dam climbing

The sun came out! But many trails are still a mess. I didn't feel like slipping along for useless miles, and wanted to make the conditioning count!

municipal yard starting point!

old sheds store rock cores from the dam site

So I headed up the hill to the dam roads. Not the damn roads, though Major may disagree. The roads left behind by the abandoned Auburn Dam project still mostly have gravel and drain wonderfully. A few are now Auburn State Recreation Area access roads, though they are not used in winter. Win for all of us cooped-up riders!

a snack alongside the yucky rocky portion of the trail

road erosion as we get close to the river

42,000 acres to explore: lucky

There is an easy access near a municipal area, and Major looked strangely at the equipment before heading down the hill. There are some old dam-construction remnants around (not the least of which are the massive blasted rock cliff faces) but it is lovely and green and little waterfalls spring from hidden creeks to run alongside the road.

a good climb

hidden Knickerbocker falls

the road less traveled

We hadn't done any hill work since before winter started, so it was a take-it-easy day. But we went up and down and around and about, taking different trails, repeating some for the value of the climb, and just enjoying our time out. We hadn't done these trails before except just passing though, so it was fun to explore.

damn fine view, river right

river left, we've ridden there too!

The river was roaring, and we did find one side trail blocked by fallen trees. But the roads were fun, and it was great to adventure out onto the concrete platform and stare both up at the blasted dam walls covered in anti-erosion wire, and below at the river, thinking that all of this nature was going to be buried under water…

more climbing

spaghetti of chosen trails

But it isn't, and Major and I could keep exploring. We could see Knickerbocker falls crookedly fall down the steep opposite canyon wall, and the road ahead was wide for trotting. So we trotted some, but mostly walked. And took many grass-snack breaks. And were damn happy to be out.

grass is the chosen one, hay bay ignored