~ Secesh to Loon Lake ~

This weekend, while Josh and I were camping at Upper Payette Lake in the Payette National Forest, we took a day trip to bike the Loon Lake Loop. We drove about ten miles from our camp to the Ruby Meadows turnoff from Warren Wagon Road. From there we asked for directions to the trailhead, as it was not readily apparent which way to go, and along with directions we also received some information about a WWII era bomber lodged at the far end of the lake. In my googling of Loon Lake information, I discovered someone who had taken photos of the bomber, which can be viewed here. We, incidentally, opted to not hike to the far end of the lake to view the bomber.

The first half of the loop, to Loon Lake, was amazing. It began as a road suited to ATVs and motorcycles, though all access, with fun banked turns and the sort of rollercoastery bumps that off-road vehicles tend to produce, which happen to be super fun on a bicycle. The trail took us through the area that was burned in the 1994 fire, and the effect was a graveyard of trees. Eventually the trail turned into a well maintained singletrack which had a pleasant combination of mild technicals and rolling intervals of ascents and descents, into meadows, forested hilltops, and rocky mountain slopes. There were several wooden bridges to cross as the trail wound through the meadows. These bridges were constructed with a series of wood panels jutting upwards into the center of the bridge. This created an effect similar to a rut. At some point, while I was navigating my bicycle tires in between the wooden bridge rut, my front wheel scraped the edge of the wooden panel causing a loss of control. I sensed that I was about to flip face-first onto the wooden bridge so I attempted to prevent falling with the use of my trusty left leg. As I was trying to catch myself, in a manner involving the wild flailing of limbs, I was stumbling along the bridge with my bicycle firmly attached to my right foot until I launched off of the bridge into the unknown. At either side of the bridge there was some thick tall grass, and it was impossible to see what was beneath the grass (whether water, rocks, mud, etc.). Fortunately for me, there was only soft ground, which provided that the only thing hurt was my pride. As I was hoisting my person back onto the bridge, Josh and I had a good guffaw.

We continued peddling until we reached Loon Lake, a name which I found pleasing, almost as pleasing, in fact, as the lake itself. Though, stunning would be a more appropriate description. Once lakeside, we relaxed and consumed some carbohydrates. I removed my socks and shoes, though not in that order, and noticed a very prominent dirt line divided my dirt and dust coated legs from my non-dusted and non-dirted feet. I placed said feet into some water, which I found somewhat freezing, and splashed them around.

For the second half of the loop, we took a different route to get back to the car. I have chosen to delete the second half of the ride from my memory. All that I will articulate is that I would not recommend that route to anyone with severe- to worse-than-severe phobias regarding narrow technical trails at the edge of steep rocky cliffs.

By the time that we reached the car, I was very happy to have reached the car. Frankly, I was kind of pooped. Back at the campsite, Josh and I inched our way into the lake for a refreshing wash - - and boy, did it feel great to rid my person of all the mud clumps, dust coating, dried sweat, congealed sunscrean, and smashed bug bodies. For the duration of the evening, I was in a daze of sheer exhaustion.

Posted by jennifer at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)