It’s our last day in New Denver, so we’re gonna do a few runs off Idaho. At least 10 000′ of vertical on the menu today.
But first…….
One of the things we ALL do in our daily existence is take advantage of the noobs. It’s universal, preying on the credulous. Especially when they open themselves up to it. The first thing anyone from Europe ever asks about when they get here is bears. What sort of gun do you have, how many have you killed, how many people do they eat in a year, and others in that line.
Typically, we do nothing to assuage fears. For instance, at Johanna and Keiths place we were (as usual) sleeping outside when the usual topic of bears came up. Well, they are pretty common in the Kootenays, and it’s not unusual for them to wander through the yard. We told them that if one comes by in the night to not worry too much about it, as they are pretty well fed at this time of year and “rarely” try to eat anyone.
Jedi thought this was total bullshit (well, it wort of was) but he did mentionthat he heard something nosing around inthe shrubs the night before.
“Oh yeah, that’s the local bear alright,” says Keith.
The next morning?
Yup, that’s a big steamin’ bear shit about 3 feet from Jedi’s head. Well, you can imagine the excitement. A bear! Nearly shit on my head! Look!
Well (and I’m loving this part) let me be the first to tell you something there Jedi…..
Keith put it there with a shovel while you were sleeping. Mr. Bear left it in the corner of the yard before we ever arrived.
Oi! You wouldn’t be takin the piss now would ya Smokey?
Yup, you bet.
OK, on to the riding.
Look out for that bear behind ya, buddy.
Girls…..always gotta show how “equal” they are. Sheesh.
Vintage BC bridge work.
I’m informed reliably that this “is just like Wales, innit?”
We sessioned this steep section for a while. Nothing outrageous, just some fun rooty stuff in the big trees.
Lap 2 took us down the legendary Wakefield trail. It’s an old Mule train route through the old Wakefield mines on the south side of Idaho Peak. Roughly 6000′ of descent.
Burly trail, big mountains, and lots of flowers.
Look, you can see the bottom!
Brochure shot…
Taking a break one a tailings pile. There’s train tracks leading into the old mines here.
That was a brake boiler if there ever was one. Oh, and there WAS a bear at the bottom too.
Since we were now in Silverton, we hit up the Grim Reefer one more time.
Paul needed a skinny fix anyway.
At the bottom of the Reefer, we took advantage of the last rays of sunshine to hit Bannock Point for some cliff jumping. We even got Harley to try one of the smaller ones.
She didn’t seem as keen on the higher ones though.
That’s my pick for shot of the summer, that is. Now, if you thought that the bear shit picture was a story, what do think this one is?
