7/19/2015
Total Daily Miles Traveled - 25.1 - All Bicycle

My first day riding a bike in quite a while.  Thanks to Steve Green and High Mountain Sports for providing a nice TREK hybrid ideal for the road and trail riding for the day.  This section of the route traverses the high table land which forms central Garrett County.  Unfortunately at this time much of the route is on paved roads as Garrett Trails has been unable to secure easements across two large tracts of land that would connect the new trailhead at 495 with Deep Creek State Park trails. 

My assessment of the day is that the proposed route is not yet ready for public use.  One section proved to be too steep and too rugged for the target audience for the trail.  Another section adjacent to Fork Run Recreation Area still needs a finalized easement, greatly improved tread and better marking.  For the purpose of this Proof of Concept attempt I tried to stay to the draft route but could not recommend it to most trail users until improvements have been made.  Several alternate routes via paved roads are available to allow the loop to be completed.

The first 4.5 mile section of this route is all on paved roads crossing over the Eastern Continental Divide twice.  All climbs are relatively easy with a couple of long downhills.  Definitely check your brakes before attempting this route.  On an S-curve about two miles after turning on Glendale Road is a rough gravel road to the right that provides access to Compartment 77 of the Savage River State Forest and a back entrance into Deep Creek Lake State Park on Meadow Mountain Trail.  This section of trail is an old logging road and is ride-able for most of its length by an average person with the exception of one steep radiused turn about 1 mile in.  The ride along the Meadow Mountain ridge is one of most fun sections of trail I have ridden with rolling contours and good soil tread with few large rocks.

First mistake of the day, taking Indian Turnip Trail down to the campground.  I had gotten some advice that this was too rugged for a newbie to mountain bike and hadn't hiked it in a few years so I didn't remember the condition.  To keep to the proposed route I decided to try it and was humbled by the extensive rock gardens and frequent downed trees.  As I had a long way to go to finish the Loop I walked much of this trail.  Others had suggested continuing down the Meadow Mountain Trail to a fire road which I would strongly recommend to those who might try this segment of trail.  Another alternative is to continue on Glendale Road past the Compartment 77 access road for an easy paved route with a long downhill.

One hope is that the entire ECDL will be off the road but this is not the case today.  Fortunately I was here early on a Sunday so traffic was somewhat light.  It is still a little un-nerving to have cars pull up behind you but all seemed to pass with ample room to spare.  About halfway through the trip I was able to say thank you in person to Steve Green, co-owner of High Mountain Sports.  Most regard Steve as the heart and soul of Garrett Trails and he is a huge advocate for advancing adventure recreation and trails in the region.  Also got to see one of our Garrett Trails volunteers Evan Byrne at Trader's Landing, nice to hear someone is following this trip.

Getting off Rt. 219 and onto Deep Creek Drive was a big stress relief and I got to enjoy the lake scenery a bit on this quiet roadway.  Another treat for this route was visiting some of the Garrett Trails projects including the Visitor Center Trailhead and the short. paved Deep Creek Trail to connect to Wisp Resort.  The Visitor Center is a great place to take a break and look at maps of other trails in our region, refill your water bottles and use the public restrooms.  Staff there are also big advocates and promoters of trails.

In a bit of a cheat to the theme of human powered travel I took the ski lift to the top of Wisp.  Was the best way to climb 600' yet, hats off to the Race Up the Face participants but I needed this.  At the top I passed trail high point today at top of Wisp Resort at 3095' (just 265 feet shorter than the Maryland High Point, Hoyes Crest (Elev. 3360') in the southern part of the County), so much for going downhill all day.  Good thing I had the ski lift assist in motion (thank you to John McCracken, Jay and Eric of Wisp Resort for the assist). At the top I payed a short visit to the County operated Adventure Sports Center International another hub of trail and adventure activity.  Another personal connection to the trail as my father Don Storck secured the initial grants to build this facility.

Connecting to Fork Run from ASCI has always been a high priority for Garrett Trails.  No easement exists for this section at present but discussions are underway to establish this route.  My second mistake of the day, missed a turn on an old logging road trail and had to rely on some long-term memory to reconnect to Fork Run Trails.  The route put me at the most remote intersection of the Green and Beige trails.  While I have hiked these trails with chainsaw and McLoed in hand to remove fallen trees and clear drains I hadn't biked any of them.  Regarded as advanced trails by most due to the extensive rock and steep side slopes I wasn't eager to ride either.  So I did a Hike/Ride combo all the way to the Fork Run bridge.  If you've never been there this is a place of serenity and natural beauty.  Took some time to rehydrate here and eat lunch in preparation for the final push down the Red Trail and on to Hoyes.  My hats off to the patient and committed trail crews and volunteers who have put these trail in.  If you are not an intermediate mountain biker with good brakes I would recommend taking the road down.  The ride down to Hoyes was steep but uneventful.  Tomorrow its back to my home territory the Youghiogheny River as the long paddling leg begins.