Payette Lake Loop Ride

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

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

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

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

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.