August 8, 2004: I camped last night near the start of the Little Creek Mountain Trail. I slept in that morning as I was a bit behind on sleep. As I got ready for my ride, and packed up camp, a big ole jackrabbit came by an sniffed my groundtarp. This picture is of poor quality, because it was taken in dappled, deep, morning shade. I brightened it up enough to see the bunny. An hour later, or so, I saw a golden eagle flying off with a rabbit. Probably not this one, as I saw it several miles away.
The start of the Little Creek Mountain Trail wasn't obvious. There was a patch of slickrock on the left with a rock cairn. But then, nothing. I continued on down the dirt road. I couldn't quite follow the directions, and kept riding. One part of the instructions said, "If you've gone 4 miles and reach the cliff, turn around a quarter mile and take the turn." Well! I rode 5 miles down the road and never came to a cliff. I was on the wrong road! It was a nice ride, some good views, lots of raptors--2 hawks, two eagles. But it meant I rode a road for an hour (9-10 am). I hadn't pre-hydrated since I was starting from almost awakening at my camp. It meant I "wasted" water (3 liters in a Camelback and 750 ml in a bottle) on a road.