I am up at 3 a.m. because I cannot sleep. My legs are a little achy from last nights little adventure. It was a sunny night and after work, I headed out to the deer creek drainage for some mountain bike exploring.
As I climbed into the Deer Creek Drainage (the back road to Patte Canyon), I realized that maybe this was a large undertaking for an after-work ride. After an hour of climbing, I still was not in the first saddle between Mitten Mountain and some other range. I wanted to get to at least where Marcy and I got to the weekend before. I did, but after an hour and a half.
I felt good so I headed off the saddle into Vista Gulch and boy what a vista. I raced down some great dirt roads built for logging but smooth enough for cars. Of course, this road is not accessible by any vehicles and I had to dodge the occasional big rock. Soon I found myself at a beautiful creek deep in Vista Gulch. I wish I had my camera.
Soon after and up a climb that told me my legs were done for the day, I reached a heli-pad used for logging. From there I saw that I was on the fast track to nowhere and decided to turn around after 21 miles and 6,200 vert-ft of climbing.
The big task was to get back out of Vista Gulch and I had to dig deep into my climbing skills and energy reserves. With a little patience, I climbed out and headed home. All downhill and through the magnificent Sam Braxton Trails, I got home after 3.5 hours of biking. Whew, and this was a workday.
Boneshakerbike 
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