differences...

Four MBMers and a couple of interlopers hit up the GW National Forest today for a dose of southern rock.
Every trail is on the map, color blaze listed. They all have names, numbers, signs, and are blazed on the trees.

The George Washington/Jefferson Nat'l Forest is 1.8 million acres. Michaux is 85,000 acres. There are over 400 miles of trail.

One of the trails we rode today was used in the Revolutionary War. Many of the others were built by the CCC (if you're reading this blog and don't know who the CCC are, you should really look it up). All mountain bikers in the US owe them a huge thank you.

No one builds their own bootleg trail in the GW. People don't build features and stunts, the trail is plenty technical and tough enough as is. Dumbing down these trails also isn't an issue in the GW. Why bother, there are 400 miles, and they're all about the same high difficulty level.

Though they're all named, blazed, and mapped, no one could ever say the trails are buffed out manicured like Raystown. You could say the GW is the anti-Raystown.

Not a single mile will ever be lost to logging (there are other threats).

There a lots of differences between this National Forest and the Michaux State Forest Not all of them have to stay differences.

JoeP at the end of the 30-minute hike-a-bike

waiting out flats numbered 1-3

DKeg loved the Veach Gap trail so much he kissed it and left a gift for the tooth fairy.