Riding the Deer Path after the American Standard is pretty much tradition, and I got to do that for the first time in years today. We (sadly) came across some weird selective cutting, clearing, and rough forest roads criss crossing the Deer Path trail. It was pretty weird, and we figured it was the Game Commission clearing deer habitiat. Riding on the doubletrack through the Broad Mountain Loop past the Gorge lookout and the headwaters of the Glen Onoko, the doubletrack crosses another stream. It used to be a "walk across the damn" crossing -- it is now an easy ride over a huge wooden bridge massive enough to drive a tank over. The road from there out has been leveled and re-graded and covered with massive rock surface also meant for heavy industrial truck traffic. It all made sense after linking all the pieces together.:
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/may/25/jim-thorpe-looks-create-natural-gas-...
Get up and ride it soon.
BTW, rode an annex to the American Standard today called the "Young American" created by Dean Leone about 2 years ago, an it is really nice. I will post when we rie up there again if anyone is interested in riding it.