Rainy Rainey Creek Ride

Day 171: I got up this morning to Nature's own April Fool's Day prank: snow coming down in big, floppy flakes, trying to stick to the ground. My initial reaction was one of marked disgust. I'd been planning to go out on a photo shoot with a particular subject in mind. Snow was not supposed to be a factor in the equation. Nevertheless, I loaded my bike in the car, waited until a "sucker hole" appeared (one of those blue patches which Pacific Northwesterners use as excuses to get caught in the rain) and off I went. The top of the Divide had two inches of slippery slush on it and well down either side, and precipitation was falling rather heavily in Morton when I arrived. Dang. A few miles later, I arrived at the Rainey Creek trailhead, a place I love to walk when the mosquitoes aren't out, and the rain had stopped for the moment.

The trail begins as a gated and decaying old asphalt road, continues half a mile until it reaches Rainey Creek and a footbridge. From there, it returns to Nature so thoroughly that the way is almost impossible to follow when summer growth is at its peak. On any other day, I would have gone afoot this short distance, but today I rode. My purpose was achieved, Nature's mischief notwithstanding, and I passed back over the Divide with snowflakes scattering all around.