Forks of the River

Me and Eric headed out for a late afternoon ride on Sunday. Starting from Ijams, we headed for the ridges of the Forks of the River. Brian Hann's 100 acre farm borders the 600 acres of the Forks of the River. Plenty of other trails are hidden in the woods in adjacent parks and properties. But we didn't get further than Brian Hann's trails, where we wandered into the property making turns through the spider web of trails.
With more than an hour before complete darkness, we tried to find our way out, but the maze of trails had us lost to the point we were making circles. There was a bit of panic as we became further lost, and a short window of time to get out of the woods before dark. It started raining hard.
Eventually we saw a house through the woods, so we bushwhacked our way to the driveway and hauled ass to the road. We came out onto Sevierville Pike and rode back in the cold dark rain.
It was a thrill being lost, with darkness and rain closing in. The consequences were scary but not severe. It was a possiblity that we might not have made it out before dark, but it would have taken alot to have had to sleep in the woods.