I woke up early to birds chirping and bright blue skies after a long drooling sleep. Some people have a hard time sleeping in a tent on the hard ground. Me? Out like a baby. I was excited to get started and into McCall for some real food, so I made a quick breakfast and off I pedaled to finish up the Lick Creek Summit. As summits go, it wasn't too bad, and I was rewarded with stunning granite rock formations and views at the top. I was also rewarded with swarming mosquitos so I didn't linger long.
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| The long beautiful road towards the summit... so glad I decided to wait for the morning to take in these views. |
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| One last look back at the terrain I left behind. |
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| Summit glamour shots. Brief. Darn mosquitos. |
I relished a long fast easy descent on the other side. It was chilly, and I stopped twice to warm up my hands and once to put on an additional layer. These sunny skies are deceiving!
No matter what you have heard about Idaho, there are a few truths to know. It is quirky, isolated, and beautiful. There is a charm in its "rough around the edges" residents, some more urbane than others, some more tolerant than others, and some more kind than others. But I will say this... this day proved to me that there are truly warm and inviting folks here and that it was this day that I fell a little in love with the backwoods of Idaho. I think I could live here one day when my corner of Bend feels too big.
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| Mid-morning discovery. I decided to accept the invite written on two random lawn chairs in the middle of nowhere. |
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| Taking in peaceful views of the Tyee creek and its wildlife. No hurry to get to the relatve metropolis of McCall. |
Shortly thereafter, I found myself quickly in McCall, the biggest town on my short route for this trip. Initially, it seemed quiet and bucolic, only to blossom into the realization that all of Boise comes here for the holiday weekend. McCall has a quiet charm and just enough tourist dollars to bring the good things in life... a great bike shop, a good brewery, and a pretty darn solid food scene. Coupled with the ability to be in the mountains to ski or mountain bike in 10 minutes, and I'm sold.
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| Little Payette Lake, aka, the one with fish and nice and quiet and all that good stuff. |
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| Payette Lake, aka, the one with all the tourists, but at least there was a good coffee shop right there. |
I decided to take advantage of a little shade and a bit of manicured grass when a guy carrying a paddleboard for some tourists started chatting me up about my bike and bike tour. He admired my setup and let me know if I needed anything, I could find him over at the local bike/gear shop
Gravity Sports. I realized that I needed to charge my phone so that I wouldn't risk it dying because I was using
Pocket Earth as my offline GPS to make sure I stayed on track. So I ventured to the bike shop and they let me plug it in the back area where the bike mechanic was working on bikes. Well, turns out that Aaron, the bike mechanic, is a bikepacking and bike touring enthusiast. When I say enthusiast, I mean it. We waxed philosophic about our past bike tours, our bike setups (he had a Troll, too!), and future bike dreams for a while, and then he invited me to stay the night with his family. Generally, my rule is to always say "yes" to hospitality like this. This is the stuff that bike tours are made of.
Alas, it was just 11am and I was itching to have some lunch and get back on the road... plus I was trying to get back to Bend for Death Machine 2016 (aka my dorky trivia friends duct tape fireworks to a remote control car and otherwise terrorize the neighborhood kids). I reluctantly declined and headed out.
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| I got distracted by the local brewery, which also happens to have delicious food. |
It felt good to be on the road... Farm to Market road is one of the prettiest traffic free paved roads I've had the pleasure of biking. Even in the early afternoon heat, it was easy pedaling even after 2 beers. My goal was to get to somewhere near the summit of my last climb so I could have a fast east ride back into Cascade where my car was parked. I found the most beautiful campsite in all the land and watched the sunset. Life, in these moments, was exactly what I wanted it to be.
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| Wildflowers were at their peak. |
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| Magic in the historic "town" of Roseberry. There's a flea market of sorts and some historic sites not too far down the road from McCall that is very popular on the weekends. |
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| Gold Fork hot springs... they cost money and are off grid, but still feel too much like manufactured pools to me. Lots of kiddos and families, but still a nice break and chance to rinse the grime from the road off. |
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| Sometimes, you set up camp early because you find the perfect campsite. 'Nuff said. |
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| View from inside my tent. The reason I was inside was because an hour after I set up camp, the flies and bugs came out with a vengeance. I stuck my earplugs in to dull the sound of the buzzing and finished my book to these amazing views. |
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| Last light from my tent. |
I woke up with the sun the next morning. Because I was so close to Cascade, maybe 30 minutes downhill, I bundled up and hopped on my bike without eating breakfast. As I often do, I decided I wanted biscuits and gravy and eggs in town, with loads of hot coffee. It was a chilly morning and I was thoroughly cold by the time I arrived to the local diner. A couple of cups of coffee later, I waddled off with a full belly to my car. I left $10 for Kevin at the Alpine Lodge and Motel and I started my long drive home.
A few notes for bike tourists:
- McCall basically has everything you need, including a very competent bike shop. Seriously, go hang out with the guys at Gravity Sports. They are some of the nicest folks I've met while bike touring in the U.S.
- There is a ton of camping on both sides of Lick Creek Summit, but I felt like the sites were better prior to the summit.
- Mosquitos are terrible at some times of the year. Run! Kidding. I didn't really use bug spray, I either kept moving or just hid in my tent.
- I am in love with dirt road touring in Idaho. You cannot ask for more. No traffic, gorgeous summits every day (yes, I'm weird, I like summits and climbing and all that jazz), rivers to jump into and to fish in, hot springs to soak off road grit, kind people, grizzly backwoods people, isolated and solitary camping sites all over, and tiny gems of towns in between. I will be back and often. Until the next time!
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