~ McCall mountain cycling adventures ~

I am unforgivably behind on updating my blog. This post is in regards to a mountain biking adventure that Josh and I had two weekends ago in the McCall area. As the adventure is no longer fresh in my memory, this post will be significantly less verbose than is my norm.

The first portion of our mountain cycling adventure was to ride the Loon Lake Trail. Almost four years and one month ago, we rode Loon Lake as a loop and it has stuck with me as a trail that I wanted to ride again... except to ride it as an out-and-back because, well, the second part of the loop is not for me....

The Loon Lake out-and-back was AWESOME! and really a lot of fun. Mountain biking on actual mountains, through actual forests, is a wonderful experience. What is more, ever since Elizabeth and I rode in Sun Valley, I have noticed a significant improvement in my mountain cycling skills. Something about getting out of my normal element has become the tipping point for finally moving up a skill level. Particularly on the descents, my riding is more smooth and flow-y and I have more confidence riding over more challenging technical terrain.

Click on the below ride summary to see the details.

After the bike ride, Josh and I cleaned up and then ate dinner at a Mexican Restaurant (yum!) before going on a romantic walk along the lakeshore. We walked to a park as the sun set and laid on the grass, looking for the first stars to shine in the night sky.

The next day, we went to a local bike shop and got some advice about where to enjoy our next mountain cycling adventure. The LBS attendant directed us towards the Brundage ski resort, which was an option we had earlier considered and rejected, but with the recommendation decided to check it out. We started at one of the Bear Basin trailheads and meandered around. For the most part, this mountain cycling adventure was awesome. Not AS AWESOME as the Loon Lake ride, but sufficiently awesome for me to have a huge smile on my face for most of the ride and to frequently call out "WHEE!" If I recall correctly, my two favorite trails were Grand Traverse (which featured these super fun slalom burm/switchback thingies) and West Face.

Click on the below ride summary to see the details.

After this ride, we went to Ponderosa State Park and donned our swimsuits for some fun at the beach. We built, and then crushed, a sandcastle. I did a thorough beach-sand exfoliation, which felt really good. And then we relaxed in the shade, each reading a book. After a few hours at the beach, we drove the 'scenic driving tour' and went up to the lookout, before going back into town for some WONDERFUL sushi at a local sushi bar.

Over sushi, we compared and contrasted the mountain biking in McCall and Sun Valley, and concurred that, although we had had a fantastic time mountain biking in McCall, Sun Valley is better.

More photos on my photoset

Posted by jennifer at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Three Summit Challenge ~

Saturday was the Three Summit Challenge bike event near Cascade, Idaho. As I wrote in my previous entry, Elizabeth and I decided to start with the long distance riders and to challenge ourselves to see how far we could ride. Having done no training for the longer distance, Elizabeth having only gotten her road bike two weeks prior, and me having ridden hardly at all (due to the heat and horrible seasonal allergies), we had no clue how we would fare in what was advertised to be a ride of 65 miles and almost 6,000 feet of climbing.

According to the schedule, the ride was to start at 8:00 that morning. Unfortunately for Elizabeth and myself, mornings do not always go according to plan and we did not arrive at the start venue until 8:10, by which time everyone had departed approximately 10 minutes prior. Being somewhat significantly behind the group, Elizabeth and I raced to catch up with everyone, at some point drafting off a group of three big dudes who seemed to also be late and also trying to catch up with the pack. Little by little, we caught up with everyone and began to quickly pass lots and lots of people, partly a result of drafting off the strong dudes and partly a result of our own awesomeness.

By the time that we felt sufficiently caught up with the middle of the pack and slowed down to a more manageable pace, I had not even put on my cycling gloves. I had been holding them precariously in one hand during the entire 'catch up' portion of the morning. Relaxing some, I put on my cycling gloves and noted that the temperature, which felt completely freezing on my bare skin when we had left the motel, now felt extremely pleasant. Myself, I was wearing a sleeveless jersey and I noticed that a lot of people were wearing arm warmers or jackets. I then pondered how most everyone seemed a little more prepared for this event than I... (though, having just raced hard to catch up with everyone, I felt little need for arm warmers or a jacket.... unfortunately, a little while later I would lament my lack of extra layers).

The below photo is Elizabeth sometime during this first climb.

The 17 mile climb to the top of the first summit was incredibly pleasant and fun. Elizabeth and I had managed to insert ourselves in a large gathering of riders who would toggle for position. I would identify certain riders, mainly by their jersey or something quirky about them, and would keep my eye out for them for the duration of the ride. For example, there was a guy wearing a funny Cat in the Hat jersey, another wearing a New Belgium brewery jersey, and a guy wearing a distinctive all white kit, and we rotated positions throughout the event and even exchanged a few words.

When we arrived at the food station at the top of the summit, Elizabeth and I felt great and had no doubt about continuing further. At the food station, I had half a banana and some electrolyte drink. I also used the restroom and relieved myself of approximately four pints of fluid.

Then we continued on.

As a sidenote, I should mention that I have many strengths, but understanding the elements of topography is not among them. When I recounted this story to Josh, he had great difficulty understanding what I am about to articulate (as, he had no idea that I really am a topographical ignoramus). This "three summit challenge" was an event that I understood to have three summits. Me, without looking at a map or doing any research at all, I assumed that the event topography would look something like the following drawing, which I have expertly composed in Paint.

As you can see, one starts off on the right and goes up one "summit", then up another "summit", and finally up a third "summit". During the course of the conversation in which I was trying to explain to Josh what I had expected the ride to be like, I realized that I could not explain this without a visual aide. And so I composed the above artwork to truly enhance the telling of this story. Last night, I showed off my artwork to Josh and he had two things to say about it. First, he said that it was backwards. Second, he said that I had drawn a "three plateau" ride. So now it all comes out.... I apparently do not know what a 'summit' is. Topographical ignoramus.

An important point about my assumption regarding what the topography would be on the ride, however, is that I thought we would be climbing up and up and up, and then descending all the way down. I thus convinced Elizabeth that we really ONLY had to climb a little over 30 miles and then we would be able to relax for the whole rest of the way.

For a more accurate representation of the route's topography, I submit to you the elevation graph from my Garmin cyclecomputer.

You'll note that it is quite a bit different and that it does not afford the 30 miles of relaxing downhill that I was assuming when I dragged us into the ride. ...heh, heh.

So, as I'm sure you have gathered by studying the above elevation graph, after we departed the food station at the top of the first summit (by the way, since I am a topographical ignoramus, I'm not sure if the phrase "top of the summit" is redundant) we rode around a corner and instantly went down down down. I had so much fun descending that it didn't really occur to me that I would have to later ride up up up. Also, earlier in this post I wrote that I would at some point lament that I had not come prepared with warm layers on this ride. During this fast descent (where my cyclecomputer registered the temperature at 52 degrees), I was FREEZING.

Also, by studying the elevation graph, you will note that after the first descent there is a fairly easy section before the second summit. It was during this section that I snapped the following photo.... little did I know that I was admiring the agonizing second summit.

After riding at a fast, fun, and fairly easy pace for several miles, I began the climb up the second summit. At first it was okay and I felt strong. But then my cyclecomputer started registering 10-12% grades and my legs were hurting as I struggled to keep up the power. At some point, I lost the will to live and just kept the pedals turning over so that I could eventually get to the top of the summit, where I expected another food station. Those food stations were an effective motivator. The below photo is one I took when I stopped on the way back down. It shows the switchbacks and the grueling elevation of the second summit.

Elizabeth and I did make it to the top of the second summit and spent some time at the food station. I had another half a banana, two Oreo cookies and some electrolyte drink. And again, I used the restroom and eliminated another four pints of fluid from my system.

We lingered at the food station for a while before beginning the descent back down. The energy among everyone at this food station, having climbed to this summit, was amazing. Everyone was so excited and having so much fun!

The descent was spectacular, both in terms of scenery and also in terms of fun. It was at this point that I hit my max speed (39.4 mph) and I could have gone even faster if there hadn't been a headwind.

Ahh... the headwind. It had not occurred to me that perhaps one reason for my feeling so good on the way out was the tailwind. The top of the second summit was essentially the halfway point, as we were to turn around and descend the summit we had just ascended and then climb that first fun descent. At the halfway point, I was tired, my legs hurt, and my sit area was saddle sore. After the fun descent down the second summit, the distance back to the first summit seemed to have gotten considerably longer and harder, and the headwind made it seem particularly difficult. As we climbed the final summit, the road up seemed to never end. I watched the mileage on my cyclecomputer relentlessly, calculating how much further we had to go until the top.

Finally, we arrived at the top and the joy I felt at my physical accomplishment was comparable to my desire to be done wtih the ride. At this point, it was mainly my sit area that really, did not want to sit on a saddle any more. We descended the final portion of the ride into a headwind which limited our speed and then the final ten miles of almost straightaway (into the headwind) was ironically cruel; it should have been so easy yet it was so difficult.

At last! We completed the ride and enjoyed the post-ride BBQ. I do not recall a time when food tasted so good. And this was wonderful food! I also enjoyed a few beers from a local brewery. The food also seemed to instantly absorb into my system. In reflecting back on my food intake during the ride, I realize that I did not eat very much - - I had lots of the electrolyte drink, two halves of a banana, a few Oreo cookies, and two energy gels. While I did not feel at all bonky or low-blood sugar on the ride, my body appreciated this consumption of food a great deal.

Ride Summary:
Distance: 67.82 miles
Elevation Gained: 5,689 feet
Moving Time: 4 hours 48 minutes
Average Moving Speed: 14.2 mph
Max Speed: 39.4 mph

Click on the below ride summary to view the details.

More photos on my photoset.

Posted by jennifer at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Cascade / McCall road riding adventure ~

This past weekend, Elizabeth and I went to Cascade/McCall for some road riding. It was this weekend that we participated in the "Three Summit Challenge" road bike 'gran fondo' or cyclosportive (as they say in France), which I will write ALL ABOUT in my next post. For this post, I wanted to articulate somthing about how excited I am to do some road bicycling in the Cascade/McCall area.

Elizabeth and I drove up to Cascade on Friday afternoon and checked into our illustrious motel, for $68 a night. We relaxed and wandered around for a bit before going on a road ride in McCall.

I proposed that we ride up Warren Wagon Road, which is a stretch of smooth asphalt that I have often thought would be ideal for a road ride. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera along on the ride and was unable to take photos of the beautiful scenery. The road was mostly shaded by evergreen trees and was parallel to Payette Lake for a long while.

It was, quite simply, a fun and relaxing ride. We focused on spinning our legs and trying to get them warmed up for the next day's ride.

After the ride, we went into McCall and ate dinner (of shredded beef mole enchiladas) at a Mexican restaurant. It was so delicious and satisfying!

While making our way back to the motel, we stopped by the gas station and picked up some beer and then tried to go on a little evening walk before bed. Unfortunately, near our motel, there seemed to be no good place to walk. We strolled around the few blocks of the RV park next to our motel and then crossed the highway to walk up what appeared to be a promising road for a walk. Then an unpleasant smell overtook us and we realized we were walking to the sanitary landfill, so we turned around and were attacked by (as Elizabeth repeatedly phrased it) "bird sized mosquitoes"!!!

We finally made it back to our modest motel room and sat outside of our door drinking beer and chatting. One of the main topics of conversation was the next day's biking event. Earlier that day, we had picked up our event packet and asked the volunteers how many people were signed up for the event - - to which they replied "about 400". We also learned that most everyone had registered for the longest distance, the three summits.

For some backstory.... Elizabeth and I registered for the bike event months ago, before Elizabeth even had a road bike. We decided to do this event because it sounded fun (and because there was going to be a BBQ and beer-garden after the ride). Since she didn't have a road bike, we agreed to ride it on our mountain bikes and it seemed only 'logical' to do the shortest distance (35 miles) because it would take forever to ride on mountain bikes. HOWEVER, two weeks ago, Elizabeth purchased a road bike and the plan of riding our mountain bikes became null and void.

It was when we picked up our packets and learned that most everyone had registered for the three summits that we began to consider riding the full distance. (As a sidenote, the registration fee for each distance was the same - - so we would not have been being unethical by registering for the shortest distance and then riding the longest distance). We also asked if it would be okay if we showed up to ride with the long distance riders even though we registered for the shortest distance, and they said that would be just fine.

... And so, the seed was planted and we began to consider the challenge of riding all three summits, which was advertised to be about 65 miles and almost 6,000 feet of climbing. Neither of us had done any training for such an effort, but we decided to give it a try and see how well we would be able to do.

Posted by jennifer at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ Sun Valley mountain biking ~

Two weekends ago, Elizabeth and I did a two day mountain biking adventure in Sun Valley. Then last weekend, Josh and I likewise did a two day mountain biking adventure in Sun Valley.

Let me just sum up what I think about mountain biking in Sun Valley in two words: "It's awesome!"

First, I would like to write all about my adventure with Elizabeth...

Elizabeth and I did a Sunday / Monday adventure. Having never ever biked in the Sun Valley area before, I checked out a guidebook from the library on area trails. From an analysis of the guide, I decided that our first ride in the Sun Valley area would be Trail Creek/Corrals Creek. Unfortunately, I did not realize until we were attempting to locate the trailhead that the guidebook I had checked out from the library is eleven years out of date. So out of date that the trailheads have actually changed. After driving around and around for a time, I finally parked at some place where it seemed other outdoor recreators had parked and I asked a seemingly-friendly hiker how I might access the trail. She seemed really weirded out by my question and could not provide me with helpful information. As I was taking the bikes off of the car rack and getting them all ready to go, I decided to ask a mountain biker who had just arrived on the scene, who appeared to be getting ready to go on a mountain bike ride in the area. He knew right away what I was asking and was able to provide me with very easy to understand directions about how to ride the trail I was aiming for. He also advised me to "stick to the higher trails" because they are the more fun ones.

And so, Elizabeth and I set off on a very fun and awesome ride up Trail Creek and Corrals Creek. This ride is definitely a great ride to do if it's your first time riding around the area. It features lovely wooded trails, fast 'sagebrush slalom' riding, and a nice mix of rollercoaster uphills and downhills. Unlike riding in Boise's foothills, this is really MOUNTAIN biking!

Click here for some ride detail. Note, this detail is actually from the ride I did on the following week with Josh, but it is the same ride.

After the ride, we went into town and had a treat at Tully's Coffee. I enjoyed a wonderful slice of blueberry pie and an iced coffee, and consulted the out of date trail guidebook to figure out where to ride next. The plan being that we would ride two different trails that day.

Based on my second analysis of the guidebook, I chose a 'ride' called Lake Creek which is a dirt road that went to a lake. I would now like to quote word-for-word from the guidebook regarding this trail...

If you're in need of a casual and fun ride to introduce yourself to Wood River mountain biking, this is a good start. Pack your fishing rod and add to the experience by enjoying a picnic at the lake.

Sounded like a good ride at the time.

Unfortunately, it totally sucked. Everything about it sucked. The road was boring, yet rough and uncomfortable to ride on, and we just kept riding and riding along this boring and stupidly difficult road. We discussed abandoning the ride, but the prospect of the lake kept us going. Plus, turning around is tantamount to defeat, and Elizabeth and I were not going to be defeated by this stupid road. Once we finally got to the lake, we found ourselves disappointed in what appeared to be nothing more than a large pond. We sat on some rocks for a while and then went to ride back, when we realized that Elizabeth had a flat tire.

At the time, this seemed great because Elizabeth needed practice fixing flat tires, having just switched away from her puncture-proof Armadillo tires. So we got comfy and Elizabeth tried to fix the flat tire. It went fine, except that neither of us could find the hole in the tube. Whatever. We gave up and decided to pump it back up and get back to the car.

So she took out one of her CO2 canisters and couldn't get it to work very well. She used it completely up and the tire was barely inflated. So, I then pulled out the pump I had mounted to my bike frame, and tried to pump the tire up. Incidentally, I had never before used this pump and I acquired it sort of by random (and for free) after SOMEONE lost my bike pump. Until the moment of trying to inflate Elizabeth's tire so that we could ride back to the car, I hadn't actually verified that the pump worked. And it didn't. And I became very frustrated. But Elizabeth had another CO2 canister and we were able to pump up the tire and go on our way.

I descended the road at a more aggressive rate than is normal for me, an effort to release the frustration that I had experience about the stupid pump. After getting back to the car, we decided to stop by one of the bike shops in town and get myself a new pump and Elizabeth some more CO2 canisters. Which is what we did. We also bought an up-to-date trail map of the area, which has proven to be extremely useful in trail navigation.

That evening, we had dinner at a place called Grumpy's, which is an affordable bar/restaurant that the not-affluent locals frequent. Elizabeth had a burger and I had a chili-dog, and we shared an order of fries. We also drank beers. And talked a lot. After leaving Grumpy's, we wandered to an equally not-affluent establishment called Lefty's and consumed some more beers. After some hours, we stumbled to the hotel and eventually went to sleep.

We started out the second day of our adventure a little later than intended, possibly a result of the quantity of beer we consumed the previous evening. We had breakfast at a coffee shop before going out on our next mountain bike adventure.

For the next adventure, I decided that we would ride the Adams Gulch Trails, which were recommended to us by the guy at the bike shop as well as a hiker on Trail Creek who I had talked to. Before leaving the hotel, we noticed that Elizabeth's bike tire was flat again. No problem! It was to be good practice for her feeling confident in fixing flat tires.

So we went to the Adams Gulch trailhead and proceeded to try and fix her flat. After an extensive search, I located the hole in the tube. We then tried to patch it. However, it was at this point I learned that the glue that comes with patch kits degrades over time. Before leaving Boise on this trip, I located three patch kits in the apartment that I share with Josh and brought them on the trip. These patch kits were quite possibly very old. Anyway, long story short, I couldn't get the glue to hold and WOW, was I ever frustrated! So, we pull out our only spare tube and forget about patching it. This was a brand spankin' new tube. And Elizabeth successfully got it inserted into the tire correctly and we go to pump it up.... and nothing. At this point, I am using the floor pump, and we're pumping and pumping, and freaking pumping until we can pump no more, and the tire will not inflate. Our frustration, however, was inflating quite effectively. I take the tube out and examine it carefully, and eventually locate a big hole near the valve. A big hole on a brand spankin' new tube! I was so fed up with all of this that I abandoned the "Hey, this is a great opportunity for Elizabeth to practice fixing a flat" positive attitude and tried my hardest to fix the flat myself with the degraded glue, all the while mumbling "Serenity now, serenity now." And the glue wouldn't do anything. Finally, in absolute frustration, I threw the flaccid tube as far as I possibly could (which was not very far, because it was just a flaccid tube) and announced that the universe did not want us to ride the Adams Gulch trails that day.

I would also like to point out that during this entire time, many many people passed by us as we struggled with the supposed-to-be simple task of fixing a flat tire, and no one asked us if we needed help or if we had everything we needed. It should have been apparent that we were extremely frustrated and did, in fact, need help, and did not, in fact, have everything we needed. Perhaps this is a Boise/Sun Valley difference - - but in Boise, if a cyclist is fiddling with his or her bike, it is standard etiquette to ask if he or she needs help or if he or she has everything that he or she needs. Granted, we could have asked one of the hundreds of mountain bikers who crossed our paths if they had a functioning patch kit or a spare tube, but the issue is really the fact that no one asked us if we needed help or if we had everything we needed. THAT is the issue.

So we got back in the car and went to a bike shop in town to get a new tube and some new patch kits. As calmly as I could, I explained to the bike shop attendant that the universe was doing everything it could to have us NOT ride the Adams Gulch trails (to which he responded with sympathy... apparently, he could sense that we had had a bad morning) and asked for an alternative trail recommendation. He directed me to a loop on the Fox Creek Trails.

The Fox Creek Trails, for me, were awesome. We started out by following the directions the bike shop attendant had provided.

At some point, I deviated from the recommended route because I was curious about another section of trail. This section proved to be much more technical than the other route, and while it was challenging for me in a good way, it was way too challenging for Elizabeth and not much fun. There becomes a point when a trail is just too technically above one's skill level to be able to enjoy the experience. Having experienced that many many times, I really knew how Elizabeth felt and I felt terrible for dragging her on the trail.

Incidentally, the below photo is me conquering the shale on Fox Creek. It was this sort of consistent technical challenge that made the trail not too fun.

Eventually, we made it back to Fox Creek and completed the loop that the bike shop attended had recommended to us. The rest of the loop was awesome and Elizabeth and I are going to return and ride that loop again. There was a section with switchbacks that brought us up to an amazing view, following by a long and flowy descent. Click here for the ride detail. Again, this detail is from the ride that I subsequently did with Josh.

After the ride, we went to Lefty's where we got some lunch before returning to Boise. I was so jazzed about the trails in Sun Valley that Josh convinced me to return this past weekend for a second adventure.

And so, this past weekend, Josh and I went on a similar mountain biking adventure in Sun Valley. Similar in that we had some awesome times, but dissimilar in that we did not have any frustrating mechanical moments.

Josh and I started out our adventure by riding the Trail Creek and Corrals Creek trails. It was awesome and we had a splendid time. Click here for the ride detail.

After that ride, I took him to Tully's where we both enjoyed a slice of blueberry pie and iced coffees.

Then I took him over to Fox Creek, where we rode the exact same route that Elizabeth and I had rode. I would like to take this moment to congratulate myself on challenging my technical comfort level. This route had some significant challenges for me, many of which I successfully rode. I felt very accomplished. Click here for the ride detail.

After that ride, we went to the accommodations in which we were staying, cleaned up, and had dinner at Lefty's. There was a folksy band playing, and we sat there, drinking beers, for a good time. Then I took Josh over to Grumpy's where we enjoyed some beers and talked. And then, feeling the need for yet more beer, we went to Whiskey Jacques (which is sort of a piece of Sun Valley history) and had some beer on their rooftop patio, all the while, discussing very important topics.

The next morning, we had breakfast at a cute cafe, whose name escapes me. Breakfast was delicious and, when I go on my next Sun Valley adventure, I will dine at this establishment again.

That day, Josh and I set out to ride the infamous Adams Gulch Trails.

The Adams Gulch area has a lot of different trails, with which one may make many different loops. Josh and I decided to ride one of the biggest and most technically challenging routes (trail number 177 to 142, if you're interested). On the trail map, this route has three black diamonds at different sections, indicating advanced technical terrain.

We rode and rode and rode. We crisscrossed streams and creeks. We traveled over sections of trail with crazy steep drop-offs, where the trail was off-camber and covered in shale. I found myself feeling, albeit a bit overwhelmed and exhausted, very proud of myself for how much of it I was riding.

It was during one of the black diamond sections that Josh went over his handlebars (he's okay and totally unhurt). I, of course, had walked most of that section, but it was at that point that we decided to turn around, since there were two more black diamond sections ahead of us and lots and lots of grueling climbing over crazy technical terrain.

Surprisingly, the descent was loads of fun! And I write "surprisingly" because the climb had been so challenging and grueling. But the descent was a total blast.

It was during the descent that we found the super easy and fun trails to ride, Lanes and Sunnyside, which would have been excellent for Elizabeth. In hindsight, the universe may very well have been trying keep Elizabeth and I away from Adams Gulch... because I would have taken her on trails 177/142 which I had been eyeing on the map, and that could have been disastrous, particularly because Josh went over the handlebars, and he knows his way around technical terrain.

I can't even get over how flowy and awesome these trails were! They were so much fun and I cannot wait to return to the area. Click here for the ride details. You might find it interesting to click on the Terrain or Satellite tabs for the map.

More photos on my photoset.

Posted by jennifer at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Snowshoe Fun ~

Over this past weekend, I went snowshoeing with a group of friends, to include Josh, Elizabeth, Amy, David, my Dad, and dogs Buddy and Lebowski. We shoed near Idaho City and had a fun time. It was not the most glorious day, weather-wise, but I was very pleased that we were able to get out of the rain that was happening at the lower elevations. The snow upon which we shoed was on the crusty side, but perfectly snowshoeable.

As can be imagined when one gathers a group of friends wearing silly footwear in the snow, the maturity level did not always remain at high levels. This was evinced by several snowshoe races. Wow, running whilst wearing snowshoes is extremely hilarious! In addition, later in the shoeing, Elizabeth abandoned all self-composure and ran down several hills with her arms, legs, and hips flayling everywhere. She explained to us that such form served to maintain the ideal stability when running down hills in snowshoes. To test her theory, I tried it, but did not feel particularly stable...

We shoed around for a while until a few peeps had to return to Boise, and those remaining chose to hike up into the mountains farther. The below photo is not the greatest of all time, but I like it because it shows the pre-existing snowshoe trail that we found and that it took us up some mountains and through the trees.

Once we quit the snowshoeing, we enjoyed some greasey food in Idaho City. I salivate just thinking about my onion rings... yum!

Posted by jennifer at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ swath of wild sunflowers ~

I was particularly excited to go for a mountain bike ride today after work. I am so looking forward to fall riding! The summer and its heat and blistering UV rays can get old after a while. I've also decided that I need to ride solo more often. Riding with people is great, but solo rides offer a more contemplative and self-focused experience.

I did a Tablerock ride today. There are challenges afforded in that neck of the foothills that are less common in the more westerly hills. Slippery, rocky sweeping climbs, an off camber switchback or two, and rock obstacles make good challenges for me. I'm at the point where I need to overcome some technical skill barriers and improve my confidence, and I won't be doing this if I keep riding the same old same old Military Reserve and Central Foothills trails. I think if I consistently spend time alone trying to master the terrain that gives me trouble, I will improve my skills. And I say "alone" because I can get flustered if I screw up on an obstacle around people - - but riding alone, I can try riding an obstacle over and over until I do it, without feeling self-conscious that someone might be watching me. This is another nice thing about the Tablerock trails, there aren't very many people on the trails.

That fall is here is evidenced by how my garden is dying, with the frost having arrived the day after I took the following photo of my flowers. I'm super excited about trying to have more of a garden next year. Now that everything is all wilted and dying, I think there's no more use in trying to be a farmer for a while.

Last Saturday, Josh and I did a ride up at Idaho City. I don't have any photos to share and it's been so long that I don't remember the stats. I believe it was around 20 miles. There were some pretty grueling climbs that we huffed and puffed up. I felt very satisfied with my effort on the climbs, making it up most of the really steep ones. At some point, we got caught in the middle of all of these ATV/hunting trails that criss-crossed over the mountains. We kept having to make arrows with sticks and rocks to mark our way because it was such a labyrinth of paths. I also saw a herd of elk. Afterwards, we had lunch in Idaho City.

On Sunday, I took Elizabeth up to Bogus for a training/practice ride. We did Deer Point, Elk Meadows, Mores Creek, and back along Ridge Road. It was a lot of fun and I was very impressed with Elizabeth's riding. It's also fun taking on the role of drill sergeant / coach. I said, "Elizabeth, you will ride this trail in your middle ring!" And she said, "Yes, Ma'am!" A salut would have been appropriate, but I think she was busy steering her bicycle.

Posted by jennifer at 9:16 PM | Permalink

~ Grimes Creek fire road ~

Ride: Grimes Creek fire road
Distance: 21.5 miles
Elevation Climbed: 4,000 feet
Average Speed: 8.2 mph

Today I took the day off work and Josh and I rode up the fire road at Grimes Creek - - an excellent ride. The smell of pine was in the air and the spirit of adventure ran through our veins. We have hiked and showshoed up this road several times, but taking the bikes allowed us to travel farther and gain a new appreciation for the area.

Eventually, the road took us to over 5,000 feet in elevation and we rode along the ridge before going along the other side of the mountain and around again.

Below, we were on the ridge, looking over both sides of the mountain. The views were amazing.

And here is a view of the back side of Bogus - - to the right we were able to see Placerville.

During the ascent, it was hotter than we expected. We kept pouring water on ourselves to stay cool. On the descent, however, stormclouds had brewed above us and we experienced a substantial downpour. I had water running down my face in floods, and some of the rain drops were so big that they almost hurt.

At some point on the downhill, I rounded a corner and immediately executed a ninja-response to avoid hitting a large rattlesnake in the road. I rolled within inches of its fangs and then turned around to take a photo. Josh was there as well, and during the few seconds that we snapped this photo, we heard some rustling in the bushes nearby and scampered back onto our bikes, fearing that it was the rattlesnake's even bigger brother rattlesnake.

At the bottom of the mountain, we dipped our toes into Grimes Creek. The water was cool, but not too freezing. We spent several minutes sitting on the rocks and washing the sweat, mud, and sunscreen from our skin. It felt wonderfully refreshing.

It was a much better way to spend the day than going to work. Once we got back into town, we got pizza and beer at the Lucky 13, still dressed in our dirty cycling spandex.

More photos on my photset

Posted by jennifer at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ some sunshine therapy ~

Despite the consistently grey skies, the still cold air, and the growing depression (emotional not financial, heh), I hadn't realized we were having an inversion until I overheard some folks talking about it. Having spent the vast majority of my winters here, I must say that the inversions do not bother me as much as some. For me, they are a normal part of winter. Even still, during an inversion, the best medicine for the soul is to make one's way above the grey, cold, still air, to sunnier and warmer ground.

On Saturday, in celebration of Elizabeth's birthday, I went snowshoeing with Elizabeth, Edvin, and Josh to Whoop-Um-Up. The sun was glorious. We snowshoed Lower Lamar Loop, which took us about an hour and a half. During that time, Josh and I did our fair share of goofing off, which included an attempt at hiding from Elizabeth and Edvin and then jumping out at them.

After snowshoeing, we went to Hilltop for some burgers and beers. The beer was good, the food was totally subpar in both quantity and quality.

More photos on my photoset

On Sunday, I decided to make more use of my snowshoe rental and dragged my dad and his dog up to Grimes Creek for some snowshoeing. Again, the sunshine was wonderful.

Note, I love how Dad and the dog have the same facial expression in this photo.

The dog is really something to behold. He has a very impressive amount of energy, as evidenced by how he kept running at top speed up and down the side of the mountain next to the trail.

We snowshoed for about three hours and were able to get up to a summit before the trail went down the other side of the mountain. On the way down, we both kept tripping over the toe-spike thingie on our snowshoes which prompted some mutual mockery.

More photos of this one on my photoset

Posted by jennifer at 7:03 PM | Permalink

~ outlook ~

Recently, I've been giving a lot of thought to the impact that having a more positive, more optimistic outlook has on one's overall health, wellbeing, and quality of life. This is not at all related to anything that has been going on recently, but is just more of a general life thing I've been thinking about. Life is too short to spend one's time being negative and stressing out about things that don't really matter. For example, today I had a long conversation about this with a friend who has noticed a significant decline in her partner's blood pressure when stress is reduced and they participate in more 'fun-loving' activities. They've even made a resolution to try to not let things like the economy and the impending doom get them down, which I think is very refreshing. With all that is going on, I've sensed that we ("we", as in the general we, not the you and I "we") are really good at self-fulfilling prophesies.

Yesterday, Josh and I rented some snowshoes and went up to Grimes Creek again. The snow was somewhat crusty and packed down, so the trekking was much easier than last time. Not exerting ourselves quite so much, we were able to go much much farther, all the way tracking a herd of elk which we saw off in the distance at one point. We even came upon evidence we hypothesized was left from a wolf hunt (probably a deer or somesuch creature). It was interesting to examine the different tracks in the snow (some possibly elk, deer, wolf, and coyote) and consider the behavior and patterns.

Snowshoeing is an activity that makes one's legs and core feel really strong. I'm surprised at myself that I've never before engaged in this activity, because it is right up my alley of things that I enjoy. Plus, it seems to be much more affordable than many other winter sports. And I like the idea that one doesn't need to go to an established snowshoe trail, but that one can just find some pretty snowy space and explore.

(More photos on flickr).

Posted by jennifer at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ Anderson Reservoir, Trinity Lakes ~

This past weekend, Josh and I went camping in the Anderson Reservoir/Trinity Lakes area. I'd like to begin by directing you to Josh's blog entry that contains a nice summary of the events.

The Anderson Reservoir/Trinity Lakes is a lovely area. That photo above is of the canyon right at the base of the reservoir. And a big reservoir it is. To get to where we would camp, we had to drive on a scary road to the end of the reservoir and then through the forest and mountains to some campgrounds approximately 13 miles before Trinity Lakes (some high mountain lakes). Our camp spot was lovely.

Soon after we arrived, we went on a mountain bike ride up Fire Road #101 which took us up a gradual climb to the top of some mini-mountains. After the bike ride, we went down to the stream adjacent to our camp, and washed the dust and sweat off our persons and spent several hours splish-splashing around in the water. This was one of my favorite activities of the trip. We cracked open a few beers and had a splendid time playing stream-side.

Interestingly, we opted not to have a camp fire. I realize this is normally a prime joy in camping, but for some reason we weren't feeling it. Instead, we went on a nice evening walk - - primarily so that I could massage the terrible intestinal cramp that I had developed - - played some smashmitten and boggle, and retired to the tent for some reading at a ridiculously early hour. I read half of an exciting science fiction short story about a kid who stumbles upon an abandoned alien space ship and takes it for a spin. It was apparently one of the year's best sci-fi short stories, some years ago.

The next day's primary activity was a big mountain bike ride up to the Trinity Lakes area. According to Josh's calculation, we climbed about 2300 feet in elevation. We rode up a gravel mountain road, which featured an interesting mix of turns and straight-aways, smooth dirt and rugged rocky surfaces. The first part of the ride was through the forest, and then it took us well above the tree line to a higher mountain zone. After two hours of consistent climbing, I began to wonder how much farther it would be to get to the lakes. It was about this point that the road began featuring some more challenging rugged surfaces that took a bit more effort to pedal one's bike over. Also, without the trees, we found ourselves more directly in the sun's rays. All of this, in addition to the fact that my leg muscles were starting to feel the burn, compelled me to feel a bit cranky. At some point, a truck passed us and Josh took the opportunity to ask how much farther it was to the lakes. The man said that the lakes were still a ways away and that the road was really rugged and that we wouldn't be able to ride our bikes up there. This last statement really irritated Josh because the guy clearly underestimated the utility of the mountain bike. Soon after that, we found the turn-around spot. It took about 2.5 hours to ride up, and about 15 minutes to bonzai down. I must say, wow, the downhill was incredibly fun. We had the whole road to ourselves and we bombed down SO FAST. Before we began the descent, Josh commented that we would probably be using our breaks a lot, what with all of the ruggedness and turns. In reality, the breaks were hardly used. I did opt to navigate the particularly rugged stuff slowly, and those sections I really enjoyed - - it's amazing what sort of terrain a person can roll right over on a bike, I didn't even bother navigating around huge rocks, I just rode over them. On the smoother surfaces, I kept my fingers off the breaks and was flying down the mountain. So thrilling! I wish that I had my cycle computer on the bike so that I could have known how fast I was actually travelling - - Josh seems to think that it was faster than ever before and I have to concur. Of course, as irony would have it, Josh later consulted a map and discovered that we had stopped not too far from the lakes.

Photos for this adventure may be found on my Anderson Reservoir photoset

Posted by jennifer at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

~ Blue Lake in the Fall ~

On Saturday, Josh and I went to Blue Lake. As usual, it was absolutely stunning. I've never been there so late in the year, and I found the fall colors beautiful. We hiked around the lake and captured some views, relaxed a bit. Then we continued our journey up to the top of the mountains where we were able to see on both sides to the east and to the west. It was awesome. Josh spent a good time with his gazetteer to determine what all of the different landmarks were that we could see. What was particularly amazing was that we could actually see far enough to the east to see the tips of the Sawtooths, which were 58 miles away as a crow flies. Here's a link to my flikr set to view the photos. See if you can see me in the below photo.

Posted by jennifer at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

~ Dancing at the Arcade ~

I've finally gotten around to posting my photos from the camping trip to Upper Payette Lake onto my flickr dealie. If you depress your mouse button on the above photo, your browser should be directed there. I've decided to refer anyone interested in the narrative of the camping trip to Josh's Camper's Log as I feel that it does a very nice job of capturing some of the camping moments.

Anyhoo, last night Josh and I found ourselves in something of a pickle as we tried to decide how to spend our evening together. See, we work kind of incompatible hours, and Friday and Tuesday are the two weekdays that we have the possibility of spending a decent chunk of time together. Which is why I like to embrace my Friday evenings...that, and you know, celebrating the end of the work week. So, part of the problem of deciding what to do was the fact that it was over 100 degrees outside, which basically precluded doing anything outdoors. Josh was attempting to persuade me to go to a movie with him. I, however, was hesitant because I feel that I've had a disappointing several months of trying to go to the movie theaters. A few weeks ago we saw the latest Pirates of the Carribean movie and Josh was so bored that I think he fell asleep (we also saw the LATE showing) and I just sat there and sat there and sat there wondering why the movie wouldn't end. I thought it was terrible, it duplicated so many of its scenes and gimmicks, and the plot failed to substantiate the duration of the film. So we left before it was even over. A few weeks earlier, we saw that Nacho Libre film by the director of Napoleon Dynamite. I believe that I already provided the internet with my thumbs down review, but aside from the fact that I was so annoyed with the teen boys behind me talking for the entire movie, the movie sucked. And we walked out of that one before it was over too. Which makes me feel like both of those experiences were just a waste of money, and I am of the opinion that wasting money is lame. So Josh had quite the task ahead of him if he thought he could convince me to go to another summer blockbuster...

Instead, while I was in the shower after having a workout at the gym, I was brainstorming things to do. I didn't feel like sitting down at an establishment (like a bar or restaurant...or movie theater) so I began to think about what sorts of places would provide airconditioning as well as amusement. And it hit me! A video game arcade!!!

So we went to PoJo's Arcade and played a variety of shoot'em-up games, motorcycle racing, and other standard arcade games, as well as several rounds of that Japanese dancing game (which is quite a workout!) and bumper cars. We left around 10:30, which is my bedtime. By the time that we got to my apartment, I realized that I had locked myself out of my apartment. Which was this complete freak occurrance. I was stressed out because it was way too late to call my landlady to let me in (I've been thinking recently - about the last year - that I need to get a spare key, but I've been putting it off...). Josh and I wandered into the alley behind my apartment and he shimmied up the concrete wall and managed to open my alley window (which was totally latched and locked from the inside) and hoisted himself through. While I was delighted to get back into my apartment, I was alarmed at how easy it was to break into my place of residence.

This morning I got up at 7:00 and went on a two hour road ride before the heat hit. I think it's almost 105 degrees right now. Which is fine because I've already got my exercise in and now I can just relax at an airconditioned coffee shop all day playing on the internet.

Posted by jennifer at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ 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)

~ Silver Creek ~

On Friday last, Amy and I loaded into her automobile and "got away from it all". We traveled to a place called Silver Creek, which is near to the small town of Crouch, Idaho, about a two hour drive North of Boise. In between our witty banter focusing on the ridicule of science, we admired some scenery and got in some physical activity.

Here are some photographs that I snapped while seated in Amy's moving automobile.

It took us a small time to locate a camping spot suitable to the both of us. There was some confusion regarding whether we ought to camp at that which appeared to be the idea of spots, except for that it was along the creek and we had seen some signs which notified campers that they were not allowed to camp within 50 feet until June 1st of the creek. Amy and I were uncertain of the distance from our camp to the creek, it might have been 50 feet, but we decided that should a forest ranger question us, that we would deny having seen the sign. Deceit always, you know, being the correct plan of action.

After we arrived at our ideal camping location, Amy set up the tent while I gathered firewood. I do not know what it was like for Amy to set up the tent, but my firewood gathering was quite the adventure. I had to wander deep into the woods which seperated our camping ground from others. I triped and stumpled over ground debris, received whips to the face from low-dangling pine tree branches, got my feet wet in the waters of the flooded stream, all the while loading my arms with a large amount of branches and hauling them back to camp. That evening, we hopped onto our bicycles and went on a small toodle up the forest service road which connected all of the camping lots.

Then we returned to our camp, Amy started the fire, and we sat around drinking wine and making obvious observations about the scientific world around us, until we were so tired that it was time to go to bed.

We stumbled over to the outhouse for one last time and then got all bundly in the tent. Right about the time when I had perfected my bundly sleepingbag arrangement, I had to pee yet again. Fie, wine, fie! So I donned my attractive-and-not-at-all-dorky headlamp and ventured outside. I returned to the tent and slept soundly all through the downpour of the night. At some point around what I hypothesize was 6:00 a.m. or thereabouts, my bladder woke me up. I realized that the torrential downpour had stopped and decided that it was time for me to get up. I put on my clothing and navigated my way out of the tent to find a very foggy and moist morning. I was about fifteen feet away from the tent heading towards the outhouse when the torrential downpour began anew. Luckily, I was wearing my rainproof jacket, but I became very wet during the two minutes that it took me to travel to and from the outhouse and the tent. Despite being wide awake and wanting to seize the day, I returned myself to the tent and snuggled in my sleeping bag adjacent to a sleeping Amy and listened to the rain for several hours. Throughout most of this experience I was worried that we would have to call our camping adventure off.

At some point, I dozed off and had a dream about being the captain of a tugboat off the Baltic Sea. When I woke up, the rain had stopped. Amy and I emerged from the drenched tent and put together a breakfast and some thick french pressed coffee. I spent a good deal of time sitting alongside the creek staring at the water. Then we went on a stroll up another forest service road. It was during this walk when I informed Amy that due to my ability to theorize, I am a theorist. While I was talking about my theory-making, Amy and I became alarmed when we heard loud gunshots near to our persons. Considering that there were signs pretty much everywhere which indicated that the shooting of firearms was not a forest service approved activity in that area at that time of year, it was lame. We then proceeded to have a conversation, before returning to the conversation about how I am a theorist, about how we aren't really "gun people".

We returned to the camp, made some salads for lunch and headed out on a bike ride. We rode bicycles for about three hours, up and down the forest service roads. At the end of the ride, I had decided to ride up this road to a summit. But during this ride, I became alarmed yet again as the people with guns were at the summit playing some sort of gun game. I felt glad that I happen to have been wearing my construction orange jersey so that the gun-shooters would perhaps not mistake me for a deer or whatever they might have been trying to shoot. I made an effort to stay away from them and I quit my bicycling adventure sooner than I had wanted because of them. Fie, gun-shooters, fie.

I spent the rest of the day lounging near to the creek reading my book and admiring the beautiful scenery around me. I am one of those people who can be kind of awed my the natural beauty that can be found on the Earth and it is very enjoyable for me to sit back and just observe some nature. That evening, Amy and I made some delicious chilli to which we added chopped onions and loads of cheddar cheese. She built us another fire, which we sat around. We went to bed at a time suited for senior citizens and despite all promising circumstances, I was unable to attain sleep that night. I was much too cold. I spent the night shivering, with my muscles cramped and knotted with cold. I was kind of sleepy the next day. We left early in the day because we both had things that we had to do to get back to our lives, but yes, the camping trip was very nice.

Posted by jennifer at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)