On Jul 31, 8:36 pm, Paladin wrote:
On Jul 31, 8:40 pm, HikerDave wrote:



On Jul 30, 10:24 pm, Paladin wrote:

On Jul 30, 11:16 pm, Paladin wrote:

Howdy fans, trolls and friends.

Here are a few shots from our 7th annual AMB-ID weekend:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7728613...7601113321815/

Geedub flies into town Thursday, and rather than pack for our riding/
camping/swimming/eating weekend, we go riding, of course. A quick
barney loop in the heat, a few brews, and hit the rack late.

Up and attem, packing Alex's pickup w/gear, bikes, food, refreshments,
and head for the high country. My favorite place on earth, camping
near Stanley, Idaho. A roaring little town of less than a hundred
high in the Sawtooth mountains.

We ride Elk Meadows first, and you can read more about this hombre
from my first time,http://tinyurl.com/2x5yxuonlythistime, we rode it a lot faster. I
took the lead on the descents, but it was all I could do to hang on
the climbs with ole Geedub, (what's that Penny & Gab named him, "Legs
of Iron" or "Buns of Steel"?) and Alex.

We do this beautiful loop pretty quick. You'll see how nice the
scenery was by the couple of pictures I took.

Back at the temporary hacienda, I treat the bros to chicken fajitas
and other home-made treats. My years as an undercover chef on a
cruise ship pays off some times.

Morning, we pack the cooler and beach stuff, and head to Fisher/
Williams, a famous loop that's pretty well known as the must-do Idaho
classic.

After that truly dandy ride, we head for Redfish Lake, empty brown
bottles and watch the wild life. I'm swimming a lot, while the brugly
others are mostly kicking back and trying to get to know the locals on
the white sand beach.

Good stuff. Stay tuned for more pictures posted and maybe some video
by Geedub.

A great time, but hey, you shoulda been there. Smallest turnout ever,
but we focused on quality, not quantity, heheh. And Penny would have
been proud how early we woke up, and how easy it was to get everybody
at the trailhead ready to ride.

So, may your trails be narrow, crooked, lonesome and dangerous,
leading to the most outrageous adventures. ~Paladin

Alex's Pics are he he took more, and rode faster, too. But I'm a
better cook!

http://picasaweb.google.com/alex.tat...AMB2007Stanley

Paladin

Good lord! Who cooked that plate full of crap!

http://picasaweb.google.com/alex.tat...nley/photo#509...

It's really difficult for me to see the burn (forest) at the gate at
the top of Fisher Creek near the Aztec mine. Last time I was there it
was all green trees.

Gary said he'd met you. Best fried potatoes, sausage and eggs on
God's green earth. Washed down with Gary's coffee, man, that's the
life.

Yeah, the ride up to the mine, and the next 6 miles or so were pretty
wierd. Stark, spooky, open, instead of tight, close and cozy. The
exposure in parts was really highlighted without the trees and
underbrush hiding the view of how far you could fall off.

But that trail is just like me as I age gracefully, no matter what,
it still ROCKS.

CDB

Yeah, I'm just jealous. I did spend a lot of time looking at that big
skillet full of food. Probably went down fast.

Actually, Fisher Creek is one trail that got better. The old dirt road
past the gate was pretty much a waste of elevation compared to the
fast new single track trail that was built later.

The first time I visited Fisher Creek was in the mid 1980's, around
the time when mountain bikes were just beginning to be sold in bike
stores instead of backpacking stores and by mail. That was a real back-
country ride back then. We almost took the right turn at Pigtail creek
instead of the left. That would have been an unplanned epic.

About 12 years ago I went on a short mountain bike trek in the Stanley
area and set up a campsite one night in the aspens overlooking that
last meadow on Williams Creek -- the one before that last hill. Heard
a wolf howl and coyotes yap in return, and saw a big beautiful elk.
The next morning I rode the bike up to Pigtail creek and back.