After a week of mourning, Lynn got proactive; she went exploring. The guy at the Forest Service Station told her we should check out Brush Mountain Lookout. We had heard it was full of grows: legal and illegal, so we have never seriously considered going there. Lynn listened to his advice and looked on Google Earth. All the grows are below the lookout and would probably not come into play.
Off she went to drive the road and check out conditions. She approved of all of it except for one low hanging, "dead" Madrone tree that she had a plan for. I always get nervous when she says, "I have an idea." This one was no different. It involved throwing a rope over it and pulling; "It will just pop and break!" Maybe she could do it on Zigs. Um, no, let's not. I said, "Take Lee and the chainsaw." Nope. "I'll ask my brother to drive up there--he needs Madrone." Nope.
One afternoon, she grabbed Shirley and drove the white pickup to the tree. She entertained Shirley by throwing the heavy rope with the piece of wood on the end over the low hanging, not dead, Oak tree. After several attempts and a lot of laughter, she got it over and tied to the truck. As she pulled the rope taut, Shirley told her, "How long is that rope? We're about to go around the corner!" Then POP! It crashed down on to the road. "It was a lot bigger than I thought!" she told me later. Can you hear me sigh and shake my head?
I do not know why, but I was a nervous nilly as we set off on Saturday to ride out to the lookout. Jupes was like, "Um, you're squeezing my belly. Could you just relax and sit back? I got this." We started off by going up and around the locked gate. Jupes was great--he powered up the bank and slid down the other side without a problem. We rode up the road and looked for possible trails to create. It's super steep for probably half a mile, then it starts to slope outward to flatter potential traversing. We couldn't really see how far, but it definitely has possibilities.
We rode all the way to the lookout on the road. There was some snow tucked in here and there and we were glad we decided to wear our jackets. Then we got to the top by the lookout. What a view!! It's like being on top of the world. The sky was hazy and cloudy, but I swear I could see the tip of Mt Shasta. The Alps were bright white and covered in snow. It was beautiful. Oh! And WINDY!!! Sheesh, Louise. COLD and WINDY. But awesome.
We turned around and rode back. It was a short ride to reconnoiter (what a weird word to say). We decided it definitely has potential and we plan to return. When you come over Alisa, we should have some trails! We think we can create some loops and there's a-whole-nother road to explore. There's the trail to the Boy Scout's Christmas Tree lot on top, too--it may lend itself to a trail to that road or loop back to the lookout road.
We didn't take the dogs with us, but we will next time. We saw some tracks that we couldn't identify at the time, but didn't see anything that might endanger our girls. The road has one bumpy spot we are going to mark with paint so we remember to slow down, but the total drive up was comparable to the time we drive to Underwood--maybe even a little less.
Although the loss of our favorite riding place still hurts--a new adventure awaits.
I did some checking on the track. It might have been a Martin track. But who knows. We are going to explore Underwood some more. I have an "Idea". :)
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