I had dinner with friends and they convinced me to stay over and get up early with them for a ride. Zoe and Tim drove down from Seattle and B.C. to join us. We woke up early and got to the Syncline trailhead by 9:30 a.m. I hadn't been on singletrak since my abdominal surgery in July, but inspite of some cardio weakness, I felt fine! At least I wasn't the only one suckin wind on the direct climb up! With this trail, there is no warmup. Just straight up right off the bat. We saw some huge hawks and of course incredible views of the Columbia River as far as the eye could see. It was cloudy off and on, but towards the end of the day Mt. Hood appeared. I'll try to attach a photo of the view.

Happy riding!
Cyndy