Lithium

Another night riding in the pass; tonight we rode Lithium. It starts off at the top of the pass on the same trail as Black's Canyon. It's a couple mile hike/uphill ride to get to the real trail head.

[ Adam on the long, gradual uphill to the Lithium trail head ]

[ Top of Lithium - looking out over the valley ]

The first part consists of some big open fields with some tight switchbacks and into a gully as it makes it's way to the ridge. The trail is washboard right now- really bumpy.

[ Short climb onto the ridge ]

Once you hit the ridge, it's loose, rocky, and steep on either side of the trail. You don't want to fall- the rocks are sharp and if your bike starts tumbling, it won't stop. Alex got a flat tire on this section. Luckily, we had a tube and tire pump. It would be a long hike out. We worked fast to get off the ridge while we still had plenty of visibility.

[ Alex working his way down ]

[ Looking across the valley at the highway ]

[ Flat tire. You can see how steep it drops off to the side. ]

[ Tracks ]

Eventually, the trail winds it's way off the north side of the ridge and into the forest. This is where the trail gets fun. There are berms, rock drops, wooden bridges, and lots of jumps. We took a few minutes to session some of the features, but we were losing light fast. By the end of the trail, it was almost dark and hard to see anything more than a gray blur in front of us.

[ Small rock drop to berm ]

[ Double berm - you can air out of the first one ]

[ Bridge - still in construction...it's probably around 6 feet high. ]

[ Adam ]

[ Riding the berm ]

[ Air ]

[ Huge wooden bridge ]

[ Last shot in the dark ]