What is it about lonely men and isolated trails? Yesterday, when I ascended Modjeska Canyon’s Harding Trail, I ran into no fewer than six men on their way down from the snow. Two were on bicycles. The others hoofed it. Today, I saw six cyclists and two hikers. All of them sported grins that nearly spanned Bear Trap Canyon at the sight of our rare snowfall that came down to the 2000 foot level. Most of them reached Laurel Springs at the 3500 foot level and some went even farther down tracks that almost looked like they could have been pulled through a transporter direct from Vermont.

It’s not quite a white Thanksgiving — on Thursday, temperatures will be in the upper sixties to low seventies around these parts. This should melt most of the snow I saw at Laurel Spring yesterday and today, except in a few places in the shadows.

It’s a 2250 foot climb from the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary near the end of Modjeska Canyon Road to Laurel Spring. Many cyclists give this route a bye — one fellow told me that he could not get his usual five riding buddies to join him because this ride was “just too tough”. We looked over our shoulders at the cold orange burn of the sycamores in Harding Canyon and just shook our heads.

For more information on the trail to Laurel Spring — a worthy destination whether you go by trail bike or foot — click here.