Ride again today – maybe twice!

First, Pattee Canyon Road Trailhead (pronounced “Patty”), where we want to do the Sam Braxton National Recreation Trail. Kind of like the Northshore of this area. Here’s the map:

We decided not to start at this main trailhead, because it was up a ways from the bottom – we preferred to start close to the bottom so the return would be easier. Unfortunately, that Canyon Trailhead does not have a map kiosk. Started our ride at the Canyon Trailhead, and headed up … and up … and UP. Finally, we got to the start of the actual Sam Braxton, about  mile up:

A bit overgrown, but we’ll see how it goes! And it goes up … and up … and UP:

Look at that up-slope! It was hard to ride, but ride it I did, all the way up! Had to stop a few times and catch my breath, but always got back on the bike and rode on. Hard to start on such a steep hill, but I managed to do it each time. I feel good about that! At the top of that steepest part, we realized that The Bear had a passenger:

Lazy butterfly! At least on this ride, we got great payback – the downhills were not so steep that we couldn’t enjoy them. Also close to the top, I took a pano:

And a still a bit down from there:

And of course, just to prove it really is a NRT:

Nice ride down! A short ride, but as I said, we’re going for two today. Next up? Blue Mountain! Here’s a map from the trailhead:

Lots of trails, and pretty flat, so it should go well! Here’s a pano of the parking area:

And here’s one of the trail area itself, from that same vantage point:

As I said – relatively flat! But … see those clouds? Yeah. Rain. Blue Mountain will have to wait for another trip.

On the way home, stopped by the grocery store to fuel up and get a couple of food items. Wandering the aisles, I saw this, which is just ALL KINDS of wrong:

I like chili – really do! I bet I’d even like “Cowboy Chili” … sounds manly! BUT – no way in HELL a cowboy is going to put Quinoa … well, ok, maybe the new-age cowboys MIGHT … but CINNAMON? Nah – don’t see it!