St Patricks Day Ride - Dunn 100

With a terrible weather forecast and still feeling weak from the latest round of colds we opted to skip the club ride and do something shorter, something that would be easy on the legs and everything else. Fun factor was the chance to explore some new roads.

Ron_6812
The forest was sloppy wet, and got wetter while we rode. Every drainage was running with water and creeks were overflowing their banks, but the roads were more or less clear, if you don't mind all the fir boughs and a bigger limb or two.
Dunn_6814
I had read online that the 140 was closed, but we didn't see any signs of closure, so we opted to ride. Looks like there is some logging activity going on, but the road was passable. Once past the clear cut there is some nice riding under the trees, and plenty more run off from the rain soaked hills.
Dunn_6815
The last time we were up here it was foggy. Today we had views to enjoy. Clear cuts aren't lovely to look at, but they do open up scenes of the valley floor.
Dunn_6822
Pano-Dunn 120317
It was a short ride and we weren't really ready to quit. Ron had an alternate route we chose to try. The alternate turned out to be a rather nasty climb. We broke the climb up into 3 parts, and by the time we'd climbed the first 2 sections, we decided it was worth it to continue all the way. It just looked too intriguing to pass up. At the top the road turned rolling and quite pleasant. We followed until it began to drop down the other side. It wasn't too steep, and it looked like we could come out on the road at the 200 gate. As we lost elevation and came closer to the creek I recalled an old report about a creek crossing, doable when water wasn't running high. Of course, this was that trail and the water was of course, high. Time to back track.

Returning the way we came wasn't too much of a challenge for tired legs. We found a nice spot at the end of the 132 to sit a bit and enjoy the view. Captured a little bike porn, then we're on our way back to the 100 gate via 111/110.
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Dunn_6827
I like this area. Unlike most of Mac-Dunn it has some rolling roads. Yes, you still have to climb, sometimes steeply, but once on the ridge line the road often rambles along. A nice change from the straight up and then down of our usual rides.
Dunn_6829
Miles: 6.3 for the first part, then maybe 2-3 more exploratory. Really need to get a computer on the bike.

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