Idaho, part 1
Idaho is one of those handful of states to which I had never been. See, the Army only sends you to shitty places like Missouri and Texas. Cool places like Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana just aren’t in the rotation.
My Idaho journey started in Driggs, which is a little mountain town, about 20 minutes to Grand Targhee resort and about an hour from Jackson Hole. I spent most of my time in the neighboring town of Victor - where the real people live. While I was there, the pass between Victor and Jackson was still closed, after the road collapsed on June 8th. That meant that Victor was a sleepy little locals-only mountain town (think Ouray in November), and that made me fall in love.
There were two things that brought me to this area of Idaho. First, my friend from Ouray, who’s visited me a couple of times on the road, has friends in Driggs who seemed like pretty neat humans (they were), and he offered an introduction to fly fishing (say what, now?). Second, I needed to squeeze in a coaching session on downhill skills before I was to assist at a DH MTB clinic in Whitefish, Montana the first week of July. The dispersed camping looked plentiful, it wasn’t too far out of the way, and it was a new experience I hadn’t planned for. Win-win-win.
Even learning from a legit pro, and diligently trying all freaking day, I caught absolutely nothing.
Fly fishing was a fun challenge, but I doubt I’ll take it up as an actual hobby/sport/thing. Maybe if fish start riding bicycles. (Cue Gloria Steinem quote in 3…2…1…)
The other highlight of my stay in Driggs was a full-day MTB lesson with Lindsay Nohl of Dirt Town Adventures. Lindsay is the real deal. She was recommended by my dear friend Carey, who knows just about everyone in the MTB industry, and whom I trust without question. Based solely on Carey’s recommendation, I booked Lindsay for a full day lesson. It was worth every damned penny.
You see, downhill riding isn’t really my thing. At my age, I’m cautious of breaking any more bones (or needing another mountain rescue) and the risk of breaking bones is heightened when hucking yourself through the air. I’m much happier on the tech stuff. Give me a good old fashioned rock garden or long stair-step climb and I’m your girl. Flying through the air … um … not so much. You see, back in my day, wooden features were built on the trails only to get you over long swamp traverses. (If any of my NH riding crew is reading this: Maggie! Go! Go! Maggie GO GO!!)
But, if I’m going to coach mountain biking, I’d better at least be comfortable with drops, jumps, rollers, etc. So I put my big girl pants on and met Lindsay at the Victor Bike Park for the day.
Victor Bike Park
The Victor Bike Park isn’t exactly your destination park. But it was free, it was empty, and we really only needed a couple of small features to nail down the basic skills. I spent a full 8 hours with Lindsay, riding the same features over and over and over, with a video critique after each attempt. I can’t even put into words how helpful that repetition, and video feedback, was to me in developing the skills that I needed. Since that lesson, I’ve spent two days in the Whitefish Mountain Bike Park and another couple of days up in Canada (where free bike parks are literally everywhere) just practicing the skills and trying to create muscle memory. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still terrified of flying through the air. But after that day with Lindsay, and a lot of practice, I feel much more in control of exactly how many bones I’ll break on the landing.
Golden, BC bike park, where I’ve spent a lot of time practicing
On my last full day in Victor, Lindsay took me out for an early morning singletrack sesh at the Mike Harris trails. These were technically easy, flowy singletrack with amazing views and a plethora of just-budding wildflowers. What a great way to end my stay in the area!
All smiles at the top of the uphill at Mike Harris. #mtbsisterhood
View into Teton Pass from the top of Mike Harris trails.
While in Driggs, my friend, the pups, and I also tackled the hike up to the Darby Canyon Ice Caves. There was too much snow and ice to get to the mouth of the caves, but we got close. Considering that it’s been described as wanting “to kill you”, its probably best that the snow impeded our progress.
The mouth of the ice cave.
One of the girls really wanted to explore the cave. The other did not. I’ll let you guess which one.
After everything was wrapped up in Driggs, we all headed over to Stanley, Idaho, pop. 119. More in the next post.