Slate Mountain

This past Saturday I took the morning off to head out of Pocatello and do a little biking. I was referred to a trail located in Caribou National Forest by a classmate. The trail overall was about eight miles long and it takes you up the mountain then along it's side while weaving along the contour. The ride is one of the more challenging one's I've been on in a while (of course I haven't gone out much) and it took me around three hours or so to complete.
The beginning of the trail is the initial ascent up the mountain. This was one of the hardest parts. The trail is single track (narrow) and a little deep to the surroundings. What this means is that my pedals kept hitting the ground while trying to ride. Because of the ascent and this problem pedaling I ended up walking my bike up this initial part (this also means that I was out of shape to pedal my butt up the mountain). Once I got to the top though it was a beautiful ride.
The trail continues along the contour of the mountain and there are times when it's open and times when you're riding through thick vegetation. Vegetation covers the trail for the most part (wildflowers grow along side the trail and hang over it) but when you get into the wooded area it becomes a little more difficult to navigate because tree branches crowd the trail. There are times where you just duck you head and let your helmet plow you through.
The scenery is just amazing. It's a desert mountain top in most areas but at this time of the year it's still a little green. At most points you're surrounded by mountains and blue sky. Eventually the city comes into view but it's not as disappointing as you would think. Pocatello isn't that bad when looking down on it from the top of the hills.

Starting Point

Going Up

This shows the typical ride. If you look in the back you can see how the trails comes around the mountain and dives back in.


If you look closely there's a bird of prey up there (hawk of eagle)

Coming Down

Taken from Google Earth. Over all the trail was about eight miles with a four mile ride back to my starting point along the highway. I started out at an elevation of 5140 ft and reached a height of 6200 ft at one time. It took around 3 - 3 1/2 hrs.