Saturday March 21st 2009 marked the end of winter for me and the start of the fun season in Idaho. With temperatures in the mid 60’s and skies clearing I headed south out of Mountain Home, Idaho for a quick mountain bike ride.
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The skies clear as I get ready to hit the trail
I was headed to Mud Flat Road south of Grand View and a jeep trail I found on Google Earth. It started sprinkling just south of Mountain Home and I had rain intermittent rain most of the way to my destination. Once I found the trail and got my bike out of the back of the truck, the sun started shining and I was ready to go.
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My truck is highlighted from a vantage point atop the first climb.
The double track trail was surprisingly dry considering the recent rain showers that was moved over this area. I started up the first part of the trail and discovered my lungs were not ready for even a short steep segment of the trail.
There were a few washes/creek beds along the trail that I explored on foot. These were filled with may different types of footprints…Mainly rabbits, coyotes, deer and maybe antelopes. Being a very amateur rock hound I also kept my out for interesting rocks but all I found were "leaveitrights" which seem to be common in this area.
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Soft sandy trails make for rough biking but good animal tracking
Parts of the trail were very soft and sandy that makes the riding hard especially when going slowly uphill (is there any other way to go uphill?). But speed was not the objective for this ride. The objective was to find my bike legs and start getting into shape. I think both these objectives were met on this easy trail.
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Darker clouds moving in from the southwest cut my bike trip short
I knew this ride was going to be an "out and back" trip with no specific place to turn around. The skies started getting cloudy and rain was on the way. I knew there was a nice creek bed on the east side of the road and decided to check it out. This place had a fair amount of old dried bones scattered throughout wash. I suspect coyotes like this area and tend to find prey easy to catch in and around the creekbed. Thus I named this geographic spot "Bones Wash".
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The bones of "Bones Wash" in the Owyhee Mountains
After about 15 minutes of exploring this area I knew I had to get moving before I got caught in some heavy rains. Thankfully the road back to my truck was mainly downhill and a much quicker ride. As I approached the last downhill of the double track, the skies opened up with some heavy rains.
Overall, this first mountain bike ride of the season was great. I love the rough desert scenery in and around the Owyhee Mountains. I doubt anyone into serious mountain biking would enjoy this trail as it is 99% non-technical but for an old guy like me, this is the perfect spot to ride. Hopefully I will improve both my biking skills and endurance enough to ride higher and deeper into this cool mountain range.
Map of my short ride:
View Larger Map
Other Information:
Date of ride and pictures: 21 March 2009
Photographer: Tim Bondy
Additional Pictures/Slideshow Address: http://picasaweb.google.com/tim.bondy/MountainBikingToBonesWash?feat=directlink
Video of ride featuring the music of Josh Woodward can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqhxGddNEy4
Mileage to Mud Flat Parking Spot: Mountain Home is 45 Miles; Boise Airport is 88 miles