Pierson Park North
We had nice weather for the first part of the day, and when we got back to the pavement it really started raining. By the time we turned off of the highway it was pouring. Naturally, Bill didn't have his Jeep doors so he was getting soaked while trying to keep the inside of his windshield clean. We talked about skipping this trail, but we decided to wait to see how it was when we got to the trailhead.
There are lots of switchbacks as you weave your way through the residential area to the trail itself. When we started the trail the surface was wet but it wasn't slick. We pulled off at the first wide spot and decided to continue on. A minivan passed us in the opposite direction and that sealed the deal.
The first climbs are fun and no one had any issues. We all enjoyed them, though. It kept raining, but it seemed that the higher we climbed the better the weather was. There were definitely times when it wasn't raining at all, but it was always misty and cloudy.
It feels very secluded when you're in the forest in the mist. It was an enjoyable trip. All of the trees were healthy and it was a ripe, green forest.
There are lots of homesteads off of the Lion Gulch hiking trail, and those homesteads were between us and the hiking trail to the east. We explored a spur off of the Pierson Park Road trail to see if it went to the homesteads. It used to go there, but that was long ago. Now, there is a gate not too far down the spur that prevents access to the homesteads from the west. It was a long shot, but we were still bummed we couldn't drive closer to them.
We went back to the main trail and headed out to the south end. It was raining again, and Johnny Park Road was closed, so we called it a day. We aired up near the highway and some of us went to dinner in Lyons. It was really pouring when we got there, and there were sudden waterfalls coming off of the rocks next to the road. There were flash flood warnings, and you could see evidence of that all around us. We all made it safely home, though, and it was a great day of wheeling.
Reports from Other Days: 3
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