The Alternative

I might as well just quit biking again. All this snow everywhere really isn't good for much more than ruining my new bike. With that in mind I took the dog and my running shoes to Pisgah today and did a quick little run that incorporated one of the few trails I'd never done before:



It is obviously very short but was very pleasant, even with six inches of slop covering it, but provided no answers. How is it an alternate to the Mtns to Sea? That trail goes nowhere near the bottom of Black. If it is an alternate route why isn't more of it marked? These questions don't matter. It is there and I like it so whenever I find myself on Black without a bike I'm sure I'll be taking it.

Over the years I've been slowly plugging away at hiking and biking all the trails in Pisgah. Now all I have left are a few small pieces of the Art Loeb (I really want to speed hike the whole thing one day soon. If anyone is interested let me know), a little stretch of the Mountains to Sea, Caney Bottom and Richland Balsam (I'm not sure it is technically in the Pisgah District but I want to 'finish' the 780 map on a high point so it is the last trail I will hike). All the hard stuff is done - Downhill from Here?