Chris and I went on Slate Mtn. and live to tell about it.  My second time, Chris' first.  Elevation of 9,000 ft. didn't effect me much, but Chris was feeling it.  I'm the one in yellow.  We start at the saddle of the mountain on the Windy Gap road.  The f-irst three miles are a tough incline with some hike a bike if you can't hack a switchback or narrow path and balance at slow speeds.  Topping out at about 9,000 ft. there is about 1-2 miles of cross country ending in a second peak.  Then the last 7 or so miles is all downhill and super fun!  All kinds of trail conditions.  Finished up at Quackening Aspen Campground, hit the main road and backtracked a 1 to the Ponderosa resturant for lunch with my mom and dad, our shuttle.  After a killer lunch with some Harley bikers we returned to the campground to finish off another 5 miles of downhill.  This downhill takes you through Giant Sequoias, aka Redwoods, the CA state tree.  At one point you actually ride through the middle of a tree, they are huge.  Trail ends at Camp Nelson...there is a general store there for supplies and recharge.  We never saw another person the whole time...yes, this is remote and you really want to employ the buddy system.  Very rewarding if you love downhill and nature.