A late day rainstorm. Wasn’t really interested in slipping and sliding over wet roots and rocks, wanted to just make the legs go round after a weekend of travel. Headed out to Cottonbrook for a nice, long, boring climb out to the middle of nowhere. At the beginning the old logging road is wide and well used. As you go along it gets thinner and more vegetated until there’s barely a ribbon of trail in the lane. You feel as though you must be almost to Waterbury and the state park, but the reality is you’ve sort of double backed on yourself while climbing the mountain. I was looking for the turn to take me back to Moscow, the road goes on for so long I felt that surely I had missed it.

But there it was finally. A steep, wide singletrack down, giving up all that elevation you just worked so hard to gain. Down the river where you feel like you’re absolutely in the middle of nowhere, but in fact you’re quite close to returning to civilization. There’s cell service again.

Right before the steep climb out I explored a little trail and found myself at a tidy campsite right on the reservoir with a beach, a picnic table and a fire ring. Very sweet spot, I’d like to sleep out there some night.