Back before The Bank sold out (pre 1995) moving me to North Idaho a
friend had suggested an adventurous ride from Murphy, ID to Silver City,
ID and on to Jordan Valley, OR to spend the night in a motel returning
the next day. That friend quit bicycling while I lived in Lewiston, and
I hadn’t found an adventurous partner to join me though I’d never given
up on the idea.
That is until this summer when a young 2LT was assigned to work with me
while awaiting his orders to flight school. Though his riding had never
been too serious- around college campus- our rides in the foothills saw
his fitness and love of the sport steadily improve and soon we rode
over Shaw Mountain and to the top of Bogus Basin. I should have been
warned of trouble ahead by his mountain climbing attitude (yes, that’s
his primary sport) that showed itself on those last two rides. He can’t
stand to ride to the top of some mountain road and see that we’re not
at the very pinnacle of the mountain; he must reach the top. On Bogus we
had to do the trails to the top of the highest peak, and when that
ended some 30 feet below the highest rock, we were soon climbing that
rock! Though he has an adventurous spirit and is enjoying mountain
biking more every week, he did extract a promise from me as the price of
his riding to Silver City. I have agreed to hike (I hope) or climb (I
hope not) to the top of Mt. Borah- Idaho’s highest peak- with him later
this year. (I have seen it from the safety of the nearby highway, and
it doesn’t look too steep!) Maybe his orders for flight school will
arrive this next week making him unable to honor our agreement!
Owyhee County is desert country, and the Owyhee Mountains rise out of
the sandy desert while retaining sand and decomposed granite as its soil
in addition to the basalt rocks that rise above the surface everywhere.
The sand and decomposed granite make for a road surface that lacks
traction. That said, it’s a pretty good surface compared to the gravel
and sand mix we found in Death Valley! However, it’s very easy to spin
out almost anywhere. The road surveyors didn’t look for the most direct
route, or a route following streambeds. It is constantly up and down-
though mostly up- on the way up to Silver City which is over 6,000 ft
elevation.
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| The 2nd LT at the top of New York Summit |
We arrived in Silver City about 1:30 just in time for lunch at the
hotel; hamburgers were basically the only choice. The 2LT wanted to set up camp in the nearby campground and ride to the top of the surrounding mountains
without packs., Dinner at the hotel was by reservation only, and they recommended
making those reservations 2 weeks in advance. The small counter of
candy didn’t plus the limited food we had brought wouldn't make for a decent dinner.
Lucky for us the hotel had a couple of extra salmon steaks, and if that’s
what we wanted for dinner, they’d accept our same day reservation.
Salmon was just what I had in mind- especially given the alternative of
PB&J sandwiches I had brought, and the 2LT had only power bars! We
walked around town seeing the sights http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/id/silvercity.html,
set up camp, and then the 2LT had me climbing the mountains on my mountain
bike up to 7,200 ft, I believe his Garmin reported. Only about a 5 mile
round trip to the top of the nearby mountains, but boy were they steep-
rugged and beautiful too! With only 33.8 miles for the day, I felt
like I’d done a century, and not an easy century! Our camp site offered
no showers, so I was off to the small swimming hole in the center of
town- only about 3 ft deep and as cold as you’d expect an over 6,000 ft
mountain stream to be, but I could submerge, and it got me clean before
dinner! The 2LT, being somewhat adverse to cold water, settled for baby wipes!
The adventure continued even that night. Our nearest neighbors were
flying Confederate flags, had their own “terminology” calling people
they didn’t like “Yankees” among other distinctive terms. I wouldn’t have
noticed this, but around midnight, they were drunk and started firing
their pistols in the camp which continued until about 2:00 a.m. when a
local property owner drove up on an ATV, and advised them to stop, or a
deputy who had called him from Murphy would be dispatched, and after
driving all that way would take someone back with him to jail! Now, in
fairness to the South, I must add the license plate on the king cab
pickup was from Washington State, none of the several participants had
even the slightest Southern Accent, and their drunkenness, words, and
actions, would have greatly offended fine gentlemen like Robert E. Lee
or Stonewall Jackson!
Oddly, I awoke this morning feeling like my rump had been bruised on one
side. Careful inspection reveals no saddle sore but nonetheless, the
area wouldn’t tolerate any weight on it. Fortunately, most of our route
was still steep today, allowing me to stand most of the way, but it
sapped the adventurous spirit out of me. This is a problem new to me,
anyone have any info for me? It doesn’t even really like sitting on the
couch unless I throw all my weight to the good side.
Anyway, when we got to the bottom of the mountains, we decided to take a
marked trail (ATV trail) the roughly 12 miles on back to Murphy. A
strong Northwest wind had come up, and that trail followed the draws
rather than the ridges, letting us miss the worst of the 35 to 45 MPH
headwinds that had arisen just as we came out of the mountains. For the
first 5 or 6 miles it was a great trail either on hardpack, or
motorcycles had created their own track beside the loose sand trail the
ATV’s had created through this isolated draw. Then the two trails
merged. It was push or ride the open desert- trying to dodge sagebrush
with our panniers! The 2LT’s Garmin listed a parallel road that proved
to be little better and went back to the ridges with the greater wind,
but it wasn’t many miles back to Murphy, and I could stand to peddle!
Cold drinks awaited us in Murphy though the selection was limited.
It was a fine adventure that I’d be willing to repeat annually. (We
found much better isolated camping up the draw to be away from the
pseudo Confederates should they return next time!) The 2LT is willing
to do this again, but will likely be in flight school next year. Let me
know if you’re interested in joining this adventure that is far more
difficult that the mileage would imply!
Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation,
Steve
Reposted from the 31 Aug 08 post at Free Conversant which was shut down in late 2015
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