While my suggestion for the Mill Canyon MTB ride wasn't the best (I mean, it was beautiful and certainly not a waste of time, but lordy was it sandy), I redeemed myself somewhat with my choice for the next day's hike: the Sylvester Trail in Professor Valley off Route 128. When you drive out to do the Mary Jane slot canyon hike, there is another trail at the trailhead, the Sylvester Trail. Unlike Mary Jane, Sylvester is actually signed; also unlike Mary Jane, there is absolutely no water out there.
Hitting the trail
There was only one other car in either parking lot when we arrived at the trailhead at 9:30 a.m. Mindful of how busy this trailhead can get, we backed in to make for easier egress. As it turned out, weekdays are much quieter out there than weekends: while there were several other vehicles there when we got back, we had only seen two other people and their dog out on the trail ... and they had meant to go to Mary Jane anyway.
Dang cows trampling everything
The trail is an out-and-back to the ridge between Professor Valley and Castle Valley; if you had a shuttle, I suspect you could go down over to the other side. This trail is also a horse trail, so it is easy to follow and never very steep. Over the winter it had apparently been a range cow trail as well, and they had not kept to the singletrack.
Side wash/canyon
It was absolutely gorgeous - dark red sand with lots of vegetation. The trail was great to walk on: soft but packed underfoot, no deep sand and only rocky in a couple of places. The side washes and canyons were stunning (and we made a mental note to come back in the winter, just to walk up the wash to explore), especially as we climbed to the pass.
Castle Valley view
It was very windy again and as we reached the pass, and the end of the maintained trail, it got a little exposed. H put M back on the leash along those cliffy spots and we didn't linger long on the pass. Back down in elevation a little, it was more protected from the wind, although the heavy breeze and scattered clouds did help to keep temperatures down.
Rather windy
By the time we got back to the truck, H and I were coated in fine red dust from the knees down; M, who had gone wading in the creek below the parking lot, was even filthier. I at least was smart enough to remember to wear my gaiters this time and my shoes were much less full of sand than H's were. The wind was just not letting up either: on the drive back to town on the river road, we could see lots of raft trips out on the Colorado, and all of them were paddling because even though they were floating with the current, the winds coming up the river were relentless.
Tired and dirty dog
Additional ride stats: H did a 20.14 mile road ride before our hike
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