The Bluffs

Anyone who is a regular city rider knows about the Bluffs.  The Bluffs Nature Area packs a lot into 22 acres, with non-stop hills and twisting trails.  I usually finish my city rides there, partly because it is on the far side of town from my house, and partly because I am saving the best for last.  I am starting to itch for a ride just writing about it!

Yesterday Grace and I took a walk through the Bluffs.  We were out there for almost two hours, walking, trimming brush and branches off the trails, and taking pictures.  There were a few bike tracks in the snow, and we saw one rider, who proclaimed his love of studded tires as he rolled down an icy hill.  I gotta get me a pair of those.

The sun occasionally peeked through the clouds and the temperature hovered right around the freezing mark.  As Grace said, it was like a super-micro-vacation.  We both felt a little more relaxed afterward.

There are some very large trees in the Bluffs, most of which seemed to be northern red oak.  I have spent countless hours riding and doing trail maintenance there and only sort of noticed the big'uns before.  While this red oak is not a record setter, it's still pretty big.

We walked most of the trails in the Bluffs, and found that someone else had recently been through it with a chainsaw to cut out the big stuff.  This tree was trimmed out last fall.  There were a few small trees down that we tackled with the bow saw we had with us.  Grace actually did the sawing, and I dragged the cut pieces away.  A few years ago it seemed that myself, and whomever I brought along with me, were the only ones that did any trail maintenance in the Bluffs.  These days I find a lot of maintenance done by others.  While I did not mind taking care of it, doing so pretty well used up my allotment of trail work energy.  These days I can spread it around to other places as well!

I'll check again a little later in the winter to see if the trails need more attention.  The Bluffs is a nice place to go for a walk, and I can support my sport by keeping the highlight of Ann Arbor mountain biking trails clear.