Freezing in July

I guess it is all a matter of perspective. Was it a good thing? Or a bad thing? Depends on your frame of mind and desire for adventure. This all started on a morning in mid-July. The forecast was for cloudy skies and a 40-percent chance of precipitation. We were situated in central Idaho and the plan was to ride up to an old Forest Service Lookout structure. Regardless of the forecast . . . the ground is dry and any rain that fell would only improve traction and knock down any dust. Sounds reasonable doesn’t it?

The higher the altitude the better the attitude. Onward! The ride started out well and we enjoyed some relatively new single track trail that leads to some very nice sweeping views of the Sawtooth Mountains. It was cloudy, but we could see for many miles down Sawtooth Valley and all of Redfish and Little Redfish Lake in the foreground.

We stopped along the way for a snack at just over 9,000 feet above mean sea level. The views were spectacular in all directions but the clouds did put a bit of a damper on it. As we moved forward up the trail I expected to come across some snow drifts on the north facing slopes. But this year, unlike others in the past, there were no snow drifts remaining. I’d heard it was a bad year for snow but a wet spring. Thus, no snow drifts on this trail in 2015.

The next stop was a 4-way trail crossing. The tree that hosted the classic wooden trail signage was literally, laying on the ground. The signage was intact but the tree had seen better days. I noticed it was getting a little windy and a bit more cloudy as we made our way onto the trail that leads up to the Lookout.

There are some notoriously rocky sections in this trail and we all had fun negotiating the obstacles. At the end of the rock garden, the trail drops down a bit and the starts a steady, switchback laden climb to the top. This is when the “precipitation” began. It was scattered but hard rain fell for the next mile of the climb and then it turned to hail. The hail was small but you could hear it bouncing off the helmet with authority!

A couple switchbacks later, the hail transitioned to sleet. It started to cover the trail as we parked our bikes several short switchbacks below the Lookout structure. It was coming down hard and frankly, we were getting wet and it was chilly. So . . . we ran for it! Right up the remaining switchbacks to the structure. Philip was leading but I actually made it up first and crawled underneath the decking of the Lookout.

Next I noticed the grounding cables on the structure and the rods driven into the granite just 2 feet away. Hmmm . . . it is storming on this mountain and I’m beside the lightning rod. At about that moment, Philip climbed up and got up on the deck. I followed and found him removing a panel in front of the door. The door behind it was OPEN! Yes, we all ended up getting inside and out of the elements.

I’ve only visited a couple of these lookouts and this is the first time that was open, fully accessible. The crew piled into the little 12 x 12 (?)  structure and found a wide range of items. There was a little square shelf/counter in the middle and one table against one of the outer walls. There was just enough room to walk around the counter in the middle and unfortunately, only two “chairs” graced the structure. We settled in accordingly as the sleet was pounding the metal roof and the clouds began to envelope the mountain top completely.

Two boxes full of glass panes for the windows were on the floor and a box of caulk and window glazing was against the opposing wall. I’d say there were 12-15 gallons of paint, two cordless drills, replacement belts for a sander, some basic tools, small candles, matches, and coolest of all, a Brunton gas stove with 1 and half containers of propane. We took the half bottle and fired up the stove to dry out a gloves, generate some heat, and provide a bit of light. A couple of the small candles had been employed for light as well.

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After poking around a bit more we found 1/3 a bottle of whiskey, and empty whisky bottle, a couple tarps, a lantern, latches and other small hardware that would be useful for fixing up the places. By the way, when we left, there was still 1/3 a bottle of whiskey!

What we really liked was this piece of paper that was nailed to the side of the counter. It was a hand-written note professing the grandness of the place we had accessed and the value of the structure itself.

It was still relatively early in the day but after about an hour of rummaging around and watching Jesse and Philip take pictures I was ready to head down the mountain. Unfortunately, it was still precipitating. You know . . . the thing that there was only a 40% chance of occurring?

About 20-25 minutes later it all started to subside and we peeked outside. The sleet had just about stopped but we were “inside” a cloud. Our bikes that were parked a couple switchbacks down were not even visible. It was cold but luckily the wind was dying down and we’d all put on the jackets that we’d been carrying in our backpacks. Prepared!

The group scuttled down the hill to retrieve our bikes and head back towards the Big Casino trail at the 4-way I mentioned earlier. The ground was now wet which made for awesome traction however all the rocks were wet which made it interesting! We crawled back through the rocks and dropped onto Big Casino.

I’d warned Bo and Philip that Big Casino was rocky. It is not difficult, but in places the rocks are relentless. You just have to stand up and negotiate the obstacles or it will simply beat you up. Think you can just get off the trail and go around? Wrong, the landscape is littered with small to boulder-sized rounded rocks as far as the eye can see. Someone picked the path of least resistance many, many years ago!

The trail had been clear all the way down, but about 1/2 mile from the truck there was a small tree blocking the trail. Jesse used his big hand saw to get it out the way and we finished up the ride with just under 50 miles on the odometer.

What an adventure! Everyone really enjoyed the trails and the views but the freezing precipitation on the mountain added some extra excitement. We were all a bit wet and hungry so the loading went quickly back at the trailhead. Getting back to town for some food and a shower were high on the list!

This is one trail ride that we’ll never forget!

See you on the trail!