I couldnt help but stop pedaling for a couple of shots on the way up Hwy 181. Sorry some repetition but I had a hard time choosing the " better shots" this evening.
The top: Gingercake Acres / Gingercake Mtn. By this point I had paid for some gradient.
Finally the "pay off", some exceptional single track: the trail head for Raspberry Ridge. Time to get a little back! Actually I got a lot back and I loved every single foot. All of the trails were in excellent condition; smooth, fast, dry, and primo. After Raspberry I pedaled back up to 181, on up to Barkhouse, dropped it, again pedaled back up to 181,
crossed over and did Ripshin Ridge. I love this view from Ripshin. It looked like there might be some smoke just to the right of Grandfather Mtn. I got to see a nice size deer on Ripshin today. 
Next up was Hedleys. I finally took a sitdown break to eat my only bar and let it sink in that I was about to ride some of the best trail anywhere. Up til this one, I was riding pretty hard and only stopping briefly for photos and to move some rocks out of the runout of the Raspberry berms (hopefully that will prevent another fractured Scapula). This next shot has a blur just to the right of my bike, it was a motorcycle. 
After the climb up out of "lower" Upper Creek on this newly grated road,
this is the view I got to enjoy.
The top: Gingercake Acres / Gingercake Mtn. By this point I had paid for some gradient.
Finally the "pay off", some exceptional single track: the trail head for Raspberry Ridge. Time to get a little back! Actually I got a lot back and I loved every single foot. All of the trails were in excellent condition; smooth, fast, dry, and primo. After Raspberry I pedaled back up to 181, on up to Barkhouse, dropped it, again pedaled back up to 181,crossed over and did Ripshin Ridge. I love this view from Ripshin. It looked like there might be some smoke just to the right of Grandfather Mtn. I got to see a nice size deer on Ripshin today. Next up was Hedleys. I finally took a sitdown break to eat my only bar and let it sink in that I was about to ride some of the best trail anywhere. Up til this one, I was riding pretty hard and only stopping briefly for photos and to move some rocks out of the runout of the Raspberry berms (hopefully that will prevent another fractured Scapula). This next shot has a blur just to the right of my bike, it was a motorcycle. After the climb up out of "lower" Upper Creek on this newly grated road,this is the view I got to enjoy.
