Video: Seth (and Alex) // Edit: Rich // Words: Daniel
Today, it is a little over two months since Hurricane Helene devastated our region. The forest is open, and Pisgah Area SORBA, which stewards many of the trails, along with other organizations, has been able to cut out hundreds of trees and make the trails largely passable. However, there are some backcountry trails that we didn’t prioritize because they are far less utilized and harder to access.
Being directly involved with the trail cleanup, I have an up-to-date list of what has and hasn’t been cleared and have been receiving updates almost daily, so when Seth asked for a ride with a big creek crossing and some adventure, I was able to give him some great suggestions. However, he didn’t really follow any of my advice when I recommended not to even try to ride most of the trails he went out on. Between the missing bridges, fallen trees, and river crossings that didn’t have a bridge to start with, coupled with cold temperatures, I thought I had recommended a pretty great ride, so when Seth let me know he was taking my advice of what not to ride and using it as his ride, I had no interest whatsoever in partaking in the inevitable suffer fest. Fortunately, he conned Alex into joining him. Above all else, I was interested to see how it went.
