Dupont State Forest

Big Rock trail at Sunset

the land of waterfalls and killer trails

Searching for Sasquatch

Friday: Bent Creek-> Ingles Field Gap (descent)
Saturday: Reasonover>Airstrip>Jim Branch> Ridgeline> Corn Mill Shoals> Burnt Mountain
Sunday: Pisgah>Trace Ridge

Monday run to Dopont with Mexican food

how all good rides end; before the Mexican food:

forever only happens once

rippin' in the rain


sweet demon North Carolina
Dupont State Forest













Good news for people who love bad news:



happy birthdays!

Deeds done cheap

Recently, I have let the pictures tell the story of the ride, without much commentary. But, I'll take a minute during the Colts v Ravens game (which is just background noise and a reason to have a beer), to tell you about our recent uneventful trip to the mountains.
After last weeks ride at Franklin County State Forrest, Eric was determined to stay on the trail and and avoid getting lost (last weeks mis-hap could have been worse but worked out fine for all).
So after setting up camp we began the rally up the mountain, and Eric took off killing it! He kept going clear to the top, about 30 minutes past the turn we planned to take (although that plan was not well verbalized.) I tried to real him in, but his I-pod was shuffling through the hits. By the time I cought up, he was waiting at the gap.
After the chase, we (Me, Eric and Hank) made the call to continue on over the mountain to Avery Creek and meet up with Jeff and Brian back at camp, which left them waiting at the trail for far too long. Sorry, but I didn't know the trail they were heading into (we had no map), and I figured they would have gone on by the time we made it back.
We met back at camp, and found out that they waited for a while, yet continued on eventually having some bike trouble. So Brian, with a trashed rear wheel, offered a shuttle to the top of Bennet Gap. It was a fun run with a few casualties. Jeff's big crash on the devils staircase left him bruised for the rest of the weekend, and eventually would be the reason they bagged Dupont.
Sunday morning we broke down camp swiftly, and headed into town about the time the rain started. Taking our time in town, we eventually got on the way to the trail, when Jeff and Brian used the rain as a reason to call-it, and head back to Knoxville. Eric, Hank and myself kept on driving through the rain to Dupont.
We parked at Fawn Lake, starting right into the good stuff, with Reasonover Creek. The rain eased off, and the day was beautiful! We had a great ride, at a great pace, hitting all the high points.


Pisgah Forest

Bennet Gap

Jeff Murray






Dupont State Forest








We had to change our route upon realizing Hank was not gonna cross the scary creek.

DSF TFL

Jeff Murray gave me his race # for Tobacco Free-Ride, at Dupont State Forest. I rode the 27 mile course in 2:20 after starting in the back of the pack and busting through the bottle-neck. Then spent the rest of the weekend in Shangri-la, aka Pisgah Forest.
After the Dupont Free-Ride, I set up camp in the White Pines camp sites, which was also base camp for the Double Dare race which started at high noon. Shawn McCann and Chris Ivory battled it out until 10:00 that night, while I climbed to the top of Black Mountain to enjoy the view and then the long downhill back to camp.
Sunday morning was cold as hell. 37 degrees. I decided to drive into town to get some coffee and warm up. After making breakfast quesadillas, I gathered my gear and headed back up Black Mountain and continued on across the peaks to Avery Creek. I made it back to camp after the LONG descent with a crooked smile that could use a beer. So I sat in the sun with the cool breeze flowing, and enjoyed life with a grin and a beer. And made another quesadilla.
Not much of a story I guess. But the real story is the lack of a story. It was nice to be able to harvest the ride, when the weather was right and the week was just about too long.

Dupont State Forest

The Journey IS the Destination

Photos from Dupont State Forrest on Sunday, March 10th