Ski-cation in Sun Valley with Friends

Pre Season skiing on Baldy at Sun Valley. 8 inches of fresh powder overnight gave us some excellent conditions for our first time out this year.

Taking the Gondola up is always a treat.

Rhonda and her friend Lee getting excited to hit the slopes. 

Not too sure what I'm getting myself into

The weather was gorgeous both days. It quit snowing early on Saturday and Sunday was the bomb. 

Rhonda, Lee, and Larry, waiting yet again for me to catch up. 

Rhonda and I above Warm Springs, looking forward to a break. My legs are burning!

Warm Springs Lodge below

Ketchum, Sun Valley, and Trail Creek in the background. 

On the Summit. Blue Skies, bright sun and gravity awaits. 

Sitting by the fire in the lobby of the Sun Valley Inn

Another adventure with Wifey!

Middle Fork Deer Hunting With Scott and Jacob

November 2014, Middle Fork Salmon River. Our 13th year hunting together, with Scott and Jacob. The best of memories. 

First night in camp after a calm flight in from Cascade.

But before we could get any sleep, we had capture some noisy unwanted guests.

The weather was awesome, almost too nice for hunting

Deer are seen off in the distance, but nothing legal to go after

After hiking all day up high, I found this nice little 3X3 off the trail within a mile or so of camp.

Celebrating the end of day around the fire

The next day found us up early and hiking to the end of Warm Springs

A cooler morning warmed by a thermos of coffee

Again, more deer to be seen but nothing legal to chase. 

But they have been here.

 Shadow Hunters

walking back to camp at dusk

Ginger Bread for Jacob

The next morning we spot the big one, but....

it requires a little effort

and an opportunity to take a bath

Father and Son holding one another up

Scott was asking for a bigger fire

The next day found us hiking back up to the ridge. Jacob and I have our deer hanging in camp.

And sure enough, we found more deer

How are we going to get this down there?

Scott's patience always pays off

It's another long hike home

Requiring frequent rest breaks

This looks all too familiar

I think we've been here before

Same rock, same hunters, different deer, a different hunt from 2012

Another great time of making memories in Idaho's backcountry. 

After another long wait for the plane home

and watching deer on the air strip

until our ride arrives

And carries us back home. 

Video highlights of our left coast tour

http://youtu.be/RsLwwG9U5jA

day 13: destination!

day 13: destination! by jheggen at Garmin Connect - Details

Although the CA parks may have shut off their showers, Heaven opened up and provided us our first rain all trip. Normally the piter patter of drops on a tent fly should lull me into a deep sleep....

Each campsite in CA was provided with a rustic wooden cabinet for food storage. I'm used to the bazillion gauge metal bear proof food storage containers designed by a bored engineer, able to withstand opening by any able camper as well as the biggest G-Bear. These units look like they are made from scrap lumber found in a pile behind grandpa's shop. Oh, they are not there to protect our food from bears or other campers, but those furry nuisance night stalkers, the raccoon. Sure enough, even before the last light day fell, we were surrounded by an army of rocky raccoons. There were three shelves in our cabinet. I used the middle one, just in case they managed to pry the bottom or top boards off. Other bike campers attempted to shu them away throughout the night. I caught them looking in my frame bag where my sun blocked used to reside. Alas some raccoon won't be sporting a tan next summer. At one point multiple raccoons were heard fighting one another over the opportunity to foil the fine craftsmanship of the cabinet maker. At one point you could hear success. Then finally the rain won and all fell silent.

Sure enough, the biker who used the lower shelf lost his bananas and other delights to the crafty raccoon. My VIA Starbucks coffee survived.

As it continued to rain all morning I really didn't need my SPF 50 sunblock anyway. We loaded the wet condo cabin (those young biker kids laughed last night when they saw my ROOMY 3 person First Ascent Tent) and packed up the bikes, donned our rain jackets and hit the road. Three miles down the road we stopped in Lagunitas at a small market for breakfast.The best heuvos rancheros ever. Then it started to really rain. The locals were dancing. I'm assuming because it hasn't rained forever, but who knows, we are in the Bay Area. 

Our original plan was to work our way towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Looking at our map and route I used some logic and realized we could ride another 25+ miles to the bridge, cross it over to San Francisco, through the city to the ferry terminal and then across the bay to Larkspur terminal and then to our motel. Did you know there are 7.1 million inhabitants in the Bay Area, most of them people? Riding my bike right through the middle of them in the rain scared me to death. OR, we could just turn left in Fairfax, and ride five miles directly to our motel. The shower was hot, the brew cold, and the bed comfy. 

Tomorrow, sans bike shorts, although I'm sure no one would notice, we will take the ferry across the bay to the hub of the 7.1 mill, meet D2 and tour the sites. Looking forward to not riding a bike for a couple of days. 

It will take some time to download my thoughts and feelings about the trip. Don't ask me if I would do it again. Sure, I would love to tour again. For 13 straight days? Don't ask. Along the OR coast? Sure, sometime, after a while. In CA? Don't ask me yet. I'm thinking north of the boarder towards Banff. Maybe retrace parts of the Lewis and Clark trail. But I'll need a couple of days to think about it. 

For now, I can't think of a better way to spend time with Rhonda than on a two week, self supported bike tour. She is my great encourager. I could not have done this without her. I love her so much. 

For the record:

676.22 miles

35,525 feet elevation gain