Just over the hill in the photo above I rode past this coyote hunting in the grass, diving and then listening, and only casually concerned about me as I stopped for a quick photo:
There's a park on the south of the mountain called Ravines Open Space that I noticed a couple of years ago and had not set foot or tire in. I decided to play around there. It's a huge open ravine (surprise) with a mix of singletrack, odd mechanical relics, concrete foot bridges over ravines, and wooden bridges over the tiny "creek" in the bottom.
This was a bit too narrow and lined with thorns:
Steep dirt walls in the bottom of the ravine:
I tried riding some of this, but the bridges were at sharp right angles and I had to keep dismounting. I walked the bike up the steep sides to get back out, and followed various other greenbelts back to the mountain and home. A fun tour of both preserved and neglected open spaces between suburban homes.
Distance was 10.18 miles, time 1:21, and elevation gain/loss 899 feet.
