Thurs dinner included a little wild salmon, one of the 10 best foods to keep mentally sharp. I can argue it helps while others may take another view. Bought piece of German chocolate cake and small Hagen Daaz ice cream and beat feet for way north. Plan was to crash @ Hanna Flats trailhead near Priest lake RS. TH said no overnight parking. Oh, picked a cross country ski trail for the night.
Fri drove short distance to the RS to get local trail guide and trail beta. Learned that Plowboy mtn trail is cleared. 3 years ago I tried riding it and turned back by heavy tree downs. Rode 7 mile Lakeshore preceding climb up Plowboy. Trail is fun and challenging running mostly right above lake shore. Almost 800′ climb in 7 miles rolling along. Northern ID gets lots of precip making forests look like Puget Sound. Rode & pushed up to summit. Low clouds but peaks were lower. Found leftover huckleberries just below 4877′ summit. Trail down lake side is easier but still tough w/ off camber roots, narrow hardly bench cut into steep mountainside. Walked a few of hairier switchbacks. I am out there, no signs of recent human traffic and way above lake in dense forest. Made the Thououghfare trail right @ southern end and continued south along shore line. Again, a challenging n Idaho forest single track. 1.4 miles to TH is the last swimming beach. In years past when I rode here in summer I would dip into the lake. Today the temp called for a light long underwear top. 27.34 miles in 4 hrs 5 min, burned 4414 cals and climbed 4181′. No cakewalk.
It’s after Labor day and school is back and it is mid week. Who is recreating but a smaller subset of players. Saw 2 couples hiking way out and several closer to another TH.
Drove to Nordman for $3.50 shower. Don’t know how places determine shower price. This one was pretty stark but water flowed as long as I wanted in a preset temp. Drove down towards town of Priest Lake looking for a FS road heading into mtns. Missed it going away so i found another one and drove up until i found a turn out. Forest camping is soo quiet and spacious.
Yesterday drove to Woodrat TH right near Outlet Bay and Big Ed’s parents lake cabin. Worked on bike b4 ride which was to be a recovery from yesterday. Tightened front hub and greased the DW links which needed it. Pumped up shock which was low. Big old wood sign @ TH closes it to motorized vehicles. A short ways in and the wheelchairs had encroached on the trail, 1 wheel in & out of existing ST and widening the right of way to their width. ANd the Forest Service sited several cuts using the trail as a boundary. How dare they violate so few miles of heart propelled users trails? The cut was selective and skidder logged creating a fertile ground for more wheelchair havoc. The wheelchairs just carved up the heart propelled trail and laced the remaining forest w/ trails. I attempted to pick the real trail from the maze. Upon download of the GPS route I saw I was almost always spot on. The ATVs which are prohibited used the trail as a basis for theirs. Fallen logs were cut out way wide for them. Where are the law enforcement officers to site these abusers of out public lands? Over the years I raced & rode on some of these trails. I remembered them when they were narrow single tracks and the regrowth was about head high. ATVs & natural growth changes.
Big Ed would shit a brick if he could ride these trails.
Late in ride I discoverd my shock was low so i road the shore road back to van. I pumped it up but air leaked out from hopefully worn seals. No ride until shock fixed. I called N Division in Spokane but couldn’t talk them into fising it on demand if I drove to Spokane 80 miles away. They also have King hub tools.
On a chance I drove fast back to Sandpoint to a bike shop this side of town. I arrived there @ 5:03 and the place was dead dark for 5:00 closure. rats. Called the other bike shop and listened to their voice mail. Closed but open Sunday @ 12:00. OK. Spend night in woods east of town then arrive Sunday mid AM and catch up on internet and wait for shop opening. At 12:00 I asked about replacing the shock seals. No can do the guy said because he sold the last kit and didn’t replace it because end of summer thing. rats. No bike ride today. Monday Spokane fixes.
Drove to Springer Point XG for 0.50 shower for 10 mins. Decided to camp @ Bead Lake TH outside Newport, WA less than an hour from Spokane. Quiet solitary night @ TH. Getting cooler at night. Elevation is low 3,000′.
Mouse died; keypad is a bitch.