Report from Mud Creek Outdoor Gear

Snowslide Lake

2010-09-07T16:09:00.012-06:00

The store was open 7 days a week this summer, so we did not do any hiking, and not much biking except for the commute to the shop. We were really looking forward to our Tuesday hike. Now that Labor Day weekend is over we can go back to 6 days a week. I wanted to do Lava Butte Lakes, but we decided it was too ambitious considering our time frame and how little hiking we have done this summer (none!)

Snowslide and Maki lakes are close to town and easy to get to. Head towards Ponderosa State park, turning right on Lick Creek Rd at the stop sign. When you get to the turn off for East Lake you keep heading straight and continue on past Little Payette Lake. The trail head is clearly marked a bit over 11 1/2 miles past the East Lake turn off.

There is potential for wet feet at the start of the hike, as you begin by crossing the north fork of Lake Fork Creek. Luckily for us, the water is low enough this time of year to hop from rock to rock without wading.

It was a gorgeous fall day, with just a bit of chill in the air. Perfect for hiking. Not too many wildflowers left, but lots of bright orange berries. Need to look these up in my book as I can't remember what they are called. Below is a really nice (if slightly blurry) Indian Paintbrush.

Pretty orange berry bushes.

The trail starts out nice and gradual, but quickly becomes fairly steep. I think the guide book we were using called it "easy" which seems surprising, given the amount of elevation you gain in such a short distance. Several sections were very steep with lots of loose rock to slip and slide on. Definitely a good trail to bring your hiking poles on. Below is a very dry stream crossing. There were two wet stream crossings a little over half way to Snowslide that our thirsty pup was grateful for.

Thirsty poodle about 1/3 of the way up. She got in even less hiking this summer than we did!

Really nice views looking across towards Box Lake and Beaverdam Peak.

Anyone know what the fuzzy pink growth on these leaves is called? Blurry picture doesn't help. It looked like some sort of fungus. Since we didn't get a winner for our last picture challenge maybe we should have a 'name that fungus' challenge!

The trail looked like it had gotten plenty of use over the Labor Day weekend. Someone had made cute little rock cairns to mark the trail at fairly regular intervals.

A glimpse of Snowslide down the trail.

The poodle slurping up some tadpole water.

The water was just teeming with huge monster tadpoles. They were a bit smaller than a nickle. I can't remember my tadpole lore...do the frogs hibernate all winter? Another thing I need to look up. The picture doesn't really give you an idea of how big they were, but really I have never seen tadpoles this large before. I think these are gonna be some big frogs!

The poodle was especially photogenic on this hike. And especially fragrant when we got home, as she sunk up to her belly in the mud.

Right about this time we were thinking about lunch. We had chickened out on trying the freeze dried chili mac (despite it's high rating), and opted for beef stroganoff instead. Then I remembered I hadn't packed my fairshare mug or my spork. Argg. Gordy saved the day by cleverly crafting spoons out of the foil fire bowl that goes under the stove. We had some lunch and headed back down the trail. So good to get out!

September Picture Challenge

2010-09-01T13:29:00.003-06:00

Picture Challenge is back! Give us your best guess and win a $25 Mud Creek Gift Card. As in previous challenges, a more specific answer trumps a vague, generic answer! Send your answer to our shop e-mail address. In person guesses will not be accepted.

Kung Pao Chicken at Louie Lake

2009-10-12T16:32:00.012-06:00

Today we finally made it into Louie Lake. One of those hikes we have been wanting to do for years, but just never seem to get around to. It's another great, easy hike in the McCall area...just a half hour drive to the trail head, and maybe an hour hike into the lake itself. To get there, take Elo road to Boulder Lake Rd, and park at Boulder meadows reservoir. The trail head is marked with a wooden sign. Cross the stream and head up the trail.

After half a mile the trail connects with an old jeep trail. We followed ATV tire tracks the rest of the way to the lake, so apparently it is not closed to motor vehicles.

I think one guide book describes the hike as more difficult than the hike into Boulder Lake, but it seemed less steep to me. I think it must be longer so the climbing feels more gradual.

Louie Lake sits below Jughandle Mountain and it was gorgeous. It was an overcast day, so my pictures are not doing it justice. I hear there is a geocache up there, only found once.

Gordy whipped up some kung pao chicken for lunch. Then we packed up to head back. Some nice tourists showed up just as we were leaving. Other than that we didn't see a soul...and no ATV'rs.

Boulder Lake

2009-10-12T15:56:00.008-06:00

Evidently pedal powered snowmobiles are OK on this trail!

Yet another popular fishing hole & hike, Boulder Lake trail head is just a half hour drive from McCall. From Elo road it is 3 miles to Boulder Lake Rd and 4 miles to Boulder Meadows Reservoir, where you will find a primitive campground and plenty of parking. The reservoir is pictured below.

The trail starts out fairly level and turns into switchbacks once you pass the reservoir. You gain 700 ft in less than a mile, a good workout for the lungs.

There is a creek crossing, but we when were there end of September the water was so low it was not a problem. Other times you may want to plan for wet feet.

Boulder lake has an eight foot high concrete & rock dam on the south side. I've tried to find some information on the why's and how's behind the dam, but haven't been able to. Drop us an e-mail if you feel like sharing!

Josephine Lake

2009-09-14T16:54:00.008-06:00

I'm getting behind in my blog entries....a few weeks back we took a nice hike into Josephine Lake, a popular local fishing hole. It takes longer to drive out to the trailhead than it does to actually walk into the lake. From McCall head north on Warren Wagon road, past Upper Payette Lake & Secesh Summit. You will see a sign for the turn off on the left. The road is fairly rough, most guide books recommend a four wheel drive vehicle. We just took it easy.

At the trail head you start out walking a two track road, then branch off onto a narrower trail. About a quarter of a mile in you will see a small pond off to the left. Josephine lake is just another quarter mile up the trail

You can still tell the area was hit pretty hard by forest fires (in 1994), but the area has it's own beauty.

There were several good camping spots at the lake, if you have a smaller sized tent.

A narrow path goes most of the way around the lake. We should have brought fishing poles, or at least our kid that likes to fish! We did meet a group of fishermen heading in, as we were heading out. Despite the road it is a very popular place. It would be a great place to take your out of town visitors, an easy hike & very pretty little lake.

Bear Basin Trails

2009-09-01T15:30:00.026-06:00

Ah, first day of September. Days are cooler, kids are conveniently back in school...time to check out the Bear Basin mountain bike trails. We haven't been up since they first started working on the trail system, two summers ago. The Bear Basin trails are built on Payette National Forest land by Forest Service employees and local volunteers. We have been sending mountain biking tourists up all summer, so it was time to see their progress for ourselves. To get there, you head north out of McCall on Hwy 55, watch for the brown "Bear Basin Trailhead" sign and turn right on N Club Hill Blvd before you get to Little Ski Hill. At the parking lot you will find restrooms, a warming yurt (Bear Basin is a much used nordic trail system in the snow months), and a map of the trails. Click on the map for an enlarged version, print it out for use on the trail!

As on our previous visit, Matt (Forest Service employee and local mountain biking club president) was there hard at work. We chatted for awhile and mentioned the only complaint we have heard regarding the trail system is people getting confused about their current location while on the trail system (notice I didn't say lost). Matt pointed out the nice map they have at the trailhead and said they were in need of names for the trails themselves, which would help with the confusion.

We headed out on the left hand trail, which was a nice wide, swoopy section. The grade is mostly level and really pleasant to ride.

This section empties out into a hub, where you can choose from 3 difficult level trails or loop back to the start on an easy trail. They have put up a nice big information sign with a map of proposed trails, a hand drawn 'you are here' map, and a topo map. The hand drawn map was not quite up to date...to the right of the information sign (kiosk on the map) one of the the 3 difficult level trails begins. But you get the general idea.

We tried the first trail to the left, the west face trail. Note the clear signage and rock cairn.

The west face trail is narrower and has many opportunities to brush up on your bike skills. We were really impressed with the work that went into building the berms, erosion guards and other features. Below you can see Gordy coming up over a berm (he caught major air right after the picture was taken! No really) and to the right of the berm you can see the bail-out, a by-pass of the berm. I took the bail out.

Farther down was an even bigger berm and jump (seen here from the back). I took the bail-out.

Also for your biking enjoyment, mini skills parks:

But we were really impressed with the work that went into the planked section. Complete with options: wider width board walk and balance beam width.
The next section becomes more technical, with some boulders to ride over and around.

Nice view of the rock flat neighborhood. We turned around not long after this, where the trail became more rocky. The climb up was nice and gradual.

We headed back to the car via the other easy trail, a gentle climb back to the parking lot. We only explored less than a 1/3 of the trails, lots more out there for another day!

Don't forget to check out the trails this winter, when it becomes a nordic paradise:

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Hum Lake

2009-07-11T07:14:00.018-06:00

I read somewhere recently that kids today spend more time in virtual worlds (nintendo, computer, etc) than they do in the outdoors. Looking at my kids curled up on the couch with their nintendos on a beautiful summer day, it is not hard to believe. Solution? Time for their first backpacking trip! We have done day hikes since the girls were little, and used to do a fair amount of geocaching 4 or 5 years ago, but haven't done any hiking this summer.

We got the girls excited about the idea by letting them pick out new gear. They already had good lightweight Sierra Designs sleeping bags, but needed all the rest. The girls picked camp dishes, sporks, dinner (freeze dried chicken & noodles) etc. Shopping! Something they can relate to. We packed up Monday night and headed out Tuesday late morning.

To get to the Hum Lake trail, follow the signs towards Ponderosa State Park. Turn right on Lick Creek Rd before you get to Ponderosa. Follow the road past Little Payette Lake, Lake Fork Camp ground, and Lick Creek Summit until you arrive at the parking area for Duck & Hum Lake trails. It is approximately a 45 minute drive from McCall.

Mosquitoes were thick as soon as we got out of the car, we went through a whole can of bug spray in 2 days there. The trail itself was in good condition, except for all of the windfall that needed to be hiked around, climbed over or limbo'd under.

It was a gorgeous day for hiking. Nice cool breeze. Our 12 year old fit into a new size small Gregory pack we had in the store, the 11 year old had to make do with a Deuter pack I won at a trade show last year. It wasn't a perfect fit and soon the grumbling, whining, and outright complaining began. Dad took pity on her and put her sleeping pad & the tent poles in his pack. We stopped for lunch about 1/3 of the way up. Dad removed the tent from the other kid's pack and put it in his...now he is officially in pack mule mode.

After getting fueled up and their loads lightened, the girls blazed up the trail. The trees across the trail were more frequent on the upper section and really slowed us down. When we finally reached the saddle we found a huge snowbank covering the trail. The snow was firm enough to walk on, but it was a steep drop off on the far side, and too dangerous to descend. Instead we had to scramble up and around. This was a bit hairy, especially for the 11 year old wearing socks and water sandals. This is the child who will only wear shoe shaped objects- crocs, flips, etc. So we are ordering her some proper hiking shoes this week.

After the drama of getting around the snow bank we were ready for camp. Fortunately the hike down is much shorter than the hike up. We crossed snow a couple more times near the top.

I think it took about half an hour to hike down from the top. We were all going at top speed, ready to take off our packs and rest. When we got down to level trail it suddenly ended at a large pool of water with no sign of the trail on the other side.

Big rocks placed strategically in the center, but about 8 inches under water led me to believe the trail must normally cross here when the water is lower. I changed into flips and waded across. Brr! Nothing like snowmelt to refresh the feet! And sure enough, hid in some willows was a log bridge leading towards the lake. The first campsites we came to were completely flooded and soggy.
Farther along the west side the ground was higher and dryer. We checked out the lake from a nice grassy bank along the edge.

Back from the lake a bit was a fire ring and a couple of likely looking spots to set up the tents. The girls were using the Zeus 2 (under 4 lbs) we took on our Seven Devils trip last year. We were trying out a Sierra Designs Zeta 2 (5lbs 7 oz). Both are very quick to set up, although the Zeta's directions were a bit lacking. This was Daisy's first backpacking trip also. I think she ran 10 times as far as any of us, she was so excited. But after a long day on the trail and several swims in the streams she was soggy and worn out. We put her in the girls tent for the night and she whimpered most of the night from her sore muscles.

After a tasty dinner of chicken noodles followed by raspberry crumble desert (love those freeze dried meals!) We were ready to climb into our sleeping bags and read. One of the girls lost her headlamp so she brought a firefly lid on her camelbak bottle. This turns your whole bottle into a lantern...very cool for reading. We had added a Nightglow Attic to our tent, which is a net storage with two pinch lights. We like our gadgets!

Around 3 or 4 am the thunder & rain started. I wasn't worried about getting wet in our Zeta, but the girl's Zeus is a single wall and with all three girls (including the dog) it was a tight fit. Around 6:30 I could hear the girls talking. Everyone stayed warm and dry, except Daisy who looked so pathetic the 12 year old let her into her sleeping bag to warm up. Since the sky was still threatening another thunder storm we decided to skip the freeze dried scrambled eggs and eat clifbars while packing up camp.

An icy cold stream crossing is not the best way to start the day, but what can you do. We crossed, dried off feet and put on socks. The 11 year old wore two pair with her sandals and stayed pretty comfortable for the hike back to the car. It drizzled on us most of the way up. At one point it looked like it might be snowing at the top, but I didn't mention this to the girls.

We had come down so fast the afternoon before we missed all the beautiful wildflowers that were out. The Indian Paintbrush was a color of pink I had never seen before. By the time we got to the top the sun was out again.

The snow was much softer after the rain, so doing the snow shuffle was a bit more of a challenge. When we reached the big snowbank we scrambled around the left side this time, and the going was much easier. The girls were elated by the challenge and quite pleased with reaching the top.

We stopped briefly to rest and then kept a steady pace the rest of the way down, with the girls leading the way. Once again we did the Windfall Limbo where we couldn't hike around or over, and that did slow us down, but not as much as it had on the way up. Daisy was clearly still sore and reluctant to jump over logs like she had the day before, preferring to squeeze under where she could.

All in all, it was a great first backpacking trip for the girls. In hindsight I would have picked a hike with less elevation gain, but the girls did great and had a real sense of accomplishment from the trip. Of course they did go immediately to their nintendos as soon as we arrived home.

June Challenge Picture

2009-06-12T06:37:00.003-06:00

We are late this month with our Once-A-Month Photo Challenge, which tests your familiarity with local attractions, views, landmarks, etc. The first person to correctly identify the picture above wins a $25 Mud Creek Gift Card! Only e-mail answers are accepted, please. Send us your best guess, but keep in mind that broad answers can be trumped by a more specific one. The winner will be notified in the July Mud Creek newsletter, sign up to receive the newsletter by entering your e-mail address in the box on the right of your screen.

Kennally Creek Hike

2009-05-19T20:42:00.018-06:00

This time of year it is challenging to get onto the trails without snowshoes on. For our Tuesday hike we tried the North Fork Kennally Creek trail with some success. To get there, you head south towards Donnelly, turning east onto Paddy Flat Rd. After Paddy Flat crosses Farm to Market road it turns to fairly good condition dirt road. Just stay on 388 and follow the signs for Kennally Creek camp ground.

It's a very scenic drive. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. A light breeze blowing...it felt really good to be out exploring new places. Didn't see another car up there, but there was evidence of recent logging.

Didn't hit any snow until after we hit Paddy Flat summit. At first it was just occasional banks of snow stretching across sections of the road. Eventually though it was more than we wanted to try and test the element's low clearance on. About a mile from the trail head we parked and hiked into the campground.

The campground itself was clear of snow.

Great signage showing all the nearby lakes. The campground would be a great jumping off place for a backpack trip, or use it for a basecamp and do dayhikes out to the lakes. If you click on the picture of the map, you will get a larger version and can see all the possibilities.

Kennally creek was full and loud. We were practically yelling at each other to be heard over the roar of the water. We kept Daisy back, if she fell in there would be no going in after her!

We were trying to tell if it was one solid rock across this stretch of the creek in the picture below. It looked like it was. We will have to come back when the water is lower.Can you spot the wild Yaker Spaniel in the picture below? The trail was in good condition, a bit soggy in places. A bit of windfall across here and there to climb over. A couple of trees had fallen but were hanging up in branches of neighboring trees. They made ominous sounds when the wind blew.

Wildflowers were just starting to come out.

After half an hour or so we hit snow again. I sunk in up to my knees- brrrr! and we decided to head back. Definitely coming back in a month or two to check out the lakes.

May Picture Challenge

2009-05-01T08:51:00.003-06:00

It's back! The Mud Creek Picture Challenge....test your local attractions knowledge by identifying the picture above. E-mail your best guess to us and win a $25 Mud Creek gift card. Please note that we do have a new e-mail address, listed on our website & facebook page.

More detailed answers trump bland answers....etc, etc. Don't forget to sign up for our once a month e-newsletter & coupon by using the sign up block on the right if you haven't already.

Brundage Cat Ski

2009-03-21T07:32:00.035-06:00

March 19, 2009: Gordy goes on a Brundage Cat Ski Trip

Thanks to my beautiful wife and cool bosses at Brundage Mountain Resort, I got to go on a full day cat ski trip. A wonderful opportunity.

Took this photo while riding in the cat. Had to stick out my tongue to get the shot framed properly, and amuse Kevin. Somebody took my picture while we were skiing, but I accidentally deleted it.

I researched online to properly prepare for the trip, but turns out the guides do all the work and you ride in a cat and ski. Perfect.
The Brundage cat ski crew are fantastic people.
Seth: killer skier and instructor, man about town, my ski buddy!

Ride cat up slope, ski down, repeat as necessary.
Slab Butte. From left to right: Will, Stern and Carol.

Above is Casey waiting his turn to ride the ridge to our take-off point.

Rick pointing out lines, Kevin ready to drop in.

Photos don't do justice to this landscape.

My friend Carol, the skiing machine.
Watching friends come down the slope. Waaaay steeper than it looks.

The cat ski boss Nikki (sp?). She rules.

Rick giving us the 411 on the slope. Tye (in green) hucked a cornice here. It was awesome and I have the video to prove it. What a great experience.
Those who also rocked the cat trip: Brett (cat driver), Tera, Linda, & Caleb.

March Challenge Picture

2009-02-27T14:29:00.004-07:00

E-mail us your best guess and win a $25 Mud Creek Gift Card! Tell us where this is, and any other pertinent info. Remember, a more detailed answer always trumps a non-specific answer (i.e. "its at the pond!") so give us some details. Winner will be announced in the April newsletter...if you are not on our newsletter e-list, put your e-mail into the sign-up box to the right.

February Picture Challenge

2009-01-31T07:31:00.006-07:00

The Picture Challenge is back! Send us an e-mail and tell us where this is, and any other pertinent info. Remember, a more detailed answer always trumps a non-specific answer (i.e. "its at the pond!") so give us some details. Best answer gets a $25 Mud Creek gift card. Woo-hoo! Winner will be announced in the March newsletter, so sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already.

I Got to Ski Snowbasin on my Birthday

2009-01-26T18:48:00.025-07:00

(neener-neener!)

This week we managed to get out of the store and out of town for a few days. We headed down to Salt Lake City to attend the Outdoor Retailer trade show, which is held twice a year. We haven't gone to the winter show before, so we were looking forward to seeing new things. The day before the show starts they have a demo day, to try out the hard goods you will be seeing later in the show. In the summer you get to crawl in all the tents and paddle all the kayaks around. Since this is the winter show, it was skis, boots, sleds and snowshoes available for us to play with.

We drove down the day before and stayed in Ogden. Every time we go to SLC I am absolutely horrified by the amount of smog, and this trip was no exception. You have these beautiful, just incredible mountains running alongside the interstate, but they are barely visible through the haze. The entire 4 days were spent in a nasty grey mist. We were so relieved to arrive at Snowbasin the next morning for Demo Day and find blue skies. The rock-star parking right next to the vendor area was a nice surprise as well!

Snowbasin is a really nice hill. Lots of chairs/gondolas to ride, lodges to dine, and outdoor patios all over the mountain perfect for basking in the sun.

As attending retailers we had a free pass for the Jean Paul express, or could upgrade to the whole hill for $15. We opted to upgrade. Gordy went and got some SickBirds from the Rossi booth, and then we took the needles gondola to mid mountain. Gondola's are nice when the weather is bad, but rather toasty on sunny days. Plus, you feel obliged to make polite conversation with the strangers you are jammed knee-to-knee next to and across from.

There was lots of people, lots of sunshine, but not much snow. It wasn't bad, but we may be just a teeny bit spoiled skiing at Brundage, where fresh corduroy and/or powder can always be found mid-week. I just checked Snowbasin's website and they have gotten 10 inches today.
It took me awhile to figure out what all those metal poles with no lights were. Ah, not for night-skiing, they are snow guns. Spaced evenly the whole way down the mountain.

After getting a feel for the snow & hill I tried out some Rossi backcountry skis. They would be lots of fun with a bit more snow. Gordy liked the Sickbirds. Although, they do read Bird Sick if you aren't paying attention while booting in.

It really was a beautiful day. The regulars we chatted with claimed Snowbasin was very crowd-free from mid-January on. Never a line to get on the gondola or chair, etc. etc.

Below is the view from the patio of the upper lodge. Everyone was watching the skiers coming down the chutes. If you click on the photo it should take you to a larger version. 20 feet or so down the middle chute you will see a skier, and at the top you will see three more waiting their turn.

Below is the view from the Mt Allen Tram. The smoggy haze doesn't look so bad from a distance.

Around 3:30 or so the sun suddenly disapears behind those tall slopes and you can hear the beer calling from the sunny patios.

It's Beautiful at Brundage

2009-01-18T09:55:00.011-07:00

We haven't been doing anything lately except working and skiing. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. So here for your enjoyment are some sunny day pictures from Brundage: Looking up 45th Parallel

The Lakeview Bra tree really needs some new donations!

Looking down from the Centenial Chair

And looking up

December Picture Challenge

2008-12-01T09:23:00.005-07:00

Here it is, our December Picture Challenge!
Hmmm....wonder where this was taken?!!
Make sure you send us lots of specifics to win the $25 gift card. Previous month's challenge pictures can be found here, and here.

Pollock Mountain

2008-11-17T06:01:00.020-07:00

Early in the week got a call from Kent, asking if I want to hike up Pollock Mountain with him Sunday. Talk about a friend in need, as I've been going nuts waiting for snow to fall. He will drive, I'll bring the snow shoes. It's a plan.

Funny little coincidence: I have long eye-balled the peaks around Meadows Valley and researched them online, scheming on climbing them. I was studying this one just a few days before Kent telephoned. Pollock is about 8100 feet, and the trail head elevation is about 5200 feet, and trail is about 4 miles.

Here's Kent and one of his border collies, Sky. Also in attendance was Abbie. We hit the trail about 9 AM. Kent hiked Pollock many times and estimated 5-6 hours up, 2-3 hours down. Plenty of time to avoid hiking in the dark, as long as nothing went wrong.

This is mostly what I saw of Kent: long legs and superior fitness. Kent volunteered to take photos of me, and Sky. I believe it's 3 miles to Pollock Mtn. Lookout from here.
Kent allowed himself to be photographed. Around 6800 feet, steep trail & 12" of snow. Kent far ahead. Jenni suggested I product test Atlas Back Country snow shoes, and the time had come. Strapped them on and flipped up the heel lift bars (visible behind my left heel). Instead of hiking the trail, which zig-zagged many switch-backs up the slope, I hiked straight up. The crampons provide incredible traction, and heel lift bars assist greatly on steep ascents. Caught up w/ Kent at Cold Springs. Replenished our water.
Cold Springs Saddle about 12:45 PM. Ate food, took pictures. Chilly wind.
Kent set off while I looked for my gloves.
Couldn't find my gloves. Off I go, catch up to Kent. Again.

More steep hiking and we reached a small saddle below the summit. About 1:30 PM.

Just behind that rocky top is the summit. Kent said he'd gone straight up the rocks before, but not with Abbie and Sky, so he took the trail.

Going steep and straight had worked for me this far, so I decided to try it. Snowshoed as far as I could, then strapped the snow shoes and poles to my pack and started climbing.

I scaled over two giant boulders and looked up. I decided it was too dangerous to pursue this route. Put the snow shoes on and headed back to the trail. Time wasted and I was really tired.

Half way around I met Kent coming back. He already reached summit and came back to check on me. About 2:15 PM. So close to summit, but Kent didn't want us hiking in the dark.

Kent was greatly relieved when I told him I brought a good headlamp and a powerful flashlight. To the top.

Picture time. Kent took most of these.

Coming around to give back the gloves Kent lent me.

Looking to the Southwest

South

The restroom is secured with cables so the wind won't blow it away.

I brought the phone, so we called our wives and told them we may be back long after dark.

Didn't take more photos, and it's a shame because we had a blast heading down. The combined stability and flexibility of the Atlas snow shoes enabled us to descend 1200 feet off-trail. As a result we made it back to the truck easily before dark. Thank you Kent.

P.S. - found my gloves on the trail down.

November Picture Challenge

2008-10-30T09:03:00.003-06:00

Here it is again, our once-a-month contest to test your familiarity with area attractions, landmarks, etc.....the first person to correctly identify the above picture wins a $25 Mud Creek gift card. Woo-hoo! Just e-mail us your best guess, but keep in mind that broad answers can be trumped by a more specific one. The winner will be notified in the December Mud Creek newsletter, just in time to do some Christmas shopping!

Lunch at Grass Mountain Lakes

2008-10-23T07:55:00.010-06:00

Tuesday we braved the chill and the hunters to hike up to Grass Mountain Lakes. We arrived at the trail head about 10 am. There were two horse trailers in the parking lot and the sky was spitting snow. Expected high of 34 degrees. Cold! The trail was covered in a couple inches of snow, so we could tell we were the first on the trail that morning other than the rodent, fox and deer.

In some places through the trees it was difficult to spot the trail. Only a few horse hoof prints under the snow gave it away. Out of the trees the path was clear and the colors were amazing.We were bundled up pretty good, but still had to stop and pull out an extra pair of gloves & neck gaiter Gordy was carrying. I was enjoying spotting all the little tracks in the snow. Then in some thick trees we came across some wide oval shaped tracks. Much bigger tracks than what we had been seeing. The oval was about 4" from side to side with no claws on the toes. We didn't see any big cats watching us from the trees, but you can bet we kept an eye out.Note how nicely my "I am not a deer" flag on my pack blends in with the flora. I'll have to ask around and find out what these bushes are called. The stems & leaves had both turned the same rich rust color, like they had been painted. Right before the first lake the trail opens up into a perfectly flat meadow. Here we found more interesting big tracks. These were oval from end to end, and did have visible claws. My boot measures about 4 1/2" across the bottom of the laces. Owwww-ooooooOOOO! If there hadn't been snow on the ground we wouldn't have been aware of all the critters around us.
Down by the first lake we could see a hunter's camp set up, so we didn't go all the way down to the water. Instead we continued on to the second lake and checked it out. There didn't see to be a connecting trail from there to Coffee Cup, so we bushwacked up the hill until we found the trail again.
Gordy made us some hot beverages and a delicious lunch of teriyaki chicken and rice on the saddle with his MSR stove. Lunch with a view!
Those freeze dried meals really are handy. I've only tried the chicken & turkey flavors. One of our customers said the chicken & noodles tasted exactly like the turkey tetrazzini, but I could tell the difference. The turkey tetrazzini had big pieces of asparagus in it! We took some more pictures and enjoyed the view in all directions. It was a gorgeous day. We could just make out the Seven Devils in the distance. A couple of hunters came up the trail while we were eating lunch and continued on up the ridge, but they were the only ones we saw on the trail. Never did see the ones on horseback, so they must have camped farther in. During the drive down there were several pickup loads of hunters cruising up and down the road, especially around Goose Lake & the campgrounds.
We had kids to pick up from school, so we booked it on down to the car. There just wasn't enough time to hike into Coffee Cup Lake. Next time we will bring the kids with us so we have enough time. Coffee Cup is just 1/2 mile past the saddle but not at all visible from where we had lunch.

October Picture Challenge

2008-09-27T14:42:00.003-06:00

Just fer fun, we thought we would start a once-a-month contest to test your familiarity with area attractions, landmarks, etc.....the first person to correctly identify the above picture wins a $25 Mud Creek gift card. Woo-hoo! Hope this one isn't too tough for y'all. Just e-mail us your best guess, but keep in mind that broad answers can be trumped by a more specific one. The winner will be notified in the November Mud Creek newsletter.

Heavens Gate Lookout

2008-09-27T11:44:00.013-06:00

School was delayed a week this year, so we were able to sneak in an afternoon at Heaven's Gate Lookout with the girls the last week of August. This is a great place to take out of town visitors who have seen all the local lakes & trees already. From the lookout you can see 4 states; Idaho, Oregon, Washington & Montana. Canada too, I suppose, if you have really good eyesight.

It was surprisingly chilly for late August, but then the whole summer has been very mild. Here we have the gang bundled up & posing at the parking lot sign, before heading up the trail.

To get to the lookout from New Meadows, you head down to Riggins turning left on Seven Devils Road. Seven Devils road climbs up through an interesting residential area and then turns to dirt after a few miles. Once you arrive at the top you have a choice of parking in the large lot, going on to Seven Devils campground, or continuing on to the lookout parking area. From the lookout parking area, you have a 3/4 mile hike up to the lookout itself.

Excellent views in all directions. Here Gordy is looking north, with the seven devils behind him. Below is looking down towards the parking lot. You can see Oregon & Hells Canyon in the distance.

They did a great job with the signage. This one points out six of the seven devils: Black Imp, The Goblin, The Ogre, Tower of Babel, She Devil and He Devil.

Don't forget to pack a picnic lunch. Only one bench to sit on, but plenty of rocks.

The views from the lookout restroom can't be beat. More modern facilities can be found at the main parking lot, but this one certainly has it's charm.

I wouldn't want to make the climb back up to the lookout from the facilities in the dark.Looking towards Montana.Another must see is Seven Devils Lake. To find it you drive to the campground, park near the marked trail head and hike about 1/2 mile. It's a very small lake, but it gives you a taste of the seven devils lakes that can only be accessed by several hours of hiking.

Loon Lake Loop

2008-09-10T07:33:00.015-06:00

The Loon Lake loop, either on foot or by bike, is one of those things we have wanted to do for a long time. Last summer we were riding every Tuesday and the Loon Lake loop was on the list of things that were going to get done...then it was on fire, and no longer an option. That's what procrastination will get you!

This Tuesday when Gordy's ride with a friend fell through, we decided at the last minute to ride Loon Lake Trail. We made rushed arrangements for the kids to have a place to go after school, packed up the bikes and headed up Warren Wagon Road to Secesh Meadows. Gordy liked the public phone booth Secesh offers:

Not far past Secesh Meadows is the Chinook Campground and the Loon Lake trail head. We had opted to do the shorter 11 mile loop, rather than the 20 mile loop from Ruby Meadows. The trail heading downstream starts nice, wide and level. Very soon it starts to climb and the edge drops away to the Secesh River below.

I haven't been on my mountain bike much this summer, so I just didn't realized how much of my carefree biking attitude I lost when I crashed last summer. The more we climbed the more I realized what a big chicken I had become.

Speaking of my big crash... this lovely couple came into the store the other day. I don't think they have been in since they were here visiting last summer. So they were telling me about being at Burgdorf this weekend and how a mountain biker there had taken a big fall, huge gash on his head, split his helmet in two....and of course, right way, "we though of you!" they said. Hmm. Yes, the fame of my 'mad skillz' lives on.

The trail climbed and dipped for 3.3 miles along the Secesh, according to my odometer. I walked the parts that really wigged me out. Gordy did not walk.Looking downstream from the bridge:At 3.3 miles (or 4, according to the guidebook) you have the option of crossing the river or continuing on to Whangdoodle Trail. I think this is a hotsprings but I need to do more research to be sure. I just liked the name.

We crossed the bridge and started the climb through a considerably more fire-swept area. It was steep climbing for a third of mile or so. I fell off my bike twice here and the second time managed to clear out my odometer with my flailing. Mad Skillz!

I found that taking pictures was a perfectly valid excuse for stopping along the trail. Gasp, wheeze, pant.The trail goes in and out of the burned areas. I kept kicking myself for not seeing this before it burned.

Impressive number of bridges built along the trail.

Some feathered friends along the trail.
Here Gordy has found a solution for what to do with the bag of crackers while trying to snack along the trail. You simply hang it off your pack strap with an ordinary household clip. Genius!Looking upstream from one of the bridges.

The area is clearly recovering from the fire. It was beautiful even with the fire damage, and will be spectacular again one day. Mother Nature doing her thing.

Backpack Gear Review

2008-08-01T03:59:00.005-06:00

We took the opportunity to field test quite a few products on our Seven Devils trip. Here is what worked and what didn't.

Gregory Backpacks: I had the Jade 50 and Gordy had the Z55. I loved mine. Lots of great pockets for organizing my stuff, easy to to use & comfortable. When I first got it I was concerned it wasn't big enough (50L) to hold all I needed for a multiday trip, but turns out it was perfect. A bigger pack would have been like a bigger purse, I just would have filled it with random stuff. Gordy liked his too, but would have been better off with the next size up, the Baltoro 70.

Eureka Zeus 2 classic performance backpacking 2 person tent:
Yays:

Super fast & easy set up & pack up
Compact (little bigger than a loaf of bread) and light (3 lbs, 14 oz.) for packing
Well designed and manufactured with useful features

Nays:

The opening only allows easy entrance/exit for one occupant, whose head the other must climb over to get in or out
Snug accommodations for two average sized adults
Single layer tent, so doesn't breath well, so sweats like a hog in moist weather

Overall impression: Awesome fair weather backingpacking tent for 1 (luxurious) or 2 (cozy).

Thermarest pads: We used the Trail Pro's. These are shaped, so if we didn't have mummy bags I think I would have thought it was too narrow. 2" thick and super comfortable, didn't feel any rocks or lumps through it. Light too, under 2lbs.

Thermarest Lounger: This is the sleeve you put over your thermarest to turn it into a lounge chair. It remained a sleeve and not a chair for the entire trip. Too many mosquitoes to consider lounging around camp! It did seem to do a good job of protecting the pad from punctures & tears.

Sierra Designs sleeping bags: Gordy had the Wiiiiiiild Bill 20 with climashield. Judging by his snoring, it worked great. I had the Solar Flare 15. Loved it. Both bags have thin straps on the bottom that your mattress pad slips through, so you stay on the mat all night. I was concerned about condensation in a tiny tent & the down fill sopping it up, but the Drizone shell fabric really does repel water. And it weighed less than 3lbs. Wild Bill was 3.2 lbs.

Granite Gear stuff sacks: Super light Airbags worked great for organizing clothes, food etc. We also used the drybloc bags for sleeping bag stuff sacks. We used an Airpocket to keep our maps & guide book sheets in. This had a loop to hang it from the outside of my pack, where it was always handy.

Hiking Poles: These were absolute lifesavers! Like Gordy says, they are training wheels for backpackers. Really helps distribute the pack weight, and saves your knees on the descents. Adjustability was key, as you could shorten the poles for uphill climbs, and lengthen them for downhills. Gordy tried the Atlas poles we sell with our snowshoes (minus the powder baskets). These worked great except he was jealous of my Black Diamond flip lock's (faster adjustablity) and padded wrist straps.

MSR Whisperlite stove: Boiled water super fast and seemed easy to use (ok, Gordy was camp cook). We took the 11oz fuel bottle and used about a 1/3 of it.

MSR Blacklite Gourmet cookset: Way more pans than we needed. One would have done fine, as we were not feeling nearly as gourmet as we thought we might feel.

MSR Dromedary Bag & Hyperflow waterfilter: The dromedary bag is a bomber, super awesome way to carry extra water. Worked really slick with the hyperflow water filter too. The Hyperflow was really fast and light. Connects to your camelbak, nalgene bottles, the drom bag, etc to make refilling easy.

GSI Fairshare Mug: A 32 oz mug with a screw on lid and a hole in the handle to attach to your pack. We used them for holding snackies during the day and our dinner/breakfast dishes. The lid kept the bugs out & dinner spill free. Clean up was a snap, just put in half a cup of water, a drop of Dr Brommer's, screw the lid on, shake & fling ( the water inside, not the mug).

Thermarest Compressible Pillow: That's right, I brought a pillow backpacking....and I would do it again! Come on, it was only 9 oz.

Mountain House freeze dried meals: The chicken & noodles and Turkey Tetrazzini were both great meals. Add water, wait 8 minutes and dinner was ready. Perfect for novice mosquito harassed backpackers and really very filling. We did not get around to the Apple Cobbler, and the Tiramisu had too strong of a coffee taste for me. Gordy liked it.

Badger Anti-Bug: For some reason, this was the only bug repellent we brought. It worked amazingly well, especially for a non-deet product. I have no bites on my arms or legs, but do on my face and head where I neglected to apply it. Bonus, it makes your skin feel nice and soft. You don't get that nasty dipped-in-chemicals feeling you have after a day of deet.

Random things not used: deck of cards. Teva sandals. My raincoat (had fantastic weather). About half of the food we brought (either the elevation or the physical exertion, we just were not as hungry as we were led to believe we might be. Go figure). MSR Packtowl (used it just barely, probably not enough to justify). Extra flashlights.

Random things we did use: Gordy's raincoat (anti-mosquito layer), AMK adventure lite first aid (great size & weight, useful stuff), paperback book (back support the first night, read it the second), big black garbage bags (backpack protection at night) GSI rehydrate spoon (specially shaped spoon for freeze dried pouches, worked great!) Guyot designs Microbites (5 in one spoon, fork, knife spatula tool).

Random things we wish we would have brought: mosquito coils, bug proof suits, some sort of float tube to float all around the lakes.

Backpacking in the Seven Devils

2008-07-31T08:00:00.023-06:00

Summer is passing us by, and we have hardly had a chance to get out of the store at all. So for our wedding anniversary we decided to break out the groovy Gregory backpacks our sales rep got us into last fall and do a backpacking trip. The Seven Devils are right in our backyard so they were the perfect choice for a destination.

Three weeks of planning got our gear sorted out and narrowed down (see bottom of this post for gear reviews, what worked and what didn't....) and our trip expanded from an overnighter to a 3 day adventure. Our goal was to take the climber's route from Windy saddle to Sheep Lake the first day, Sheep Lake to Dry Diggins Lookout the second day, and Dry Diggins back to Windy Saddle the third day.

Day One: The Scramble

We dropped Daisy off with Auntie Barbara at Happy Dog Inn and the kids off with Grandma and headed towards Riggins. We stopped in at the ranger station to buy a map of the He Devil Quad. They are very helpful at the Riggins Ranger station, it is well worth the stop if you are curious about the area at all. Back on the road we took Seven Devils Road to Seven Devils Campground, parked, and strapped on the backpacks.

The climber's route, or goat trail as some people call it, is not on any of the maps. Barstad's hiking book had the gps coords for it though, and a rough description of where it started. We took off on what looked more like a game trail than a hiking path, fairly certain we were on the right trail. We hit patches of snow right away. Here is a picture of Gordy cooling his, um, heels.

The trail just kept getting steeper and steeper.

Eventually we had to stop, catch our breath and have some of the excellent gorp we mixed up at home. Twice on the climb to the first saddle I had to take off my pack and heave it over, across, up to Gordy because I just felt like I would tip over backwards and fall off the mountain trying to climb with it on. The second time was because a big patch of snow was covering the trail and we had to scramble up some rocks. I could see where someone else had tried to climb the snow and sunk in about a foot & a half deep. Brrrr! Elevation at the saddle was 8,410 ft.
I think it took us 2 hours to reach Mirror lake. I'm a slow climber. This pretty green rock wanted to come home with me, but I already had 35lbs in my pack and Gordy could not be persuaded to carry it.

Here is a better view of Mirror Lake, with the Tower of Babel behind it. The yellow haze is from the Northern California wildfires. The next saddle to cross is pictured below. The lowest dip in the middle of the ridge line is called Goat Pass. We scrambled up and over, wondering where our path was.

Below you can see where the path becomes clear again. Around the corner was another hairy spot where I had to hand my pack off to Gordy. We had a choice between a leap across a gap or a scramble down & up. He did the leap. I handed my pack across and scrambled down & up.Devils Tooth. Below is our first peek at Sheep lake.

Another nice view of Devils Tooth.Can you spot the path here?Coming down into Sheep Lake. Devils Tooth in the lower left corner. Sheep Lake was gorgeous. We were pretty tired. We found a good campsite right as the mosquito's started really coming out. Got the tent set up and hid inside for awhile. The freeze dried chicken & noodle meal really saved us. Gordy put on his rain coat & a head netting for mosquito protection and boiled up some water. Pour it into the bag and 8 minutes later you have dinner. It was really pretty good too. We both slept fairly well.

Day 2: The Stagger We woke up pretty well rested, but my right eye was completely swollen shut from a bug bite. Looking out the tent screen there were several hundred mosquitoes staring in at us, so we rolled over and went back to sleep until almost 11. The second time we woke up the mosquitoes seemed to be mostly gone. We tried a breakfast recipe I had found on-line, which involved mixing a packet of freeze dried eggs & bacon with Idahoan instant potatoes. Whew, much too hardy for me. Gordy ate most of it (brave soul!) The coffee tea bags worked great though. We packed up camp and headed out. It was close to 1 pm so we were most likely not going to make our goal of Dry Diggins Lookout today. On the plus side, all the smoke and haze seemed to have blown off during the night.This is the east side of the lake. Looks like something out of Backpacker magazine. You can't see the swarms of mosquitoes that are following Gordy. They got worse at the south end of the lake when we started picking our way across all the loose rocks. Evidently the pools of water under all the rock is ideal mosquito breeding ground. We were wondering what the ranger had meant when she told Gordy there were "no mosquito problems". We were glad when we made it across the south end and were on stable, rock free ground again. A really deluxe camp site is set up at the SW corner of the lake, with a huge fire pit and room for many tents. The climb up wasn't too steep, but my legs felt pretty noodley from the previous day's climb. It was a slow climb up. Saw bear scat on the trail, but never did see a bear. Or goats for that matter.

Just over the pass from Sheep Lake, looking north. Gem lake was a beautiful teal color. Don't think we saw much of Shelf Lake. When we arrived at Basin Lake we decided we had reached camp for the night. It was the Plaza Suite of camp sites, with a huge fire pit (we didn't use) and a nice level spot for our tent. We set up camp and jumped in the lake. Or at least stood in it, letting our sore muscles chill. I guess I should have mentioned it to the fishermen that showed up an hour later, and couldn't seem to get the fish to bite. Oh yeah, right after we got dressed and started dinner it was like Grand Central Station. First a grandpa, two young boys and their dad show up with fishing poles. Then a guy on horse back. Then two guys wearing packs about the size of ours. One was very friendly and chatty and said they had camped the night before at Gem lake, climbed over to Appendix Lake, scaled He Devil and 5 other mountains, all today. He was like the superman of backpacking, but his companion didn't look nearly as enthusiastic.

Then the mosquitoes came out to play so we hid in the tent again.

Day 3: The Death March Our Mosquito friends were still partying when we woke up a bit before 8, so we decided to not make the late start mistake of the previous day. Skipping breakfast altogether (even coffee!) we packed up in record time and ran out of camp, with a cloud of mosquitoes behind us. We passed the camp of the fishermen and their big smoky fire. Smelled like they were cooking bacon, but we just took another nibble of our clifbars and kept on hiking. Lots of windfall along the trail, which meant climbing over and under the downed trees. We were unimpressed with Lily Pad lake's beauty in the morning light.

Ah, at last. The sign pointing to Windy Saddle. The mosquitoes were still thick so we decided not to stop for breakfast, but just kept on. We did stop for lunch at Sheep Creek, which was a really nice spot. Lots of downed trees, though. I did wonder how they get the pack animals through. Must have to bushwack around.

Hmm, can't seem to remember the point of this picture. This next one is the climb up from Sheep Creek. Not far past here we met a guy striding along with a big smile, and about 30' behind him a girl that didn't look nearly as happy. Both only wearing small day packs. First date? You have to wonder. This was 1 pm and 3 miles from the trail head.

The above picture is looking back across Sheep Creek at the pass right after the Windy Saddle turn off. Almost in the middle of the picture you can see a tiny white dot, which is a guy leading two pack horses. He caught up to us about 1/2 mile from the Windy Saddle parking lot.

Looks like I'm about to do a swan dive off the cliff.

There were so many wildflowers throughout the trip. Many I had never seen before. Still looking through my wildflower book trying to identify them.On the road back to the Seven Devils Campground from the Windy Saddle trail. The dip in the middle is where we climbed to Mirror Lake two days ago. All in all it was a great trip. The only negative being the mosquitoes! ARrrrg! Really need to think out our bug strategy for next time. We had one stick of Badger anti-bug, which worked great everywhere we put it. I had no bites on my arms or legs. My face and neck are another matter. User error I guess.

Can't wait to get out there again!

Tuesday loop ride from the shop

2008-05-13T18:06:00.004-06:00

With so many of the trails & higher roads still in muck/snow mode, for our first "Tuesday Ride" we opted for a ride out from the shop. Neither of us has really explored the roads in the south end of the valley much, so it was nice to ride somewhere new. We headed south through town until we hit Substation Rd and then hooked up with Walker Lane.

At about 3+ miles, we found ourselves facing 3 gates. 2 of them definitely looked like private property, and the third we just weren't sure about. So we decided to check out the new Walker Ranch Subdivision. A dirt road turns off of Walker and meanders west, eventually connecting to South End Rd. A helpful kiosk with maps tells you "you are here" and which lots are still for sale. It looks like a nice neighborhood, but the clouds of gnats that attacked every time we slowed down kept us moving along. Eventually we hit South End Rd and turned south, continuing onto forest service Rd's. Many of the roads up in this area are still muddy or snow covered, but this will be a great area to explore further this summer. A loop around to Fish Lake would make a great ride.

After we felt we had climbed enough, we turned around and took South End Rd back to the shop. A nice 11 mile loop, perfect for an early season ride.

Gordy's Epic Birthday Ride

2008-05-08T09:00:00.010-06:00

Turned out to be not so epic. We drove down to Riggins looking for some sunshine & warmer weather. Our plan was to drive up Big Salmon River Rd, park at a nice picnic-ish area, and then ride bikes up the road from there. Completely forgot about the road construction going on. Turns out there are only select hours you can drive up now, because they are putting in phone lines and plan to make it a 2 lane road. We could go half a mile up the road, with a pilot car, but we opted not to. Progress, eh?

So then we head north of Riggins to FS road 241, heading up towards Cow Creek Saddle. It was beautiful up there.

We parked where the road started to level off, about 6 miles from the highway. Unloaded the bikes and checked out the scenery.

We heard a crashing noise in the brush and looked up to see an elk on the hillside above us. We also kept hearing an odd thumping noise that seemed vaguely familiar. Turns out it was ruffed grouse doing their spring woo-hoo look at me thing. That was very cool to hear. Then we peddled around a corner and saw this:

Arrghh! But Gordy gave it a good try.

Then we went home and had cake. Happy birthday Gordy!

Route of the Hiawatha- Tuesday July 24, 2007

2007-07-29T09:06:00.000-06:00

Ok, the Route of the Hiawatha rails-to-trails ride is a little bit out of our area, but we felt the need to get out of town. It was a 5+ hour drive but totally worth it. Camera was not working so you will just have to check the website to see how gorgeous it is up there: http://www.skilookout.com/hiaw/

15 miles of mountain bike trail, going through 10 tunnels and over 7 trestles. Make sure you have a good light on your bike!

Little Mud Creek Loop- Tuesday, July 17

2007-07-21T06:50:00.000-06:00

This Tuesday's ride may be my favorite so far. And we didn't even have to drive any where to do it! When our group was all gathered we just headed up Highway 95 to Little Mud Creek Road, approximately 3 miles. This was a little hairy, with the big semi's roaring past, but for the most part drivers were very courteous and slowed down or moved to the other lane to pass us.

At Little Mud Creek we turned off the highway and headed down the gravel road. Before we had gone too far a road maintenance truck passed us coming the other way. He was watering down the dust, which made our ride even more pleasant. We had trees to keep us shaded, and cows for scenery. When the road forked, we took the right hand branch, knowing it would eventually loop around to Kimberland. At this point we lost our nice shade and had a hill to climb. There are more forks in the road along this section, but we kept taking the right-hand branches and eventually were rewarded with a nice mile + long downhill section. There is a barbwire gate near the bottom of this, which could be bad if you were not aware of it.

After we had passed through the gate Gordy closed it after us. We climbed the short hill to the next downhill section, 1 mile to the clubhouse! Here we had a couple of cold beers and a nice swim in the pool. The perfect way to end a ride. Unfortunately we still had 3 miles of hot furnace head wind to get back to the store. Next time I think we will start and end at the pool!
This ride was approximately 14 miles round trip, and sorry, forgot to take pictures.

Ponderosa State Park- Tuesday, July 10

2007-07-21T06:34:00.000-06:00

Since our other riders were out of town, we decided to go toodle around Ponderosa State Park.

We parked at the Day Use beach area, and headed down the gravel road to the Lily Marsh parking area, where we caught the Huckleberry Loop trail. The Huckleberry loop is a nice easy loop for hikers & bikers both, but we wanted to try out the mountain bike single track that branches off the huckleberry loop. So at the appropriate little brown bicycle sign, we headed off.
Almost immediately we hit a steep rocky section that I almost was able to ride. Gordy blasted up with no problem, and we both stopped to breath on the more level section. Suddenly we were swarmed by mosquito's! Argg! Must keep riding! Single track, is of course, just that... a narrow, single track. This one weaves in between trees, over roots, up rocks, etc. It was fun and challenging. The hardest part was not sucking in mosquito's when I stopped to catch my breath. At some point the trail comes out onto the road to the Payette Lake overlook, which is a great spot to stop and enjoy the breeze before cruising back to the day use beach. 4 miles round trip, and sorry, no pictures. Here is a link for the park: http://www.idahoparks.org/parks/ponderosa.html

Rainbow Lake Ride - July 3, 2007

2007-07-05T23:12:00.000-06:00

This was our biggest gang yet for a Tuesday ride. There were six of us. There were me, Jenni and Nina. Nina brought her two friends Linda and Lynn (probably spelling her name incorrectly). This ride was a blast and it is hard to remember all the funny and cool things that happened. I will try my usual routine of story-telling and see where that gets me. I'll start with riders and their bikes.
Linda was riding her (I believe it is a Specialized) hybrid with 700c wheels. Lynn was riding an 80's vintage Specialized Rockhopper (I think it was a Rockhopper). These two women rocked. Their bikes were of excellent quality but neither were really appropriate for the rough trail we rode. It didn't matter a bit. They ruled.
Randy is a physicist visiting from Oregon determined to ride as much as humanly possible during his ten days in Idaho. He was rocking his Marin Wolf Ridge. Go Randy go!
Here's the gang at the lake. The weather was fantastic.I must say that this trail was no smooth easy ride. There were very steep sections. There long sections of deep powdery dust. There were plenty of downed trees across the trail. There were rocks and roots and stream crossings. Not to say it was a grueling hell ride, but it was challenging for any novice mountain bike rider. It was also very fun, and there were lovely picture perfect bits of trail like this one:
It was while riding through one of these gorgeous meadows Nina burst into song, ala Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music. "The hills are alive with the sound of music!"
Jenni nearly fell off her bike laughing. Nina rocks.
Randy rode the most powerful steed among us and drove it with impressive abandon. He mounted up and attacked terrain the rest of us hiked. Occasionally he would crash with spectacular impacts audible from great distances. He was definitely the most skilled, experienced and courageous of the group, and I never saw a scratch on him.
Jenni rode with great skill and excellent judgement. Everyone handled themselves very well, except me. I made an idiotic decision that plagued my ride.
I decided to install my brand new clipless pedals on my mountain bike right before the ride. I removed the flats/clipless pedals that had served me very well on the 18 mile Little Ski Hill Loop ride. Turns out the springs on these new pedals are much tighter than on my other pedals.
Even adjusted to the loosest setting, it was hard to click my shoes on, and once on they wouldn't release! So I fell over and scratched my elbow (said some words rather loudly too). I fell over three or four times until my little brain became frightened of my pedals. I rode with nervous feet, scared a cleat would lock down and not release. When you make stupid mistakes and suffer miserably as a result, people will often tell you that it was "a good learning experience". Yeah, I learned alright.
When I find the washer that disappeared when I took off my old pedals, I am putting BACK ON my old pedals. I am going to break in my new pedals on next Tuesdays road ride!

Payette Lake Loop Ride

2007-06-26T15:39:00.000-06:00

Gordy here narrating the story now. Jenni told of the Little Ski Hill 18 Mile Loop ride. What Jenni did not tell is how she took a spectacular endo which resulted in several minor flesh wounds and a total loss of my sense of humor. Jenni is healing up very well and my sense of humor was nothing to brag about in the first place.

It was Jenni's spectacular endo that prompted the choice of our next ride: mostly flat, mostly paved road around Payette Lake, starting and ending in McCall. Excellent ride for us novice bike riders. Joy.

This was our first ride with a guest! Our friend Nina (pronounced "nine-ah") and her K2 full suspension T:nine Trailhead. Nice bike. I put road tires on Jenni's Specialized Expedition, and I chose my Townie 7 speed. We parked at Lardo's (historical greasy spoon) and pedaled on down the road. We reached the North end of Payette Lake had snackies on the beach. Weather could not have been better.

After polishing off a box of crackers (mostly by me) we headed South down the East side of the lake. Partially paved road and some uphill riding, nothing hectic to report. Saw the latest lake-side condos and cabins and outright mega-mansions under construction. Mostly we saw the reason why we live here, which is pretty trees, lakes and mountains. And nice fresh air!
Got back into McCall and the traffic of a lakeside tourist town in the midst of a tumultuous building boom. And it was along those roads that it was cemented in my mind why I prefer riding mountain trails. Some lady honked her horn and gestured angrily at us as she drove by. What reason could she have to angry with us? We were riding as close to the edge of the road as we possibly could. I was constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure we weren't about to be annihilated by a truck.
I read a blog of a very cool dude in the bicycle industry who said that people, even bicycle people, undergo a personality change the instant they get behind the wheel of a car. Crankiness, the nagging sense of being in a hurry, impatience, insensitivity to all others around your vehicle consume your mind. It just seems to happen.
I would rather challenge my mind and body on the trails in forests and mountains rather than take my chances on the pathways of 4000 pound death machines and their distracted pilots. I will now step down from my soapbox.
All in all it was a very pleasant ride and good exercise. We rode back to Lardo's, loaded up our bikes and headed home. Another Tuesday ride in the books.

Tooth-rattling Good Fun/ Long Little Ski Hill Loop - June 19, 2007

2007-06-20T08:11:00.001-06:00

Gordy on the first downhill portion, before you get to Fish Lake. The road wasn't as rocky here.
Admiring Fish Lake. The two gentlemen fishing were the only people (and the only car) we saw all day.
Big Creek Meadow. From here you turn left and climb up the side of Red Ridge.
Lets just say that the longer Little Ski Hill loop in the Mountain biking McCall book is not one of my favorites. Parts of it were really fun, but over all the elevation gains & rattling over miles of rocks on the downhill portions, (OK and climbing over loose rocks!) just didn't balance out for me. On a full suspension bike it might have been better. We had absolutely perfect riding weather- nice sunshine with a gentle breeze that kept us from getting too hot or too buggy.

We found a nifty website that lets you upload your GPS recorded route to a google earth map & add pictures at various waypoints....as soon as we have time we will add that to this post in case anyone with a full suspension bike would like to try it.

Good things about the 18 mile loop:

1. Incredible wildflower viewing

2. The air smells wonderful up there!

3. The only car we saw was parked at Fish Lake

4. The sound of a flock of sheep baa-ing somewhere near by

5. Great scenery

Downside to the loop:

1. 1200 some feet in elevation gain

2. 1200 some feet in elevation gain over loose rocks that make it difficult to gain traction, and fly off your back tires creating a hazard for the person behind you

3. most of the downhill portions were over rocky terrain

We did not take quite enough water. I had my 72 oz camelbak + a 32 oz bottle, Gordy had a 100 oz camelbak. Both camelbaks were dry by mile 10. Lesson learned!

Kayak Day, Tuesday June 12, 2007

2007-06-12T20:44:00.000-06:00

Our two daughters are out of school for Summer. We failed to arrange for their care so that we could go after the longer version of the Little Ski Hill mountain bike ride. No timely play dates, no babysitters, no nothing. So my experimental 7 speed mountain bike would have to wait for its test ride. No wait, that is my experimental single speed mountain bike that has been dismantled. Never mind. So we went to the North shore of Payette Lake for some 'yaking and relaxing. And that began with my own personal story of broke-ness, cheap-ness, creative-ness, frustration-ness, and pig-headed git-r-done-ness. What the hell am I talking about? Valid question.

We recently retired our 1994 Isuzu Trooper and bought a Honda Element. Reason I mention this? Our old Trooper had a Thule roof rack with a cargo box. Mounts that will allow us to put our rack and box on the Element? Hundred something something gang of money! But hey! One of our sales guys reps for Yakima! So then it would only be hundred-hunert-sumpity dollars for a whole new rack to mount the box on! My cheapity cheap-ness would not abide.
So I figure and drill and bolt and mostly I shout curse words. And after many cumulative hours of struggle I achieve success!

Thule rack solidly mounted on the Element roof! And with my trusty ratchet straps I was confident our two kayaks would stay on the rack even if we drove 100 miles per hour. All that, and I was only mildly grouchy! Okay, pretty darn grouchy. But I saved hundreds of dollars on extravagant outdoor gear automobile storage equipment without totally losing my mind! Or did I? I'll never tell.

So we drove to the lovely North shore of Payette Lake and unloaded all of our gear. We also unloaded our Doodle. That is we unloaded our Daisy Doodle. we unloaded our dog. And we didn't know if she could swim, if she would try to swim, if she would ride in a kayak, etc. We were concerned about how her little tiny dog brain would respond to the environment. So we took precautions, as outdoor gear purveyors should:

We strapped a foam pad around her body. She did not seem to mind. Excellent. And so we yakked. Of most photo-worthiness was Maddie and Daisy yakking.

And Lydia and I yakked.

And Jenni yakked

And we had lunch and it was a grand day out in the sun and fresh air and very good for our minds and bodies. And Lydia found at least ten bird feathers.

Little Ski Hill Loop - May 29, 2007

2007-05-30T07:50:00.000-06:00

With our trusty Mountain Biking McCall guide in hand, we had planned on doing the 18 mile loop from Little Ski Hill. However, on the way to Little Ski Hill we hear a loud "POP" noise...stop the car, get out and see that one of the tires on Gordy's bike was too close to the exhaust pipe and exploded. Back to the store for another tire and with less time we adjust our plans for the shorter 8 mile loop.

With the incredible building boom of the last few years and our copy of the book being 4 years old, I was a bit worried that things had changed. But all in all it was pretty accurate. The short loop directions say to "take the gravel road". This is Fish Lake RD at the west end of the ski hill's parking lot. We cruised down the hill, past the t-bar base and across a paved road not mentioned in the guide. Onto a dirt road that climbed a small hill as described. At 1.2 miles we were to take the second left, and after some debate decided the book was referring to the 3rd left (the first was not as well defined and the 3rd was low as described).

Along the way we hear hooves & crashing noises, look up to our left and see an elk running along the hillside. No, maybe its a young moose. After more debate we decide it is two Sasquatches running hand in hand. Around another corner we hear the Sasquatches again, this time below the road.

Somewhere around 4 miles from Little Ski Hill we come to the saddle junction as described in the book. To the south we can see Council Mountain (? need to look at a big map to be sure). We take the left road and as we near the top we hear a vehicle coming down the hill. An old suburban pulling a trailer with 2 spanky new ATVs and a fly fishing float tube, followed closely by a yellow hummer & 2 bored looking passengers. The two friendly fellows in the suburban ("Have a great ride!") must have been sherpa/guides for the hummer.

Consulting the topo at the saddle junction.

Cruising along the ridge we were surprised we were high enough to see McCall and Payette Lake peeking through the trees. To the west we could see the Seven Devils. Great views all around.

Coming down the ridge there were extreme rocky/boulder (they call those baby head boulders I think) sections but most of the road was in good condition. We did pass some people on ATV's, some wearing full camo (hunting Sasquatch?) but most of the day we had the place to ourselves. Excellent ride! My odometer said 8.5 miles when we arrived back at the parking lot, and I think it took us somewhere around 2 1/2 hours (with lots of photo op stops).

Rapid River Hike! May 22,2007

2007-05-23T08:46:00.000-06:00

This has been a very rainy Spring. This Tuesday we were not in the mood to ride through mud and puddles. Yeah, I know; a true bicycle person rides in snow and rain and the fires of Hades. We are newbies to mountain biking, so we must be excused from the rigors of the hardcore elite. Besides, you could say we were scouting our next ride! No more excuses. On with the story.

We packed up the Doodle dog. I don't think she has been introduced. Daisy is her name, and being a ungroomed, stinky Cocker Spaniel is her game. She is almost one year old and she was very happy to go for a hike. Stock photo of Daisy in sad shop dog mode:

We drove North just shy of Riggins, and turned left up Rapid River Road. We came to the fish hatchery and parked in the parking lot. FYI, the hatchery locks up their gate at 5PM so you don't want to park there if you think you will be getting back after then. I mention this by way of a story.

Sunday night, about 11 o'clock Daisy barked me awake. I got out of bed, went down stairs to see a friend of ours we hadn't seen in nearly two years at our door. He and a friend hiked up Rapid River Trail, got lost and wound up hiking nearly 12 hours to get back to the car. Good thing they didn't park in the Hatchery parking lot. So they crashed on our floor, he took us out to breakfast the next morning and we all had some laughs.

As the Hash House Harriers say, On on on! Here is Jenni and the Doot (Daisy has many nick-names) strolling to the trail-head. Another FYI: the hatchery has a nice little picnic area with flush toilet bathroom! Woohoo! They are located off-camera, Jenni and Doot's right.

This trail is listed in our McCall area mountain biking book, and if you ride it you are looking at some serious granny gear climbing. It is steep, but it is real real purdy. Here's an eye shot:

So we hiked and we hiked and it was not raining, but all the green plant things were wet and hanging in the trail and Jenni and I both were wearing cotton pants! Massive violation of the outdoors person code! So our jeans were soaked, and my shoes were soaked. And we few miles in we crossed a bridge.We hiked about 5 miles and then had some breakfast in Riggins. It wasn't riding, but it was fun. Remember, if conditions may be wet don't wear cotton! Nylon, polypropylene, wool, oh yeah. One more thing. If you are going to ride this trail make sure you got tires on your bike that can handle this:

Well, have fun folks. And be safe. No cotton, topo maps. You bet.

Lost Lake Reservoir Ride

2007-05-15T15:37:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Last week we were going to ride the reservoir affectionately referred to by many as Cow Poo Lake. But we had a sick buggy (daughter) and so rode out our front door. That was cool, but this was more of an adventure. Here is a nice photo of the lake, taken when I hiked up a slope to try to find a trail.

We packed up the bikes and about a 15 minute drive later we parked at the South end of the lake. We were running off our local mountain bike guide book "Mountain Biking in McCall", by Stephen Stuebner and Roger Phillips. We started off trying to follow the routed detailed in the book, but wound up doing our own thing. Here's more pics.

Here we are about a mile down the road, consulting the book and concluding that we have already deviated from the recommended path. Initially we were intent on following the recommended path, and so went down the slope to the lake shore. Also, riding on a gravel road was not too exciting.

This was nice riding, by the shore.There were many downed trees across the path, but it was no big deal.

Looking South, back the way we came.

We came to a sketchy little single track that hugged the shoreline and was fun to ride, until we were nearly to the North end of the lake. We were hoping we could link up with a tail and ride all the way around the lake, but we were confronted with...

Maybe if we were veteran mountain bike warriors with full suspension steeds we would have ventured into the forest, but we are not and were not. So we rode back! And it was neat.

It was pretty like this. A good ride. Then we went back to New Meadows and had lunch at the Granite Mountain Cafe. We were going to eat at the Pine Ridge Cafe, but they are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Good to know. Also I would highly recommend obtaining a good topographical map of any area you plan to ride.

Dave and the Ride For Andrew

2007-05-14T08:38:00.000-06:00

The guy pictured above stopped by the store Saturday, May 12, 2007. Unfortunately I did not get his full name, but he is Dave and he is someone everyone should admire.

Here a couple links pertaining to what Dave is doing:

http://rideforandrew.pledgepage.org/

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=andrewmcdonough

In short, Dave is a co-worker of Andrew's father. Andrew McDonough is 14 years old and was diagnosed with Leukemia on January 27, 2007. The websites above informs of the McDonough Family's efforts to cope, as well as big-hearted poeple raising money to help. Among those are Dave and twelve others riding across the country from Florence, Oregon to Wilmington, Delaware.

I was lucky enough to change out a flat on Dave's steed, and thereby help him on his mission.

Go Dave go.

Second Tuesday ride - May 8, 2007

2007-05-10T06:48:00.000-06:00

May 8, 2007
Jenni and I were going to ride around Cowpoo Lake (Lost Lake Reservoir), but our 9 year old daughter was a snerkin' hackin' little mess of a sick girl. So home she stayed, and we did not drive out to our originally planned ride.
We did steal away for an hour, with a two-way radio strapped to me and one in the house for the sick girl. There are forest service roads all through the surrounding mountains, and one starts a quarter mile from our door. So we road, and we climbed. And we climbed some more. And Jenni took a photo of me climbing. And after about three miles of solid climbing, we headed back. It really wasn't all that exciting, but it was good exercise, and it was riding!

Weiser River Trail ride

2007-05-03T07:07:00.000-06:00

We are going to run a shuttle service for folks to ride the Weiser River Trail, and Tuesday May 1st was our practice run.
SHUTTLE DRIVER:
Grandpa Keith valiantly served as our shuttle driver with his trusty Ford F150 and his 5'x12' trailer. It was a snap loading up six bicycles, and we all squashed comfortably into the extended cab of the F150.

RIDERS: (we wanted a diverse range of bikes types to get ride comparison. We succeeded)
- Rookie Bike Mechanic (hereafter referred to as RBM) riding mutant novelty bike he built around Nuvinci continuously variable planetary transmission internal hub. RBM is a sucker for new technology and had to see what the Nuvinci hub was all about, and so the Mutant bike was born. Spent so much money buying the wheel with the Nuvinci hub, the rest of the bike was cobbled from cheap or left-over components. Bike weighs 39.4 pounds.
- Jenni (RBM’s lovely wife) riding her Specialized Expedition with Rokshox J4 fork, aluminum frame 24 speed.
- Jesse riding his Specialized Rock Hopper with aluminum frame, front shock (forget the make), 24 speed drive train and recently serviced and repaired by a RBM.
- Shelly (Jesse's lovely wife) riding her Rocky Mountain something something (forgot the name) hardtail 24spd, also recently serviced by RBM.
- Kevin riding his Electra Ratrod cruiser with springer fork and Nexus 3 speed internal hub and coaster brake! He was our iron man, riding a 40+ pound steel framed street bruiser that hadn't been tuned-up in years! Damn RBM forgot to check it over, and so the plot would thicken.

THE RIDE:
We met at Mud Creek Outdoor Gear at 9 AM, give or take 15 minutes. Loaded up and we were off to Tamarack, about four miles West from town. Parked a stone throw away from the sawmill and we were riding a little after 9:30 AM. Beautiful Spring day, perfect riding weather.

RBM brought Jenni's Garmin Etrex Legend handheld GPS and strapped to his handlebar stem. Jenni had her odometer bike computer that RBM had just re-installed since putting on the Rokshox J4 fork. He failed to install it correctly, so it didn't work and the GPS would be our soul source of ride data. It worked fine.

Gorgeous day, mostly downhill trail, we stop on one of the many bridges that span the river for pictures! Yay! Photo time! RBM actually remembered to pack the digital camera. WOOHOO! Kevin, Shelly, Jesse and Jenni glamorously pose with their steeds on the bridge while RBM hippity hops to the perfect place to shoot photos. Even have fresh batteries in the camera, which flashes the following message “No Card”. Hmmm, no card. Could that mean the memory card is sticking out of media port of our computer at home? Yes! That is what it means, which means no photographs of this ride at all. Just colorful narration. Darn.

But what a splendorous (three dollar word to compensate for lack of photos) ride! Oh, the scenery and the stuff and the things! Okay, on the story:

About four miles out (around PineRidge) Kevin's Ratrod experienced a nearly catastrophic failure while bouncing down off a bridge and working that coaster brake. The bolt securing the coaster brake arm to the chainstay flew off and disappeared into the great outdoors. The coaster brake arm spun like a clock's second hand and bound up that Nexus 3 hub tight as a tick.

RBM, sprang into action and quickly determined that he didn’t bring enough tools with him. RBM skillfully refrained from shouting words like “#*%@!!!” and things like “I’m an idiot!!!”. Instead Kevin and he unwound the brake arm and stole a bolt from the fender mount to re-secure it to the chainstay. The wheel would turn grudgingly, and he did not have to use his tenny-runners as brakes.
The hub was in bad shape, and most mere mortals would not attempt to ride any farther than a bar down the street (although there were none so located). It was like riding a big heavy bike, pulling a sack of rocks! But Kevin is a man of stuff that is very manly, and he rode that beast more than 12 more miles! We salute you Kevin of the very tight wheel.

So on we rode. And on and on and I don’t have any interesting things to say about it, except that we were averaging 9.4 miles per hour with stopped time included into the calculation (GPS data). Okay, that wasn’t very interesting.

Between Stevens and Glendale, Highway 95 diverges from the river valley and at exactly 13 (lucky) miles we met Keith at a place where the trail crosses Glendale/Fruitvale road. A nice shady spot, just shy of Starkey hot springs. We later decided that would be the perfect pick-up point.

But the original plan was to ride to Fruitvale, and so we did! And it kind of sucked. Mushy trail, grouchy farm dogs, and Jenni and Jesse were experiencing shifting problems (damn RBM). But we made it! 3.5 miles to the old Fruitvale post office. And Grandpa Keith picked us up and away we went, laughing and smiling.

First Ride of the Season

2007-04-25T07:59:00.000-06:00

We thought we would start out with something simple, something close to home. So we chose the dirt road at the end of Kimberland Dr, here in MeadowCreek. Gordy was riding the new Zed 2.0, and I was riding my trusty old Specialized. Gordy added a rockshocks to it last winter and this is the first time I have tried it out. I liked it! Especially coming down the hill, it really saved my wrists and hands going over all the rocks.

So we flew down our hill (paved) and hit the dirt road which was a bit rutted and muddy. Not too bad. The road is a gradual climb for the first hundred yards or so. We took the first sharp left which begins a steep climb. I ended up walking most of the way, but Gordy powered through. We forgot to turn on the GPS when we first started out, but estimate a 1 1/2- 2 mile climb to the top of the ridge looking over Meadows Valley.

It was a perfect day for a ride, nice mild 50 degree weather, and once up at the top it we had a great view of the valley. The top picture shows Gordy riding past Granite Mountain, the other two are views of him just coming up the ridge. It took us probably an hour to get to the top (mostly because I was walking) and maybe 5 minutes to come down! Next time I think we will not take the steep turn off, and continue on the more gradual climb.