Day Two- Even Deeper
After an evening of soaking at the Saratoga Inn, we were all ready to see some more of the Sierra Madres on day two. Excitement ran high as we left Saratoga and could see the mountains were in the clear, but by the time we arrived at the Bottle Creek parking area (30 minutes), solid cloud cover and snowfall had once again taken control of the skies. Yellow goggle lenses and stand-up riding was going to be a must today, as there was nearly another foot of fresh over yesterday.
Our party grew by one as Ben's wife Becky joined us today. The male chauvinist in me was a bit concerned, but as the day went along I was nothing short of impressed. Becky's skills and abills kept her from getting stuck any more that the rest of us yahoos.
Similar to yesterday, we headed west on the Hwy. 70 trail, but went quite a bit farther this time, over the Continental Divide and on down nearly to Smith Creek before we jumped off the trail and headed north.
We were immediately on a steep incline in fairly tight trees, freelancing our way up toward the Divide. As we worked our way up the ridge, the trees became more sparsely spaced with runner drifts that were great for popping up the front end and wheelieing up the hill, one right after another, making for a hootin', hollerin' good time.