Changin' it up a little - Hiking in Mac Forest

After the long, hard ride yesterday, we decided a hike might make a better recovery day activity. Cookie would like this choice as well. I've been told that the best way to explore the unofficial trails of Mac Forest is to do so on foot.

Rumor has it that a new Alpha connector trail has been blazed around the landslide. We have never been to the lower trailhead to Alpha, so that was our first destination for the day. The 800 and 810 forest roads. We had a few bikers pass us on their way down the 810.
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Alpha Trail head
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It didn't take long to find the landslide, this time from the other side.
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Indeed there is a new connector trail that leads up to Ridgeline. Somebody has been busy! The trail is fresh and a little muddy with horse shoe tracks and mtn. bike treads imprinted in the mud.
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We hiked up to Ridgeline, and along Ridgeline until it began it's descent down to Patterson Road. From there we backtracked down to the 800 road for more explorations.
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Baker Creek?
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Dirty Trillium
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We found a few roads and trails along the way and found one trail worthy of exploration. We weren't sure just which trail/road it was. We figured out later it was probably the 830. There was an old landslide and a trail that cut around the top of it. Pretty technical looking stuff, but sure enough, there was evidence that plenty of riders were compelled to ride it. The road leads into Starker Forest lands, and other than the landslide portion most of the trail is not terrible steep. We hiked a litte further and travelled down several forks. Didn't go too far, but we'll be back with bikes to explore more on another trip. Cyclemaps shows a nice network of trails in the area, a bit of a maze.
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