Alissa's in town and I've been wanting to catch the sunset at Russian Ridge ever since the evenings have gotten longer. Little did I know what should've been a delightful golden hour ride was tinged in terror for Alissa. She agreed to do this but apparently still has PTSD from eating it at Calero. Oops. Her first time climbing Dirt Alpine but also her only her second ride since last fall so lacking a bit of riding fitness. No worries, we tootled and enjoyed the scenery. On the climb up to the top of Russian Ridge, I saw what I thought might be a raven on the trail but it was waving around like a feather so it couldn't be. That's when I realized it was a skunk. We got right up to it and it had its head in a hole digging for something and didn't even know we were there. The last thing I wanted to do was startle it though as its butt was pointed right at us. I was able to go by it but it jumped out of the hole when Alissa walked by. It was just a baby and didn't seem too bothered by us. Russian Ridge was so nice. The evening was just the right temperature and not windy. There was the option to do Monte Bello first but it was close enough to sunset that we didn't want to miss it and because Alissa was a bit terrified, and going slower, we ended up timing the sunset just right. For the descent, it was getting dark so I had Alissa swap bikes with me and ride my MTB so we could get down faster.