This past long weekend, Jamison and I longboarded the Banks to Vernonia trail three days in a row.

On the first day, we parked one car at the Buxton trailhead and headed up to Tophill. As Jamison drove, I checked the map and noticed a road heading north from the Buxton trailhead tracking east of Highway 47, behind LL “Stub” Stewart State Park. Maybe it could be another fun way to get between our ride’s terminal points. As we passed the road’s north end, we saw gravel and wondered where the transition from paved to gravel was.

On the second day, we decided to try the road and discovered the pavement-gravel line is immediately north of the Buxton trailhead; the whole route is gravel! Along the way after a very short backtrack, we discovered a field of wildflowers we knew Suzi would enjoy.

On the third day, we brought Suzi, Melissa, and Gilligan with us. And stopped.