Quiet night @ the airport. I stowed my sleeping rig and left b4 b-fast. I read  a sign that said smokejumpers. They jump out of like a Dehavilland or Otter, gone are the days of the DC3 or Boeing 247 planes.

I found an abondoned piece of rd off rt 95 for bfast.  As I pulled onto the highway an ISP followed me a ways as I drove @ normal tourist speeds. He passed me then way up the road turned around.

Drive took me to White Bird Summit followed by almost 3,000′ drop down to the Salmon river, The road snaked above the Salmon until Riggins. Quite the scenery going up river.

Final stretch was Idaho rt 55 to McCall on Payette Lake. Over the years I have either visited or passed thru here. I used to race the WIM series @ Brundage ski area, home of a cross country downhill trail named the Elk that was miles long just working its way down to the base. I parked in Paul’s grocery store parking lot then walked the town. I found Gravity Sports, the small part time bike shop, and picked up info on this weekend’s IMBA visit led by Steve and Morgan from IMBA trail care crew.

Took a rest day today.

US 95 is Idaho’s only north south road. On this trip I have driven from Sandpoint now to New Meadows. 2 lane for most part. You don’t make time if you are in a hurry. Pretty and scenic.

I will stay just outside of town @ Bear Meadows which is out of internet service but close in. McCall bans street parking for snow removal at night. No snow now but won’t sleep on street. McCall sits @ 5000′.

There is a smoke jumper base here.

So here is a shit sandwich: Loon Lake is an IMBA epic, most of the trail is open for dirt bikes and ATVs.  Go figure.  Much of the area burned a few years ago and the trails have been reconstructed, the original might have banned ATVs. Perhaps. Might ride it tomorrow then soak @ Burgdorf hot springs.

Chris Lesser solicited bike shop recommendations from me some time ago for an article he was working on for Bicycling Mag. The results are on the news stand. Just several of my recommendations made the list, most notably is Bike and Bean in Sedona. Most of the shops are in big cities, missing is the funky Dahlonega, GA  shop w/ a cooler for rider supplied adult beverages where I got my first taste of moonshine,  Sycamore cycles in Brevard, NC w/ the work stands enclosed in a spectators’ circle and good ol’ boy owner Wes, and Tommy Reagh’s Trailhead in Huntsville, AL w/ the runt crit in store races. I favor the out of the way small town mtn bike shops, he went big city. Several of my recommendations made the top 100 list like Chile Pepper in Moab and Freeze Thaw in State College, PA.

My left big toe is not flexing correctly caused by a stuck throttle cable on a 250cc WR Huskie dirt bike that stuck as I was weaving my way between trees. I could not make the turn at that speed but my left foot smashed between the bike and a tree slid me thru. I raced 250cc enduros and harescrambles back in 1976 last year. 35 years later and maybe arthritis is settling in.  The toe will not allow me to rock forward which causes a limp that will throw more things ajar.

Drove out to Bear Meadows and saw that the “access” back off the road has been gated. Went north a little ways found nothing. I remembered a spot off another road. I checked it out: recent logging operation and the road surface was like railroad ballast. I stuck it out to find the first spot. Won’t drive this road again. Bummer but I remember the spider web of double tracks and camps scattered about. Some nice spots.  I even slithered my van back in there. And the parking area has been roughly bulldozed such that i couldn’t find a level spot.

Tomorrow I will ride from here up the road to descend a ST back down. I believe I rode this previously on past visits. Good grunt up a logging road to almost the top of Brundage mtn & the Elk. Finish reward will be a soak in Burgdorf hot springs and camp out there to ride Loon Lake Thurs.

I beat wheels back to Liberty Lake on Fri for a chiro adjustment as my left hip caused much pain. Dan moved things just a bit, it’s really soft tissue issue requiring stretching. Felt better. Said Good bye to Jeff, dinner next year perhaps?

As I was driving east on I-90 in C d’A I sensed this rig pacing me on my left. I looked over and saw a ridgid digit and a face behind it was Pete whom I used to work with back when we were Boeing. We pulled off @ Sherman which was my planned stop for diesel. Smiles around. I was taken aback by his visit. I lost track of my tasks and misplaced my debit card.

Next stop was Kingston and the north fork of the Coeur d’ Alene river road heading up stream. Tonight stop is on Lost Creek road for tomorrow’s Lost Creek ride. Noticed many campers tucked back into the woods.. turns out it is archery season, the casual clothes are all camo pattern.

Sat AM after quiet night and bfast squared away I pedaled up mountain. Motorcycles are kicked off the trail which might be good or bad depending upon how many trees were across the trail as the dirt bikes sometimes carry chainsaws to clear the trail. Took 1 hr 50 mins to pedal up to top of Lost Creek trail. All by myself. The trail was sweet from lack of dirtbikes chewing it up. And all the trees were cut out.

I noticed an absence of purple scat that gave indication that berries didn’t make it this year. When I hit the patch in an old burn the bushes were bare. Bummer. Took an hr to get down just enjoying my ride.

High water damaged the bridge over Lost Creek down just b4 lower TH so much that the government removed it. Flowing too deep covering dry feet stones. I studied the bottom and the exit to determine if I could ride across w/ dry feet. Decision was “yes”. I entered the flowing creek and after a few pedal strokes my wheels washed out underneath me from the tire buoyancy, slippery rocks, and current. I used both feet to recover and walked across. I prolly would have gotten my feet wet anyway on the down pedal stroke.

I decided to stay a second night where I was and then drive up river to the north fork on Sunday. Rain fell during the night and the morning was fogged in. I decided to drive the 25 miles upriver to the TH . As I drove the fog clouds lifted and the pavement was drying out. It was a go. Plan was to ride to Jordan camp and return just in case the rain fell. As it was I was pretty wet from wet plants leaning into trail. No rain fell. Interesting: River trail @ Jordan camp heading upstream is not marked open for bikes.

North Idaho gets more rain than Spokane which makes for lots of dense trees and cedars that need the h2o. The woods can be pretty dark. No P-pine trees.

Next move is to McCall down in the belly of ID, in Mtn time zone. I stopped @ an rv park down river for a shower. I studied the map to find a route that had more public land for camping. I drove rt 6, white pine scenic highway, and happened upon the Palouse divide area where I used to ride years ago. I drove in a ways and found a turn off for a flat space for the night. I put the cover over the bikes just in case the forecast dumped rain. Crawled into bed to the sound of pouring rain on the roof. My skylight still leaks.

Weather cleared overnight. Today was the last bit of a drive to Moscow Mtn ride. Saw just 3 hikers. Nicely made single track, trails are great spinners for aerobic effort, the trail tread was smooth. I found 2 trees that my 28″ bars wouldn’t fit thru. Trails were developed by Jim LaFortune in cooperation w/ a private timber company. Trails are for mtn bikers first. tried to follow the previous GPS route of the ride Rick lead me on 2 years ago. data was good I think but I miss figured it. The previous route stayed high and close on the ridge, somehow i zigged when the gps said zag. Ride still was a hump.

Next stop is McCall tomorrow. Right now I am parked in a Grangeville, ID grocery store lot w/ excellent internet connections. This missive is hurried as I have more miles to drive and find a camp spot before too dark. Just to let y’all know I am out of the woods. Update: bought a sandwich @ Subway then drove out to the municipal airport right beside the USFS forest headquarters and behind the Sheriff’s posse club house. Hunkered down being small.

All in all from all I have seen I am still partial to the Inland Northwest. The weather is never too much of anything bad, Spokane offers big city stuff.

How far out there?

XM transmitter couldn’t find me.

I dallied in Sandpoint too long for a ride. To reward myself for this behavior I had a beer and a killer salad @ Eicharts. A server spoke to me recalling bits about me. I drew a blank. He is from back near Boone, NC.  I stopped here last year and engaged somebody in a conversation at the bar and the state of NC came up which got Doug involved and linked to me.

RT 95 Sandpoint bypass is stopping the traffic flow several places by flagpersons for the construction. Traffic backs all the way thru Sandpoint. Construction ceased after dinner.

Greasy Fingers suggested I ride Mineral Point and that there was primitive camping. I headed out in fading light. I followed printed directions w/ GPS help to land me @ TH after dark. Like 7 miles of gravel road. Solitary site above lake Pend D’Orielle not far from vertical shoreline. CXT outhouse effusing leftovers.

Days are getting noticeably shorter, sunset is 7:08 and sunrise is 6:24. Alder leaves are falling w/o turning colors.

Headed out on trail. The short Mineral Point trail that is signed w/ fine USFS wood thanked local club for trail work. Trail was single track, clean tread, and wandered thru the regrowth cedar trees. Places the trail used old logging roads. The newer Lost and Mud Lake trails are cleared abandoned logging roads. Interest to me was riding my bike. No interest in repeating.

Back @ van I loaded up for return trip to Sandpoint as I forgot yesterday to stop @ Lin Care to pick up my test supplies. First was a coin shower @ Springy Point federal XG. Walked in & plunked 50 cents for 10 mins of hot water bliss. I looked @ my shampoo bottle on teh shower step, color white matched the white shower curtain. I visually checked for anything left and failed to see bottle. Back @ the van I was putting stuff away and discovered I was short the bottle. I walked back to the shower to see that it had just been cleaned and my bottle was gone. In 38 months I have now lost that bottle and my heart rate monitor that fell into my trash bag. All my socks have mates.

Plan now is to make McCall, ID my next roost. I will do the IMBA trail care weekend and learn some new trails. Today I will head to the north fork of the C d’A river to ride Lost Creek tomorrow. Maybe stay a second day to ride the river trail. Then down to Moscow mtn then McCall.

For many days when I opened the fridge door I smelled berries. Strange, they should have been frozen odorless in freezer. Today I discovered they had been on the top shelf in the fridge thawed. SHIT! I put them en masse into the freezer in hopes they will be eatable. Might be too late for berries or non existent on Lost Creek ride which passes thru a bountiful huckleberry patch.