The string of gorgeous, sunny, 80°+ days we’ve had this month has been truly unbelievable and most welcome. Unable to resist getting out for one more ride before a cold front comes through for the weekend, Rich and I loaded the bikes on the car and drove to the top of Moosic Mountain (we’re not yet ready to ride up there and then ride some more!) for a morning of exploration.

We parked at the smaller lot south of Moosic Lake Road, crossed the road and headed north and then northeast along the wooden powerline. While overall gaining in elevation, this section has plenty of gently rolling hills. It was still and peaceful this morning along the powerline. I detected a piney scent in the air from time to time.

Unfortunately, the next part of the ride, after turning to the northwest, wasn’t so peaceful. The Game Kommission has made a sickening mess of this section of the powerline and it’s now a bog of deep, viscous mud. After bouncing and rolling for a few hundred yards, we fought our way out of the mud and then through scrub oak to reach one of the gravel roads of the preserve.

Vowing next time to explore the numerous side trails we spotted along the way, we rode the gravel road southwest to the main parking area, where we chatted briefly with a mountain biker who had passed us earlier. We then completed our loop by riding back up Moosic Lake Road to the car.

While Rich cleaned up, I took a quick ride out on the Cliff Trail and back. It was much less rocky than the other trails we explored today, and with several offshoot trails to investigate it will be worth checking out on another warm, sunny morning.

I’d love to explore the preserve further. We’ll know now to avoid the mud bog, and we’ll check out the singletrack on the Spring Trail. I like having an interesting and challenging place to ride so close to home!