Bear-ee Season
I'm back from my road trip taking my Subaru to Alabama full of college stuff for the daughter. I stuck the hitch rack on the wife's car and took the bike to Tokul's 356th lot and headed to Uptown Funk and Lake Marie Road to descend all of Crazy Ivan by wheel or by foot. The climb up was fine on Uptown Funk except for one tree which I was able to clear. However, on the climb up the road, there were constant reminders of what bears eat when they don't find meat or fish. Piles and piles of "used" berries were along the road. Be aware that they are out there someplace. I cleared a tree on the Upper Ivan XC trail and continued on down the Ivans, top to bottom but walked several spots where the gravel or dust was too thick in the steep sections. The stickers and overgrowth was pretty bad during the upper half. Bring your machette! Lower Ivan isn't bad. Climbing up again to get to Lower Ivan was a hassle too since the shortcut to the lower section trail is also very overgrown. I climbed a third time to do all of Midtown, but it was even more overgrown with stickers, than Ivan was on the upper sections.
When I finally got back to the car, I looked like I got in a fight with a cat with scratches everywhere. If you go out there this week, cover yourself up! Bring your bladed weapons for the trails and help me get revenge on those sticker vines. GPS track and pictures are here.