I decided to do a nice casual run with some vert to give the legs a workout but not worry about a bunch of miles. Started at Baer canyon and went south on the BST, this time though, I decided to explore around a little and have some fun. At Shepherd Creek instead of going down to the neighborhood, I searched around and found a VERY faint and untraveled trail that went up the canyon a little and then crossed the stream and took you up a more well defined trail that I had been able to see from the other side. Not as easy as going the other way (in the sense of the trails condition) but it reduces the vert a bit. You still have a bit of a climb from there, but then where the BST levels out again, I decided to take another side trail that takes you up a ridge. As I was climbing this trail I saw a herd of about 20 deer just below me scatter and take off to the south. I really had fun just cruising up the steep hill and not really caring about being in a rush or anything. At the high point where I turned around the trail did keep going, but it was pretty icy, so I'll have to save that for spring or when I want to pack some spikes. It's always fun to see where stuff goes. Overall the trail was in great shape other than a couple of really icy spots, especially up on the ridge. On the way back I took my time and went a little nuts with the camera - the sunset was just amazing! A hair over 4.5 miles with about 1300 feet of climbing. 
Some of the fleeing deer  Looking back at the ridge I climbed (on left). You can see the trail starting on the right side, then it crosses over the top of the rocks and goes up the spine on the left side. I went up a little ways past the upper rocks.  Pretty awesome views  What a sunset!
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