Weiser River Trail

Well we made it back from the Weiser River Trail. What can I say but...ouch. Everything seems a little bit sore. We loaded the B.O.B up with our tent/sleeping bags/tools/misc and our panniers with clothes and food, then hit the trail.

The Weiser River Trail is really something to behold. We started just below the Presley trail head at the Galloway Dam area which has no services and limited parking. If you start from Weiser, make the drive to the Presley station which is 6 miles from town and just a short bit up from Galloway Dam. There are restrooms, ample parking and a very nice water pump that gives you fresh cold water and a nice view of the river.

Day one found us starting at 1:17 p.m. which is significant only for the fact that it was going to be 90 this day and was truly an awful time to start. There's really no shade all the way to Midvale so we had some miserable miles on the bikes. The surface of the trail is rather rough, being big gravel all the way. At about mile 8 from Galloway, there's a nice picnic area on the right side which is right on the river and affords a bit of shade. We devoured our sandwiches from the Boise Co-op and soaked a couple of bandannas. I recommend not taking your bike down to this area as there really isn't much of a trail and there's a lot of grass.

From there we slowly headed north pausing here and there to catch a break. Don't let the flat appearance deceive you, it is uphill all the way. We found simple joy in the little tiny downhills that we could find. I asked Daren if this was the southern end of Hell's Canyon since I certainly had the feeling I had entered the oven of hell. (Yes, it was hot.) There is A LOT of poison ivy along the river so finding somewhere to jump in was difficult but we finally found a spot about 4 miles south of Midvale where we stripped to the birthday suits and jumped in. A well deserved treat.

We came out of the canyon and into the farmlands outside of Midvale where I proceeded to run over a big snake. Yuck. We pulled into Midvale at 5:5o...which is also significant because the grocery store there closes at 6. We zipped in with minutes to spare and bought two ice cold waters, then hosed off in the park. There are lots of water spigots in that park so you can refill...and we were nearly out of water, each carrying 100 oz. !!

8 miles later and we pulled into Cambridge where the annual bluegrass festival was going on. We rode into town and had a burger at Bucky's at 7:50..which is again significant because Bucky's closes at 8. (I call that by the skin of our teeth!) Full and happy and carrying two oilcans of Heineken, we made our way 3 miles north to Mundo Idaho RV/trailer/tent/hostel. The tent area is also the RV area I believe and was right near the road and the hostel. The shower was a welcome relief after a fierce battle with hoards of mosquitoes that seemed hell-bent on sucking the rest of the life out of us. I ended up with more than thirty bites and my legs currently resemble some sort of pox ridden swollen sticks. We stayed in the bathroom to finish our brews, then scrambled for our shelter. Exhausted that we were, sleep was hard to come by.

Waking up from our short sleep, we realized that the northern sections of the trail were out of our current reach. Daren's IT band flared up and our spirits were a bit low. We decided to turn back home. After reading the map (and mostly trying to avoid as much rough riding as possible) we took back roads all the way to Midvale which was about 13 miles from Mundo. It was great fun and we saw lots of farms, animals and people and even had one horse go absolutely nuts when it saw us. It was running and bucking and making lots of noise. It occurred to me that only it's Pavlovian relationship with the fence kept it from charging us. Horses are such good jumpers, I felt kind of sorry for it that it just didn't jump and run for it's life!

That was really the last truly pleasant bit of the day as we made our way back down to the car. It was a long 35 miles and very hot again, though we started around 8:30 a.m. The best part of the end? That Presley station and the water spigot which is right on the trail. That water is so cold and so fresh, we soaked our heads and bandannas and pedaled the last mile to the car much refreshed. By my odometer we had ridden 69.54 miles...not too bad for our first self supported overnight trip. Daren was the super trooper as his IT band cut him no slack all the way, but he made it.

What lessons did we learn? Start early. Hook the pins on the bob the correct way. Attitude is everything. ssstttrrrreetttchhh.

The WRT is quite fun overall and we intend to return at the end of September to ride from Cambridge to Rubicon. This is the beginning of the big stuff for us as we prepare for the ride from Anchorage to Boise next year. At the same time it seems possible and impossible and overall incredibly exciting. Bike trekking is the thing for me.

Until we ride again...and the buns aren't so sore, Ciao!