Belt And Saw

Even though I still felt the Alpine Loop ride in my legs (that's what I get for being off the road bike so long) I had to get out for a ride today. I headed up into the foothills to see the upper half of the Belt route (I rode the lower part recently).

As I left the house I could see storm clouds to the south.

Up the Water Tank road then part way up Betty and took the right onto Belt. I took my folding saw I bought last week to take out some scrub oak stumps, but someone already took care of most of them and I only saw (then sawed) one. But I did cut back some brush in a few places.

At the Altar I went up GWT to find the start of the upper Belt trail. It was farther than I expected but I spotted the rock cairn on the left. It's a wild trail and I liked it. Climbs steeply in places, but easier going than the GWT. A little ways into the trail I scared up 6-8 juvenile turkeys (gobblings?) and watched mother turkey warily retreat while making sure I wasn't coming after her brood. After 1/4 mile or so it joined into Area 51 and I went left (west).

I haven't gone this direction on Area 51 and I liked it, even with a couple steep climbs. Speeding down this section of trail I didn't notice the cool little narrow valley it was in.

As I crested the top I got a nice view of the valley.


And the rain that missed me to the south and east.


Looking back down the trail I had come up.


One flower shot.


I went down Area 51 and cut back some brush in a few places. Then I had the choice to continue over to Dry Canyon, go down Crank or down Lament back to the Altar - I chose Lament. It was a nice downhill I hadn't done in a long time. I stopped several times to clear brush.

While clearing brush I felt some pressure in the bowels. Just gas? Nope. I got on the bike to head for home. The agitation from riding made it worse, and more urgent. This was a DEFCON 2 situation. I made my way into the woods and took care of business. Scrub oak leaves are not Charmin, but did the job. (Note to self: pack some tissues.) I immediately felt much better. So much so that I made a few more stops to trim back brush.

I finished the ride with Betty, Roller Coaster then crossed over to finish off with Ireland. It was a nice ride. I also saw a spotted fawn and two snakes along the way.