06/30/06 - 07/02/06

It's been a couple years since hanging out in Crusty Butt and the drive seemed longer then before. Stinger, Jean, and I headed out on Friday night getting to a campsite off of Brush Creek Rd about 11pm. We immediately started throwing down beers and Jager. It was definitely colder then we thought it would be, but oh well. Saturday morning started off with sausage and egg bagel sammy's before a bike ride to sweat out the liquor from the night before. I picked out Farris Creek since it was relatively short and without tons of climbing so Stinger would enjoy it. About 2 miles downhill then the first climb, Stinger did great up it but bonked immediately after. He never quite recovered and was walking the flats and uphills the rest of the way. It was freakin' hot and the flies were a real pain in the ass. Stinger was calling "time outs" and taking several breaks while I ridiculed along the way. After a few more miles of double track we came to the hard single track, it was steep and loose...but tons of fun! Stinger went over the handlebars twice cursing me out the whole time. At the bottom was a creek crossing that we both almost went for a swim in, then another creek crossing before getting back to camp. This brought back some good memories of attempting to bike to Aspen for breakfast after a long night at The Eldo during the last visit to Crusty Butt.
Jean hung out in the Yukon reading and swatting flies with Denali until we got back after 2hrs. We cooked up some brats then headed into town to refill on ice. It started to rain so it seemed like a prefect time for a nap to try to shake the allergies. A couple hours later and it was still raining slightly. We started sucking down beers and cooked up a feast of burgers, corn, beans, and chili for dinner. It was a pretty tame night compared to other camping trips until about 4am when Jean and I were awoken to bottles banging together. Something was digging through the trash and we both thought for sure it was a bear. After about 10-15mins of being scared and praying that a bear didn't jump through our tent, there wasn't anymore noise so we hustled to the Yukon around the trash that had been spread everywhere. Sunday morning we figured it was raccoons since a bear would've been louded, but boy can those raccoons sure make a mess!
After cleaning up the garbage I got back on the bike for the 27mile Deer Creek trail that is supposed to be a CB Classic. A few miles of climbing to some great views then about 9miles of epic single track with great views and flowers/grass up to the handlebars! It was so sweet. Unfortunately the last few miles are on road back through town but good timing since it was starting to rain. Back at camp we packed up and hit the road to enjoy, er I mean, fight the 4th of July w/end traffic. I just wish such a beautiful mtn biking place like CB was a little closer!