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Saxon Hill 9/5 - 9/6

BackLoafRiver

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Nov 19, 2008
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I had to put both days on here because I am a colossal idiot. You will see why in a sec...

Thanks to JD and BigJay, heard about Saxon Hill in Essex, VT. Got to the area at 10:00 with my brother. What I didn't know at the time was that if you follow one road, you will eventually find the parking area. Parked at the opening of a double track that I figured bled off into some single stuff. Rode for an hour and half in a small wooded section. Super disappointing. Around 11:45, I bumped into my brother again on the main paved road. He noticed a gravel trail that led straight down. Too steep and loose to ride, I hiked down it. Came to a swampy area that had a small bridge. Followed it for a bit, had to hike the bike over a massive section of fallen trees. Eventually, I saw bikers. Several of them. Wondering where they were going, the two of us spotted the single track.

I was able to get on it pretty easily from where I was. Apparently I had connected on Mid-Flo. Rode for another 45 minutes and then had to head back to the car. (Brothers dog was wasted) Turns out, if I had parked 500 feet south of where I was, I would have found the real riding.

The trails are super fast and fun. It is divided by a gravel road. On one side, it is all intermediate and beginner single track. Not much for hills or obstacles, it is fast and amazingly smooth. The flow is incredible. If you have some legs on you, you can really burn through it. On the other side is where all the tech stuff is.

Sunday 9/6 I got up and to the trail head (at the right parking lot this time) by 11. Started by doing the high speed mid-flo to the beginner section of paper route. Fast and fun. Pretty busy. The trails border a reservoir and get close to the edge a few times. There is a cool log bridge that I got a shot of. When I get home tonight I will upload a picture or two.

After an hour on that side, I crossed the road to Flo, the intermediate section that started with a climb. There was a new beginner track called Extension that had just been burned in. It isn't on the trail maps yet. I took it. Very fun. Fast with some smaller climbs but some fun downhill. It loops back to Flo. Took Flo back past the connection and kept climbing. One section or so really kicked my butt. Rocky and steep. The descent was RAD. Several bridges and very tight turns. A couple rollers. Followed it to the end. Turns out, somewhere I missed the Advanced stuff. Bummer. Rode for another 40 minutes. Checked out OM, an intermediate trail on the same side as all the tech stuff. Fun, flowing, and not overly long. There were a couple man-made features here. Nothing too gnarly but narrow enough that I couldnt make it.

Overall, killer two days. Glad I persevered on Saturday and found the fun stuff. Only downside is that it can get pretty crowded. By the time I left Saturday, the lot was full. Some of the turns are very fast and, if someone is riding the opposite way, bad things can happen. You can't see around a bunch of them. A mother and her daughter made one corner really really fast and almost took me out. (I was going along pretty fast too)

Highly recommend it. Hopefully I will get back to Burlington again in the fall and will ride there a few more times. Fun stuff. I will post pics later.
 

BigJay

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Mar 9, 2006
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Jay Peak, VT
Glad you like it!

I was worried when you posted earlier that you didn't find the trail... It's pretty much halfway between Essex and Jericho as you get on the road towards Jericho...

Can't wait to see your pics!
 
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