The trails at Heil Valley Ranch are nice. Lots of fun rocks, some interesting rock-engineering to armor the trail surface, and not too much climbing. Did I mention the rocks? Lots of rocks. This was Quinn's first ride at Heil, and I think he really enjoyed it. The trail swoops left and right and up and down with plenty of opportunities for small jumps. And plenty of opportunities for crashes.
After climbing the Wapiti Trail up from the parking lot, we took a left on the Ponderosa Loop, and climbed to the highest point on the trail. It's a fun and swoopy half-mile descent to a scenic overlook. On our way we passed a man with a thick accent -- European or British, it was hard to tell -- and he said something that sounded like "watch for the aggressive growth." It didn't make much sense to us.
And the we saw the sign, which still left considerable room for uncertainty. Aggressive grouse? Is that singular or plural? Potential or known?
Slightly apprehensive, we stopped at the overlook. I laid my bike on the ground and took one scenic picture.
And then it came after Quinn. The Aggressive Grouse came waddling slowly down the hillside straight toward him, opening and closing its beak in a threatening and, well, aggressive manner. Quinn moved towards me, trying to escape the attack.
Moments later a couple more bicyclists caught up with us. One of them, riding a Giant, had come across The Aggressive Grouse earlier in the week. He cautioned us that it was aggressive and we should not approach it (as if that wasn't clear enough already). Then the Aggressive Grouse charged the Giant rider. He positioned himself with his bike between him and his attacker, rolling the bike forward and back, while dancing behind it, his legs a moving target. Seizing the opportunity, Quinn and I wished him luck, hopped on our bikes, and fled down the trail. Run, Forest, run! Later the Giant rider and his friend caught up with us, and let us know that they had survived the attack of the Aggressive Grouse. We were glad to know they had not been maimed after we deserted them.
We rode on a for a couple miles, enjoying the trail, rocks, and docile flora, glad to be out of reach of aggressive wildlife, all the while hoping the local mountain lions were not so aggressive.
A snack and some downhill and we were done. It was a good start to another year of mountain biking.
