So far I have ridden 3 of the 3 days I have been here in the Woods River Valley: Bellevue, Hailey, & Ketchum. The rides go the same way: climb, climb, climb, then go downhill real fast.  It’s either grunting or coasting. I’m just sharing my awareness to those that don’t know. It’s all good. The scenery is breath taking spacious. None of this riding in deep deciduous tree cover over relatively flat ground.

Day 1 was Greenhorn Gulch climb then down Imperial which is in last summer’s massive burn. Local volunteers restored the trail and rerouted several places. Smelled my first lupine  of the season.

10.35 miles climbed 1834 in pedal time of 1 hr 28 mins.

I dilly dallied in Hailey then drove down to Steve’s driveway.

Sat we tackled Oregon Gulch which is N of Ketchum. Ride up Baker Creek logging road then drop down on single track. Steve and I ride well together as he is a stronger climber so he leads and when the trail points down I lead. I discovered that my Pike fork was not all the way open, I clicked over the dial and the fork came to life. Drop the seat, drop into the athletic attack position and look where I wanted to go. This trail was steeper downhill. Topped out @ 8500′. Way out of my comfort zone.

We did this as a shuttle: Steve’s van at the bottom and mine up @ Baker Creek. 15.20 miles climbing 2150′ in 2 hrs 7 mins.

I spent the night on Baker Creek road @ the first FS primitive camp spot. Great view up to the Boulders. The temp dropped, I was cold under my summer blanket. I pulled down the down blanket for added warmth, little was gained because I did fluff it up for loft. I crawled out from under the covers after 8 hoping for heat. I checked the outside temp:35. I forgot the heater starting instructions so the heater didn’t ignite. Recalling the correct sequence the heater started and warmth was felt. Still wearing shorts.

Today Steve and I are meeting @ Adams Gulch for another climb slowly go down fast ride. Crowded trail head but a short distance out we had the trails to ourselves. The local bike club rerouted a fall line section which Steve is not riding on:

Just massive open sky. Ski trails visible in back ground. 7.75 miles climbing 1597′ in 1 hr 8 mins. I didn’t need more.

Labor day weekend activities in the valley. Yesterday it was a parade in Ketchum and 2 days of rodeo in Hailey. Today a festival is in Bellevue.

Today I drove back into downtown Ketchum and parked behind The Elephants Perch shop. Greeted familiar faces. They were able to service my fork tomorrow. Just normal maintenance.

I am parked on the main street in Hailey. I just looked up the street and saw a water plume perhaps from a fure hydrant. Roll your windows up.

Making tomorrow a rest day then driving over Galena Summit towards Stanley for a Fisher Creek ride on Tuesday w/ Steve. From there I will continue up the Salmon finally over to Butte. I am tracking to Sept 11 dentist appointment.

Presently I am @ 5358′. Riding @ 6,000 to 8,000′. I have no altitude acclimation. My heart rate stays low because my lack of breath limits my output. Brutal.

Factoid: Since Jan 1, 2014 I have traveled thru 22 states, ridden in 20. Today was Idaho’s turn.

Park City Mid Mountain trail was too wet to ride, made a pass and kept going.

Yesterday in spite of the 60% probability of rain I drove back up to Snow basin and rode Sardine Peak loop. Trail was buffed out, the difficulty arose from the climb which was all doable. I rode up to the Ogden view point:

I do not have a belly in spite of the above.

from below this is what the part of the ride looked like:

trail is visible traversing across the upper part of the peak. Descent was smooth and a few berms. Over and done.

Packed up and headed down to the SLC valley floor. Found an Anytime Fitness facility in Ogden for a shower. I continued my drive N and W to Kimberly, ID and then out to Indian Springs TH. I have ridden here over the years. I cancelled my frige service to save driving to Pocatello then back over to Sun Valley. I checked the forecast for Kimberly which called for no rain and highs in the 80s. The trails are full on sun exposure w/ no shade. Plan is to ride early then head for Hailey. I made the TH.

A rig bearing a mountain bike pulled up in the TH. It was Jim, one of the original trail builders here. We have met several times over the years. we chatted about the trail conditions. At issue is not mud from the rain but the erosion. He rode off to check the trails out. Upon his return he told of deep treacherous water carved ruts in the trail. He gave me a route to ride today. Short ride but w/ little runoff damage. Trails were user created b4 the BLM adopted them. At issue is whether legal “trail” restoration will be allowed.

Today I awoke at usual 6:45 and turned on Bob Edwards on XM. The control panel of the fridge is right @ my head. I perceived a different reading than norm. Shit, the code read failure. I ran out of propane which means unrefrigerated food and no breakfast. Fortunately the temps were in 50s and the fridge must have just shut off. I drove back into Kimberly seeking propane. I learned that closest place was a ways down the road, I bought propane there b4. Today the hookup wouldn’t tighten down which allowed propane to escape not in the tank. Darn. Next stop was Uhaul which usually has propane. Their connection was typical and filling occurred. The fridge temp stayed just @ 40. I stopped in a parking lot and fixed bfast, cleaned up, then drove back to Indian Springs for my ride.

I encountered jagged wheel catching gulleys carved by the runoff water. I only rode Jim’s suggestion so I did not experience the deep gulleys he found elsewhere last night.

I took a shower @ another ATF then drove to Hailey like 70 miles away. By the time I reached Hailey my wash cloth was dried stiff: little humidity and 80 degree temps.

Checked in @ Sun Summit South, Chip’s shop. Seasonal slow down only requires Chip. Bob Bergdahl works there. He is the father of Bowe, the imprisoned US soldier in Afghanistan. Got to pay attention to see if yellow ribbons are still tied around trees and utility poles.

Doing my laundry.

Last summer’s forest fire devastated trails outside Hailey then monsoon rains fell washing down dirt. Miles were lost. Chip said that volunteers and govm’t help has restored many miles. What remains require mass effort to bring back. My camp spot out on Democrat Gulch is closed. Next place to camp is way up outside of Ketchum. Labor Day weekend, going to be crowded. I will stay @ Steve’s south of Bellvue. Going to pal around w/ Steve who is now retired. He bought a Sprinter and has been logging touring miles.

Sept 11 is my dentist appointment in Spokane. I will ration my days so that I can ride Butte and Helena b4 Spokane.

August the 12th I was in deciduous trees in Minnesota.

From 1,300′ to 7,000′ elevation.

 

Monday I drove back out to McCoy Corral. The storm  in the previous post was just a bit west of me to escape the energy it expelled. As it was rain did fall and wind did blow. Several riders came and went b4 the storm hit but one rider. The storm hit dumping hard rain. The trails have clay in spots that turns to gumbo in the wet. I watched the TH but he made his drive home escape b4 I saw him. The storm came on like waves on the shore, the last was just b4 dark.

I watched the rain fill the double track beside me. I watched it drain away. This AM I walked a few feet on the road making an imprint but no mud sticking to my shoes. I still bagged it and bailed heading for Park City. Today I researched rainfall there to learn that it had not rained for 2 days. However the rain that fell previously still was insufficiently dried out to ride per the recommendation of a bike shop I called in Park City. Bummer. Rained out again.

New plan was to continue towards Pocatello. I was seeking USFS land to camp on east of SLC. I found Snow Basin, host of some 2002 Olympics alpine events, on the same road that announced USFS Access. The road was blocked just at the ski resort entrance. I picked a level spot in the furthest reaches of a gravel parking lot. I went for a walk up to the ski base to learn about noted mountain biking activity sign. A polo shirted employee struck up a conversation w/ me which lead me to the  security office where I learned they already knew about my van and that no overnight allowed on resort property. Bummer. The one public parking area on the mountain road was too side sloped for me.

I studied the UT road map and learned that there was more FS land to access. I drove down mtn to shoreline of  Pineview reservoir on the way up into mtns. I spied a FS XG that wasn’t on the map. I checked in for $11 and no shower.

Plan for tomorrow  is if it doesn’t rain tonight to drive back up to Snow Basin and ride the Sardine mtn loop as noted in MTB Project: Best riding in Ogden area. Starts @ 6,127 topping out @ 7,284 w/ 1,500′ climbing. Gentle acquaintance to elevation pedaling. Wasatch mtns are steep and rugged.

 

Les, I will be in Spokane 9/11 for my dentist appointment, plan on arriving that day and stay for maybe 2 weeks then head out.