Day 0: Saturday August 5
It was about a 6 hour drive from Pleasant Grove UT to Ketchum ID, the start of this year's Ride Idaho. What is Ride Idaho, you might ask? It is an annual week-long fully supported ride that has a different route every year. I believe they had about 250 riders registered this year. You camp each night, local service groups feed you more home-cookin' than you thought possible to ingest and local bands play every evening. Oh - and you ride scenic, mostly quiet routes for about 100km each day. This year's route was in southeastern Idaho, starting in Ketchum (near Sun Valley) and then over-nighting in: Stanley, Challis, Salmon, Challis, Mackay and Picabo.
I would be riding with 3 friends from the 2015 Atlantic Coast trip - Barbara (from Georgia), Patricia (from Colorado) and Gishi (from California). All strong riders and lovely ladies. Barbara also convinced 2 of her Atlanta friends to join us - Alice & KJ.
No sooner had I pulled into the parking lot, than I ran into Patricia and then we found Gishi shortly thereafter. There was a bit of confusion and disorganization during the check-in process, but we all eventually got checked-in and tents set up. There was an option (for a price) to rent a tent from an outfitter and have them set it up for you each night. They also provided chairs, towels and a power source for electronics. I would guess that about 20% to 25% of the riders chose that option. Their little enclave came to be known as "the gated community". Barbara, Patricia, Alice & KJ went upscale; Gishi & I were in the ghetto. Barbara had made dinner reservations for us, so we met Barbara, Alice & KJ there and had a great visit to kick the week off. Best part of camping tonight - no bugs! What a relief after the Green River!!
Day 1: Sunday August 6, Ketchum - Stanley
Here's an excerpt from the organizers: "Sunday morning, day 1, you will think you have died and gone to heaven as you leave the valley floor riding the Wood River Bike Path. You will start a gradual climb up Galena Summit, on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway, past Galena Lodge and to the top of the summit where you will get your first glimpse of the Sawtooth Mountains, Stanley Basin, and where the "Wild and Scenic Salmon River" originates. From here and for the next 4 days, you will learn how the river got its name as it gathers volume from the many tributaries that converge along the way. Lunch stop on this day will be at Redfish Lake, which is arguably one of the most beautiful mountain lakes in the world. Our first overnight town will be Stanley where we will camp at Mountain Village, with breathtaking views of the Sawtooth and White Cloud Mountains as well as the basin valley floor. Stanley is known as the gathering place for thousands of enthusiasts who come to raft the mighty Salmon River."
Stats for the day:
118.7 km
3625' up, 2902' down
Yes, once again I'm biking with a bunch of keeners. We had agreed to leave at 7. I woke up about 5:10am and people around me were already breaking camp, so I did too. Again, I wasn't impressed by the organization - we were following the recommended timeline yet there was no luggage truck available, no one was sure where breakfast was - and as reported by the latecomers, they ran out of food. Four of us were ready to go at 7, so off we went...... Well apparently we missed an early turn (they didn't have a marshal out on the course yet) and wound up doing almost an extra 10 miles (about 15km). "Bonus miles", we call them. Things did improve as the week went on and in the end I would recommend the ride and would probably do it again. But in the first 24 hours I was less than impressed! About a mile after we were back on the proper route I stopped to take my jacket off and realized that my rear tire was flat -ugh! The day can only get better. Got that fixed and started the gentle uphill to Galena Lodge.
It was then onward and upward to Galena Summit. The climb wasn't too bad; mostly <6% grade. We had clocked close to 60km by the time we reached the summit. I'm sure the views all the way up would have been spectacular, but there was a lot of smoke in the air. We didn't smell much of it all week, but it certainly affected the views that we had.
A big descent coming off the summit, which then flattened out a bit. But - with a headwind, and pushing to get to lunch - it was a tough ride in. With our bonus miles first thing this morning I was a tad concerned that we might miss lunch @ 60 (+ 10) miles. It was to be open 11-1. I arrived shortly after 1 and there was still lots left. Lunch was at Redfish Lodge - beautiful setting. This being a weekend day, the place was very busy.
After lunch, we had less than 10 miles to Stanley.
In the picture below you can see the row of flags that ropes off "the gated community". My tent is in the foreground and the ritzy neighbourhood is behind the rope.
We had a lovely dinner of salad, rice & potatoes, fish & roast, cookies & brownies, and live entertainment throughout. The temperature was great all day for riding and it cools off nicely at night for sleeping. I saw the (almost) full moon rise over the hills, but then it was in the haze for the rest of the night.
Day 2: Monday August 7, Stanley - Challis
Today's official write-up: "Leaving Stanley riding north towards Challis along the Salmon River Scenic Byway, there will be an option for those that want a white water rafting experience. You will start the day off with a 14-mile bike ride, followed by a 10-mile river float trip, and finish the day with a 33-mile gradual downhill into our overnight location."
Stats for the day:
81.04 km
757' up, 1861' down
It was pretty chilly overnight and the tent was quite damp in the morning. I managed to sleep through my alarm and woke up at 5:56; still enough time to make it to breakfast by 6:15. Breakfast was outside, and that was a tad nippy. What a difference a week (and a change in location) makes! When I got on the bike @ 7:30 it was still only 3C. I didn't even pack any long pants or leg warmers. Not to worry; my legs never seem to get very cold. Patricia and I were both rafting, so we got away first. Barbara was last seen in her tent piling on many layers of clothing and saying there's no way she would be rafting! Despite a sore knee/IT band, Patricia set a fast pace to the rafting put-in. Along the way we saw evidence of old mining claims.
Once there, they took our bikes from us and hung them up on a trailer that must have held 40 to 50 bikes. A very ingenious way to transport bicycles! I just wore my bike clothes with a rain jacket and goretex shorts over top. It worked perfectly to keep me dry.
It also helped that a couple of rafting rookies volunteered to sit in front (always the wettest spot), so Pat and I got the backrow - yay! Apparently there had also been an option to use an inflatable kayak but it seems I missed that info. Oh well - more than one person tipped over in those, so it seems that the raft was the drier choice.
We had a really good and very informative guide - a young lady named Halley. She was just a year out of college, with degrees in biology and Spanish. Along the way we saw a few deer, osprey and kingfishers. We saw the road (bridge) to Carole King's ranch and one of the outbuildings on the property. Near the end there was an opportunity to jump into the river. Unfortunately for Halley one person in our raft wanted to go, so the guide was obliged to jump as well. Too chilly a day for most to consider it.
We had started rafting around 9. A few class 3 rapids, including one at the very start. While it wasn't wild whitewater, it was bigger water than I thought we would have on a short tourist run like this. Initially I wasn't wedged in as well as I should have been but I rectified that pretty quickly! Overall - a very enjoyable diversion.
Pat and I were pretty much the last ones back on our bikes, and the folks who hadn't stopped to raft were well ahead by now. So we pulled up the rear for the rest of day. Thankfully the day had warmed up considerably by then. It was still quite smoky but we couldn't really smell it. The distant views were compromised but the close-in views were still good. There was an interesting mix of dry scrub brush and some forested slopes as well as an interesting mix of rock features. One advantage of being at the back is that you don't inconvenience anyone when you want to stop to take a picture.
We had lunch in the small community of Clayton and then a fairly easy ride (mostly slightly downhill, sometimes with a bit of a tailwind) into Challis. Both days so far we have seen these little snippets of history along the highways.
Into Challis by about 3PM.
We're camped in the town's ballpark tonight. For such a small town, it's a pretty big park.
We watched as a helicopter with a water bucket hanging below filled up numerous times from a nearby lake or river. KJ managed to get this good shot of the heli on one of the other days.
Apparently there is a forest fire quite close by. Another lovely dinner - salad, garlic bread, pasta & lasagna with ice cream cones for dessert. Evening entertainment again, although I mostly listened to it from inside my tent as a bit of rain started to fall about 7:30. The wind picked up in the evening; I'm thinking chilly night again. I'm sure glad I brought my cozy down sleeping bag!
Day 3: Tuesday August 8, Challis - Salmon
Today's official write-up: "Leaving Challis we will again maintain a route that follows the Salmon River and arrive in the town of Salmon. Our camp will be on the edge of the downtown at City Park adjacent to the Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Education Center where we will dance that night to the sounds of "PJ Destiny", one of our liveliest musicians from past years."
Stats for the day:
97.29 km
634' up, 1782' down
Part of the travelling circus that is Ride Idaho is the shower truck. Yup, just what it sounds like. A transport truck that gets hooked up to a water source and, voila, we have hot showers available for all the riders no matter where we stay. There are about 6 or 7 stalls for men and the same for women. Sinks and mirrors out front. I was up to pee around midnight and he was just getting his rig ready to move out. The engine was running, but otherwise I was pretty impressed with the care he was taking to be very quiet. I slept in a pretty quiet neighbourhood last night. I went most of the night without earplugs; often not easy to do while sleeping in close proximity to all those potential snorers.
I was up about 5:45 and headed over the Y Inn (for an indoor breakfast - yippee!) about 6:10. Got all the news from the gated community dwellers. Seems their tents hadn't all been staked down and when the wind came up last evening, many of the tents collapsed or relocated. A bit of a panic ensued! Gishi, Barbara & I left about 7:30. We thought we would catch up with Patricia since she was aiming to get out earlier. Apparently she was behind us all day......
It was a really pretty ride today and I would have loved to have stopped for more pictures but I was in the middle of the pack and it was just too busy. I did see two bald eagles in a tree, but didn't stop for photo. They were probably too far away for my point-and-shoot anyway.
Barbara and Gishi like to push the pace, so I let them go early on and caught up with them at the first rest stop. We then rode together to lunch, arriving at 10:22! KJ and Alice eventually joined us and we spent a leisurely lunch break sitting by the river.
Everyone is wearing their Ride Idaho jerseys today. Seems another tour group - Bicycle Rides Northwest - is riding the same route as us today, adding another 300-ish riders to the road. My mother would not be a happy driver........
Barbara dropped off fairly early in the pm, so Gishi and I continued on to Salmon.
We were in to town plenty early so took a little tour around the main business area.
It was a nice day for riding - sun/cloud/haze but no smell of smoke. The temperature was just climbing above 30C as we rolled into town. Tonight we were camping in the City Park on the outskirts of town. It's a huge park with lots of room for camping. There was a large covered area with picnic tables - a nice area to sit, chat & rehydrate. They had rented the public pool for us. I heard it was nice, but I just went over to use their showers. Should have stuck with the shower truck; the pool showers were cold.......
We were just a short walk from the Sacajawea Center. I had toured through there in 2014, so didn't feel the need to play tourist again. That's where dinner and entertainment were tonight, though, so off we went.... Wow! An amazing dinner provided by the Lemhi County Fair Board. Salad, cooked veggies, beans, salmon, roast beef, dessert & watermelon. Entertainment was by PJ Destiny. A very good one-man show. Big wind again tonight around 7pm, but no rain. And - no tents on the fly.
Day 4: Wednesday August 9, Salmon - Challis
Today's official write-up: "Returning to Challis, keep your eyes peeled for an opportunity to spot one of the many bighorn sheep that sometimes stand abruptly on an outcropping of a rocky cliff."
Well - I missed the sheep both yesterday and today, but it seems that some of the other folks did see some.
Stats for the day:
94.84 km
2007' up, 847' down
Hmmm - same route as yesterday (in reverse) but different stats. I wonder if the GPS reset the elevation yesterday when I shut it off at lunch time.
The other tour group had a rest day in Salmon today so there were waaaay fewer riders on the road. That gave me more of an opportunity to stop for photos. Somehow I missed the sign indicating that we were crossing the 45th parallel, but KJ caught it.
I did see 1 bald eagle and 2 osprey but also missed the entire field of bighorn sheep. Thankfully I somehow manage to notice all the traffic that we have to share the roads with!
After an outdoor breakfast of pancakes & eggs, I was on the road by about 7:20. We all rode on our own today. Gishi is so strong on the hills and I just prefer doing my own thing. Even with more uphill today, I found the ride easier than trying to keep up with Gishi and Barbara yesterday. I just dawdle along at my own pace and enjoy the ride a whole lot more. Despite the more relaxed pace today I was still done the ride by shortly after 1. Patricia took today off to rest her knee/IT band. Not a total rest day for her though; she was put in charge of the jelly bellies at the lunch stop. Big responsibility! The temperature started out about 11C but climbed into the low 30sC by the end of the day. There is still haze in the air, but otherwise good riding conditions.
The eagle is way up in the upper left hand corner of this photo. A little far away for my little camera.....
A few pics of the osprey nest and birds.
Other miscellaneous views throughout the day.......
Dinner was great once again. Tacos and apple pudding tonight. It seems that the scheduled entertainment cancelled at the last minute, so it was open-mic night. Lots of jokes. The best one was Alex (part of the "gated community" staff) trying to put up a tent with "wind" and "rain" hitting her. It was a spoof on the wind storm of a couple nights ago and was hilarious! The rain came again at about 7:30 - right on cue. It was just enough to send most people to their tents, but it didn't last long.
Almost forgot to mention - awful, awful chipseal today and yesterday. Ouch!! I hope it improves, but we continue on highway 93 tomorrow so it may continue..............
Day 5: Thursday August 10, Challis - Mackay
Today's official write-up: Leaving Challis we will ride through Grandview Canyon which is in the north end of the Peaks to Crater Scenic Byway. You will ride past Mt. Borah, which at 12,662 feet, is the tallest peak in Idaho and Mackay Reservoir before arriving in Mackay, a small town with a great mining history."
Stats for the day:
88.62 km
3222' up, 2047' down
We had a beautiful ride day, starting with a beautiful sunrise.
We started out at about 9C and finished at about 30C. A mix of sun & clouds all day, but no rain or wind - yay! There is still some haze in the air so I suppose most of us don't know what we're missing. I love looking at the layered mountains to the east, towards the sun.
We started out with a gradual uphill, past a little round-up going on (photo courtesy of KJ) and reached Grandview Canyon at about 13 miles - gorgeous! I took some pictures before we entered the canyon but the road was pretty narrow within so I didn't stop for any pics.
Here's one of Barbara's pictures..........
Some views from the far side of the canyon.
Our first rest stop was at about 18 miles. Then it was 6 more miles of sustained climbing. Most of it was less than 4% grade, though, so not too tough. At the top was Willow Creek Summit, elevation 7160' (although my GPS read only about 6700').
It was then mostly downhill to lunch at 38 miles. Pretty hazy views along that stretch.
Gishi was at lunch already. I got in shortly after 11, and the other four were over an hour later than that. Apparently Alice had declared KJ to be a missing person and that took some time to resolve. Lunch was great. It was at a ranch whose owners were friends of the ride organizer. They had music.....
and a cowboy poet (who showed up about an hour late).......
The food was prepared by the Mackay Miners High School girls volleyball team. Really nice young ladies.
I got in to Mackay in good time - before 2, I think. I got a prime spot by the tennis fence (great for hanging up wet clothes) and right beside the shower truck.
The good news is that Patricia was feeling great again. On the other hand, I think Barbara had a tough day. It's all good at the end of the day, though, as the community group fed us beef, chicken, baked potatoes, salad and homemade desserts - yum! We had great entertainment again tonight, after which Barbara and I went for a walk around town. The shop keepers were excited about the coming eclipse, Barbara bought a lovely (aka tacky) fish-mouth bottle holder for her hubby and we found the high-tech section of town (photos courtesy of Barbara)..............
Day 6: Friday August 11, Mackay - Picabo
Today's official write-up: "Riding south through the Lost River Valley we will pass through Arco, "The First City in the World Lit by Atomic Power", then onto the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, which boasts some of the most unique lava formations in the world, and former training grounds for NASA astronauts. From here we will continue west through Carey and onto our last overnight location in Picabo. This community is surrounded by large ranches and fields which are irrigated by the pristine Silver Creek renowned among fly fishermen and was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway, who enjoyed hunting and fishing along the stream with local rancher Bud Purdy. The name "Picabo" was made familiar by Picabo Street, the Olympic skier who grew up in nearby Triumph."
Stats for the day:
125 km
1494' up, 2157' down
It was a beautiful sunny day today; probably our hottest so far. I believe it was up to about 35C at one point. Last night was chilly, but we've come down about 1000 feet today so it should be a bit warmer tonight. I'm glad I had my earplugs last night. I was camped beside a big snorer, and the shower truck was getting ready to leave before sun-up. I talked to the shower truck driver tonight. He's from somewhere in Washington and he travels all over the US to various events - who knew?
After a good breakfast I left about 7:30. I was behind Barbara & Gishi but ahead of the others. It was a comfortable 9C to start the ride. The first 25 miles was just about the easiest 25 miles I've ever done. We only gained 7 feet over that 25 miles, and had a tailwind too! Pretty desolate landscape, though.
Snacks at the first rest stop (in Arco) and lunch later on were provided by the Arco high school band kids - well done! Great effort by the kids from a town of less than 1000 people.
After the rest stop we had a climb to Craters of the Moon National Monument. The climb wasn't too bad - still had 2 gears left. The area is somewhat familiar to me. I hiked and camped here on a road trip a few years ago. Fascinating landscape! It is "a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush." It was formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago. We had lunch at the top of the climb and then I rode back to the Visitor Centre for a quick visit. I was surprised by just how far the lava fields continued down the other side.
The big downhill stretch was a welcome ride, and then one little climb before reaching our destination of Picabo.
We're camping on the grass airstrip in town; never have done that before! One of the volunteer truck drivers said that planes were still landing when they got there to start setting up. Here's hoping all the pilots got the memo not to land once the tents were set up.
Apparently this town is where Picabo Street (the skier) is from. The story I heard is that her parents just called her "Girl" with the thought that she could pick her own name when she got old enough. The authorities, though, said they had to give her a name so they just named her after the town.
We had another great dinner - pork, potatoes, corn & salad. Here's the gang..... Patricia, Gishi, Barbara, me, KJ, Alice. Great group to spend the week with!
After dinner Barbara & I went out for a walk again. This time I took my camera with me. Got back to the campground just before the (brief) showers arrived.
Day 7: Saturday August 12, Picabo - Ketchum
Today's official write-up: "Our final day of riding will lead us up the Sawtooth Scenic Byway starting with the town of Bellevue where we jump on the Wood River Bike Path that passes through Hailey and onto Ketchum, which will then mark the end of a great and memorable week of riding."
Stats for the day:
52.8 km
1132' up, 154' down
It was a beautiful night after the showers moved through. A clear sky, stars, and a moon just a few days past full. I was up at the usual time - a few minutes before 6. Can't wait to finish "vacation" and sleep in once in a while! KJ and Alice were getting a shuttle ride to the Hailey airport this morning, so missed the day's ride. Patricia, Barbara, Gishi & I wanted to finish off the ride together.
It almost felt like we had a tailwind for a while, but of course that didn't last too long. It quickly turned into our strongest headwind of the week. There were some nice views along the way, but we were riding as a group and we only stopped once to take a picture. The disadvantage of group riding......
After a few miles on the highway we turned right onto Gannett Road - a nice quiet, smooth road all the way in to Bellevue and the start of a lovely bike path which took us about 20 miles to the finish line in Ketchum. The group broke up a bit for parts of this section of the ride as Barbara and Gishi found some faster riders to draft behind. Pat and I met up again with them when those faster riders found even faster (and younger) folks to draft off of and our ladies couldn't keep up any more.
The four of us finished the ride together.
What a great week this was! So nice to reconnect with these lovely ladies and after a rocky start to the tour, I would happily do another Ride Idaho.
