We Take a Trip Down Route 66
Bonnie and Vannie got Al and I out for another great ride. You stay mostly on a very old quasi-asphalt road, so Bonnie calls it Route 66. I'm not exactly sure where we went, but the views were spectacular. We started by getting to the old asphalt mine and backtracking along the road that the Nettle Loop dumps you onto. We wandered around on the ridge for awhile, then finally popped out into a meadow in Wilder. As you can see, the day was clear - you can see the Monterey hills in the background.
After the meadow, we continued on the old asphalt road. The road had either been eroded down between the shaley walls that you can see, or someone had dug it down - although I can't imagine why. The horses were really nervous through here. They objected to both the confinement of the "tunnels", but also the patches of asphalt on the trail.
After awhile, the road came to a T. We turned back inland. After about half a mile, the road dead ended in a small creek-fed dam with a spillway set in a redwood grove. There were trails running out from the road, but they had obviously escaped notice of trailwork teams for quite a long time - we walked about 100 yards and had to hop 3 significant (diameter > 18") trees. There were beautiful redwoods, though, and the shade was welcome.
On the way back, Bonnie took Al and my picture in the meadow and I think we are as beautiful as Vannie and Bonnie. We also ran into Linda and Ben - see Ben's Page for photos.
