on the Rim Trail with some thunderstorms threatening in the background |
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| Toby enjoying a warm window with a good view and great mountain smells |
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| Minx enjoying a nice bed |
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| Rim Trail |
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| Nice view of High Rolls and White Sands from the Rim Trail |
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| Nice view of High Rolls and White Sands from the Rim Trail |
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| Rim Trail |
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| Rim Trail |
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| Temp at the cabin on the way out of town at 4pm on Sunday after a rain shower. It was around 100 in Lubbock. |
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