loon lake loop

SECESH RIVER

We knew we weren't lost when we found the "white bridge" This was an amazing piece of construction to see...We were out in the middle of nowhere (read below. EVERYTHING IS OUT OF ORDER!)

YUP, THATS THE TRAIL!

this is what hollie and i went through today to ride...read below...sorry the pics are posting funny, so things are out of order...

DONT SCREW UP!!!

seriously, I took this photo from the waters edge. If you miss judged this section, you would be going in the drink. And the Secesh is running!

GROUP SHOT

I am finally getting better at taking the self photo with the digital...no more nostril view....still have that dumb look on the face though..."we are taking a picture!"

HOLLIE RIDING THE ROOTS

I cant believe we got around that damn LOON LAKE LOOP today. We were warned that it might not all be ridable because of downed trees after the winter. But, being spoiled NOR CAL riders we thought...no big deal, so we move a few branches!

Well the ride started off good, the trail was a little soft, but there was another track in front of us so I felt like the loop must be ridable. We went about an hour on some fun double track that went up and down and around and around. Then we came out of the woods and onto the moon. There were burnt and dead trees for as far as the eyes could see. We hopped a few and climbed over a few hoping it would be clear around the next bend. We kept being hopeful but no luck. Now I was moving anything that I could lift just to get the trail crew party started. this went on for about an hour. No riding, just clearing and or climbing downed trees. as we followed the willow basket creek I thought it would never end. But then we saw green. the forest started to come to life.

We could ride again! Knowing we could not turn back, and hoping the worst was behind us we headed on. The riding was great. There was even a couple of MOTO tracks, so I knew the trail had to be clear!

We got out into this meadow just above Loon Lake. It was worth it in my opinion just to see the beauty of this place. The solitude in this forest is crazy. I mean there is this raw nature everywhere. Its not like the Sierras or the Wasatch, I dont really know what to call it, its just solitude. We saw, elk, bear, moose, deer, and wolf prints. this place is truly wild.

THIS IS JUST A FLOODED MEADOW

We made it to Loon Lake and we rode most of this last section. I continued to remove trees and limbs from the trail but it was much better than the willow basket creek section. What do you think of that view? I dont think a lot of people get back in here to see this beauty. I am sure the locals do, but not joe tourist. I feel lucky that we got to see it on such a beautiful day.

I dont know where we are headed next. I am a bit worried about heading further east...are we going to run into the same low snow and downed tree syndrome we have here? I dont know. Tomorrow we will make some phone calls to some friends in the Sn Valley area.

we ran into a couple today that are on a 2 week bike tour: round trip from Missoula Montana. They were in the grocery store here in McCall getting some food for their stay tonight. They were fixing a flat, so I hurried over with my floor pump and struck up a conversation. They were nice folks and seemed to be having a great time. some day..............................