The first 20 minutes were textbook alpage traversing - beautiful singletrack that flowed nicely with the odd stream crossing and rocky section to keep you trying. Then the trail took the fall line down the mountain and for the next ten mintues I was sure I was riding the next classic trail. It was so good I was shouting as I descended, wishing I'd brought some friends out to ride it with me and share the moment.
At this exact moment the forest started a gradual transition from larch and pine to a more deciduous mix of trees. The trail was still okay if a little buried under leaves. Then it got a bit more buried, and a bit more still until it was pretty hard to actually spot the trail. The problem here is that leaves fall in autumn and then stay frozen all winter. When they defrost in spring they dry out and sit there all summer. The buggers just don't decompose fast enough! By now the trail was nigh on impossible to follow, with the whole forest floor just a very steep mess of broken branches and leaves about 30cm deep covering loose rock, loose earth and the odd mine shaft. I'd given up on riding by now, having lost any sign of trail a long way back. I was pretty sure from the map there were no small cliffs beneath me so just resorted to sliding down the more gentle sections with the bike beside me and then chucking it ahead of me and down-climbing on the steeper bits. By the time I reached the van I was pissed off, bleeding and tired, wondering what had happened to the amazing trail I'd started on...
Still, that's the exploring process for you I guess. Better than night shifts in a plastic spoon factory! Anyway, there's another line down that looks like it might be promising too, so all hope is not lost for linking in the top section. Having said that, I might go back and run it from the bottom, so that if and when it all goes pear-shaped at least I'm not left lobbing my pride and joy off big ledges, hoping it doesn't bounce out of sight into the valley below!
