I'm home now. That's so cool to be able to post to my blog while sitting on the side of the trail, listening to the water in the creek falling over the rocks! I don't know how important it is to be able to do that, but one thing is for sure - you know you're getting the freshest information on my site. On some paid-for-sites the info is so old it stinks.

I rode all the trails that Jackson County has to offer today - 115 miles. That's about as much as I have ever ridden in one day before (except maybe for the time I was lost in the dead of winter with the temp hovering around zero all day, didn't get back to the truck until 11:00 pm, and fumes for gas)! The trails were in such great shape that I just couldn't stop myself! They had recently been groomed, except for a very short stretch between Hatfield and BRF, and the groomer was parked right there ready to go on Monday. It appears as though the trails being closed due to heavy rain was not the reason. There has been no heavy rain up there. Actually has been very little rain by the looks of it. There was even less mud today than when I went on the Filter ride this Spring. I certainly didn't need my hot rubber boots, and never came close to making it worthwhile that I dragged the winch along.

I started in Millston, went across town (the way that many people always claim is closed, but really it isn't), and headed up the longer way. I stopped at my favorite creek crossing, where I posted from this morning. Saw some strange trees, which I'll have to remember to look up in my book.

From there, over the interstate and to BRF. Shot on up to Hatfield, where I got a squirt of gas, then sat on top of a hill on the way back out of town to eat my sandwich and grapes (the red ones are the best).

Continuing on, I flew past the turnoff to Pray. Then I thought, what the hell, I've got a full tank of gas and nothing better to do. I turned back and headed on over to Pray. They've changed the trail in one spot since I last was over that way. They've eliminated yet another hill. Now all the cool hills are gone, victim to the ongoing quest to take the off-road out of off-road riding. Sissies that can't ride over a hill once in awhile ruined it.

From Pray I headed back and looked over the play area by Crawford Hills. Waved at the warden again after the motorcycle park. He was having a good day. Both times he smiled and waved me by while writing tickets for the lawbreakers.

Back on down to BRF and then towards the Wildcat Loop. Here is where I encountered the most likely reason for the trail closure. It looked like there had been a pretty good downburst in one of the recent thunderstorms. Quite a few trees down, but they had the trail cleaned up. I suspect that to be the real reason for the trail closure earlier this week and not rain.

And that was it! A good day's worth of riding to say the least! It helped that the trails were about as smooth as a baby's bottom. Can't beat that and the excellent ride of the Hawkeye.

I took many, many pictures today, some of which I will upload to the usual spots tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few:

Some people waiting at the porcupine crossing. On a similar note, I saw two nice bucks. One was fair size, but the other was huge! I took a picture of the huge one while he was watching me from the brush. Didn't turn out. Camera couldn't see him as good as I could:

JR you should have come along and brought your little trailer! Nice firewood here and much of it already blocked up:

You saw it here first folks - Fall is on the way:

One hell of a bridge over a trickle so small it could barely be called a creek. I remember years ago when there was no bridge over this spot and you only tickled the tires a little with moisture on the way through. Just one more step towards taking the off-road out of off-road. No wonder the registration fee had to more than double:

Flooded Trail is wishful thinking. I'm still not sure why this sign was there. Nothing even resembling a flooded trail anywhere today:

This was a big snake that I almost ran over. I stopped quick, whipped out the camera, and got this picture just as he was heading off into the woods. I'll have to look him up in my book too. Bull Snake maybe? I saw another one just like it a little ways after this, but not as big:

Yep, the Hawkeye isn't new anymore! Flipped over it's first 1000 miles today. Maybe I will grease it and change the break-in oil one of these days (I'm not kidding, I haven't touched it yet):