Ladies Hucktoberfest – 1

Posted on October 19, 2012October 23, 2012 by Smoke

And just like that, with a quickness, it was over. Less than two weeks ago we were in the alpine in shorts and t-shirts, now it’s back to snow.

It seems only appropriate that we started the year with a road trip to Williams Lake, and we hit the last snowstorm of the winter on the passes that time. This time it’s looking like the first real snow of the season, and I’m back up to the Puddle with another women’s trip.

I did a rare daytime drive to get to the Puddle and managed to miss a lot of the snow, but there was still a little bit of it on Pennask. Most of the drive was ridiculously pretty, like this…

We had time to get a lap in on the new Snakes and Ladders, and while it was cold and slippery, it’s very impressive how much work has gone into the trail. Here’s a few shots of the ladies on one huge suspension bridge.

Aja is wondering why there’s guard rails. It’s wide enough, isn’t it?

Not every move is approved for public consumption though. This one is kind of gnarly though. I hear they’re going to recycle the materials into something a bit more suitable for mere mortals.

Unbeknownst to me, it was also the night of the annual Pumpkin Ride. I wasn’t really prepared to night ride, but I was prepared to crash the after party and chow down on some epic good food with some of the locals.

Alright, we’ve got this party started. Have to see where we end up tomorrow. It’s looking a bit ugly out there tonight.

Cranksgiving – Brent

Posted on October 8, 2012October 11, 2012 by Smoke

One more epic. That’s all I ask.

Brent has been on the radar for quite some time now. You can see the bugger from Summerland, just looming over town, and when I’m skiing it’s just over yonder. After seeing how cherry conditions were on Saturday, I managed to hook up with some more locals, and went in from Nickleplate lake for one of the bigger rides this year.

We started at the other end of the lake, and I’ll be doing that route from now on vs. the way we went in on Saturday. Way more fun. It took us way less time today to get to Sheep Rocks too. Even though we rode further. Smaller crew, and these old guys are stupid fast on those little bikes.

This time though, instead of punching up to the first summit, we just went through the pass between the two “Rocks” and continued north towards Brent. There’s an old trail that’s been cleaned out and that first descent is almost Retallack style with how steep and flowy it runs.

Here’s a bit of the line, and a nice view of the high point of Brent.

The climb up Brent is also easier than the climb up Sheep. The new part of the trail is made for 29’rs, and gay though they might be, they need bigger switchbacks. The whole ride is cleanable, even though I didn’t. One or two spots are pretty steep, and with this being day 4, I was a bit tired.

Yes, that is the trail. It’s just not very worn in.

At the top. We’re at 7200’ again, and none of us know which way the trail is. Hmmmmmm…maybe we’ll see if we can follow tracks.

OK, we found lots of tracks to follow. After a 20km descent on mixed trail, road, and doubletrack, I remembered to take some more pics.

Actually, this ride isn’t as scenic as some others around here, but it is a beast of a ride. Definitely one to do again.

Here’s a profile and a map. We did it in about 5.5 hours, and there’s more trail available that what we hit. Next time I’m resting up more for this one.