Oregon Trail to Bonneville Point

39.7 miles      4:55 riding time

My 1996 introduction to mountain biking in Boise was brief before moving to Cottonwood a couple months after getting my 1st mountain bike, but it included many rides on the south side of the Boise River up to Lucky Peak Dam. When, in the next few years, I returned to Boise for drill weekends from Cottonwood and Lewiston, new subdivisions confused the entry to the trail, and I found the foothills more challenging to my budding mountain biking skills, so I pretty much forgot about the south side of the river. Last spring the LT asked if it was possible to return to town from Lucky Peak Dam on the south side of the river. From the upriver side finding our way through the new subdivisions was easy, so we did it. We'd also been to Bonneville Point (the first point from which the pioneers could see the Boise Valley from the drier desert), and we could see trails connected Bonneville Point to those trails, so on Sunday the LT had current maps printed, and we headed to Bonneville Point.

Before departure, the LT had to inspect my yesterday's installation of new disk brake pads- and then adjust them. His map work was good and revealed the city had forced the subdivider to build some nice trails along the top of some of those basalt cliffs- actually making the ride more interesting than it was in my1996 introduction to mountain biking. Soon after crossing the Idaho City highway, the LT had a flat- from what appeared to be pinch on the sidewall. Is that possible with adequate tire inflation? Anyway, the double hole was too large for the slime to seal it, so he pulled out his spare slimed tube. I've never been able to successfully patch a slimed tube; the LT had no additional 26" spare, and my spare tube was a 29". Sometimes having inter-changeable equipment is smart on a group ride.  Luckily, he had no more flats, and my new brake pads seem to settle in and worked well, creating no further mechanical issues on this ride.




Ready to fix the flat- a flat doesn't wipe the smile off the LT's face!  The work of the change actually begins  Infrequent markers along the way show we are on the Oregon Trail  In places where jeeps haven't disturbed the old trail, the actual wagon wheel ruts are clearly visible, but the photographer failed to record those!




On the way back to town- Table Top is just above the LT's head  Notice the twisting trail on the edge of the basalt cliff- that's my favorite route to Lucky Peak Dam that we had to miss today  This route is a steady climb up to Bonneville Point and a bit more demanding than I would have thought. Note the riding time of 4:55 for a 39.7 mile trip!  A good ride, but I doubt it keeps us of out of the foothills many times a year.

Happy cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!