Hardtale70 (in case IM doesn't work)

[BAIN]

Just wanted to know your thoughts on a couple of things. A friend and I are about to finish up the last three trails in Stokes that we need to ride and I wondered if you could give me a heads up on this loop (technical, difficulty, etc...)

Lake Ockintaunk(sp) 2 Criss
Criss 2 Deep Root
Deep Root 2 Degroat
Degroat 2 Criss
Criss 2 Grohl Rd
Grohl Rd 2 Parker
Parker 2 Howell
Howell 2 Crigger Rd
Crigger Rd 2 Cartright
Cartright 2 Swenson
Swenson 2 Cabin
Cabin 2 Lake Ockintaunk

Is there anything to look out for?

Deep Root, Howell and Cartright are our last trails!

Thanx
BAIN

 

[hardtale70]

I'm "stoked" that somebody else rides Criss, you are a badass indeed!!! Aside from making your start a bit boring, I think this combo may flow better in the complete opposite order.Have fun,but be careful, the leaves hide 1000 deaths..................

 

[BAIN]

Thanx, didn't even think about the reverse. Is Howell off the ridge schweet?

 

[hardtale70]

It's just some long forgotten 2 track w/ a couple little bridges.When you enter off the road it's a washedout ravine and they put in a little singletrack option off to the left a bit.Most people don't even see it and it's hard to follow even without the leaves down.It and the ravine go to the same place within about 200yds so don't worry bout it either way.The mid section of Howell seems to be very popular w/ the bowhunters so Sundays are better...................

 

[BAIN]

Due to some prior thoughts we had to shorten our ride, but we had a ton of fun. The weather was perfect and the terrain couldn't have been better. We took Grau road to Parker to get our legs warmed up a bit and jumped into our virgin ride on Howell. Just as you said, the only thing is that you forgot to mention that awesome rock garden after the last bridge. What a treat that was climbing out and over that. I loved how near the top of the ridge the blazes shot you through that nice single track back to coursen road. We met somebody from this board (didn't catch his name) that was decent to talk with. After a quick chat we were off to tackle Cartright and oh boy what a treat that was. Nice clean downhill leading into a rocky mess just what my friend and I love. The two of us only had to get off our bikes twice for a moment, but besides that it was some of the most technical riding that we have seen in Stokes outside Criss, Stony Brook and Steam Mine. Anyways, after reaching Swenson and dealing with its washed out terrain we got treated to that nice dirt road bomb from the cabin back to our cars to finish up our short 8.6 miler.

Thanks for the heads up!