RR: Fisher/Williams Loop in the Whitecloud Mountains
Paladin
This might be the best there is. Kevin and I are in Stanley, a little
town of 69 in the heart of the Sawtooth National Wilderness. 6,400 feet
up and the air is clean and clear. The north face of the Sawtooth mtns
totally dominate this tiny town. It's about 60, sunny and Saturday. It
was 16 this morning when I completed a 14 mile ride with Craig, posted
as the Nip-N-Tuck ride. Now it was around 3:00 p.m., Craig was gone,
and Kev was sacked out cold in the motel. This would be my 3rd ride,
and Kevin's second.
I looked at that sleeping lug and remembered 10 years of history.
There's a bond that goes deep between guys that have gone through it
together. You combat vets know it. The gals don't get it. I stood
with him at his wedding when he re-married the woman he'd divorced 8 yrs
before; he stood with me when my wife and daughter almost died in ICU.
His son has my name for a middle name. We'd been there, done that, and
even had some matching t-shirts.
So it was with a tear in my eye and a profound sense of 90's-man
sensitivity that I crossed the room and woke him up with a kick to his
gigantic rib cage, "Roll out, you Lout! Time to go RIDING, man!" HA!
He gets himself organized and we load the bikes onto the back of his
rig. This was to be THE RIDE. 19 miles of some of the best Idaho has to
offer. Revered by many as the best loop in the state.
Head south out of Stanley 14 miles toward Sun Valley to the Fisher Creek
trail-head on the east side of the highway. Unload the gear and look
around. Neither of us has done this before, although some of our racing
buddies and the bike shop owners tell us we're not allowed to die until
we've tasted this slice of heaven. So here we are.
We start up a gravel road at a gentle incline with old corrals and a
leaning barn beside the trail. A pinched, lanky poser with his nose in
the air passes us, and we hail him, trying to get some reassurance we're
on the right path. He gives us the equivalent of the finger, and I tell
Kevin that roadies shouldn't be allowed on mtnbikes. They give us
mountainbikers a bad rep. Kev is not about to be dissed, so he catches
the peacock and quizzes him awhile. The snooty weasel refuses to help
us, except to say that he's ridden the loop before and this is the way
he is going!
So we forget about him and continue, as the trail narrows to fairly
smooth double-track. We ride quietly in a vast grove of quaking aspens
on both sides, and a small creek to our immediate right. This is
perfect. Cool enough, a gentle incline, running water, and the aspens
for company. We ride along several beaver ponds and catch sight of the
toothy critters and hear a great "Slap!" on the water.
We look at each other from time to time and marvel at how beautiful it
is. Is this real? Looks like we're in some digitally enhanced travel
video. We hear a bike behind us and we engage a local boy from Sun
Valley in conversation, and he confirms we're on the right track, and
that we are in for the treat of our lives! We let him pass, since he's
probably half our age, and we've both ridden hard earlier that day and
the night before. Track narrows to single file, and we're cruising,
feeling good. I tell a few jokes. Feel the elevation a little, too.
The trail gains 2,400' over 7 miles, but we discover half the gain is in
the last mile or two! We come to a section that the book says most
people will have to get off and walk, and I make it until my bike
mysteriously stops!?!?! :) It's super steep with a jumbled bed of
loose rocks about 10" deep. Very interesting. Very difficult. Kevin
keeps going! I'm impressed and chalkit up to his long nap.
I start up again and gain a new appreciation for the phrase, "steep,
in-your-face climb." But we eventually summit at the abandoned Aztech
Mine at 8,800 feet. There's a Forest Service registration box, so we
fumble around for a pencil, sign in and look for the famous singletrack
down. I let the clydesdale lead us through the open wooden gate, since
he's faster than me downhill (maybe uphill, too) on his double boinger.
And boy what a ride! Wahoo!! We're in the Whiteclouds heading west down
off the mtn, back toward the Sawtooth range. This is our own private
Idaho. The trail has it all. Beautiful sections of butter smooth
balls-out singletrack, banked turns, and technical drops full of loose
rocks and roots, ledges up, water crossings, some with boards, some to
ride through, logs to hop, it's a-happenin place! I pass the camera off
to Kev, and I try to get him to catch me bouncing down something crazy
or doing something else impressive like hopping a log or doing a little
wheelie-drop. Instead, he takes some shots on the smooth, almost level
singletrack and says that I can always tell people later, "you can't
tell how steep it is from the photo." ;-D Still pretty good
pictures,though.
We descend for another 2 miles, then bear left at a fork in the road.
"Stay left" the Sun Valley kid said, so we do. The trail quickly breaks
out into the open in Pigtail Meadows, and we pick up speed through sharp
little rollers and sweeping S-turns. We're headed toward a box canyon
at the far end of the little valley.
Pitch steepens and we're back in the trees and rocks, climbing. "They
told us it was all downhill!" Oh well, it's still the best playground
this kid's ever been in. Climb a couple miles to the top of a draw. We
crest the saddle, and the trail turns down into an awesome cruiser!
Smooth, narrow and fast! Guiding the bike through sharp turns by the
power of thought!
I come around a corner, and SLAM! I'm blinded by the setting sun in my
face. I was doing about 20, so I'm freaked. I yell, "I can't see
Jack!!" Hit the brakes and steer into the hill and bounce to a stop.
Tuck my head down and quickly resume cruising speed and altitude with
all carry-on luggage safely stowed in the overhead compartments. This is
a hoot! Views now of the Sawtooth Mtns directly ahead before we drop
down into another meadow with a series of old wooden footbridges
criss-crossing the creeks.
Another gut-buster of a climb up a series of switchbacks to the last
saddle, (can't stop now!) come around a corner, and there in all their
glory are the Sawtooth mountains spread out before us! Sail down the
narrow trail, and I stop to take a picture from my handlebars (which I
posted a week or so ago), too stunned by the scene to continue.
We come down to the trailhead at Williams Creek and stop, our eyes and
hearts ablaze with the views of the sun setting over the Sawtooths, and
our own sense of accomplishment. No biffs or blood so we wonder if we
pushed ourselves hard enough!
Snap some more pictures, congratulate ourselves and vow to do it again!
We reluctantly separate from our new life-long pal, Mr. Fisher/Williams.
Paladin,
I can now die a happy man
Jimbo
I really gotta say your reports make me 1) want to ride!! and 2) ride in
your neck of the woods...
Jimbo...envious man in a flat land..(san)
Roger Buchanan
> RR: Fisher/Williams Loop in the Whitecloud Mountains
>
> This might be the best there is.
> Paladin,
> I can now die a happy man
No you can't!!! I need someone to help keep me warm in the winter when it's
-30 out and I can't go riding...
You've got a good sense of humour...no matter how much grief/joy you go
through with someone there comes a time when you just *gotta* kick them out
of bed <grin>
Like Jerry Boyle (that great Newfoundland Separation Federation Politician)
says..."You are my kinda people!"
Loved that RR, just *loved* it!!!
--
Rog,
Agonizingly trying to become a better mountain biker,
but enjoying the continuing effort none the less...
http://www.wpcusrgrp.org/~rbuchanan/index.html
JD
capper, I'm heading up next Summer.
JD
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John Bean
>sensitivity that I crossed the room and woke him up with a kick to his
>gigantic rib cage, "Roll out, you Lout! Time to go RIDING, man!" HA!
What a pal!
Great RR Paladine! Lol at the 90's man stuff.
Chico
wrote:
>RR: Fisher/Williams Loop in the Whitecloud Mountains
Wow.
Chalk up another point for Idaho.
Chico