Little Red Mountain

It was disappointing to discover that climb to Leggett, which I earlier called my personal l'Alpe d'Huez (after a historic, monster mountain in the Tour de France), actually was a climb up Little Red Mountain. So, I had by head handed to me by the Little Red Riding Hood of mountains. What a disgrace.

It was a monster, though, with inclines in the range of 8-10 degrees at points. While that might not sound like much, with a bike this heavy, that's killer. I can comfortably climb up 6 degree slopes, but beyond that is my undoing. It's definitely getting me in shape for my future mountain climbs.

At the top of the mountain, I detoured to a kitschy tourist stop, the Drive Thru Tree in Leggett. The Chandelier Tree has a car-sized hole carved out, which gives you a sense of the size of some of these trees out here.