Another day off in the ‘Koots, and I got a random driving gig for a father and son team from Spokane. I didn’t ride, just drove, but did manage to snap one shot of the old man dropping in on Upper Sitkum.
Spokane Random
kootenays
Powerslave Pre-Ride
A little conditions check was in order for Powerslave if we were going to be taking a ladies group down it later in the week, so we hooked up with Galena from Cat Sass to get her take on the ride.
Of course, this led to many more joining in, so it was much more like a Sacred group ride. Fun!
As always, the trail is fantastic. Maya is admittedly not your average lady on a bike (she’s a legit Kootenay legend), and here she easily negotiates one of the ramps in the old growth.
Mootchell on the same.
…and Simon finishes up in full race mode.
You weren’t ‘chasing’ anything, were ya Simon?
(Inside joke, yo. Ya had to be there…)
Retallack Ride Guide – 1
Hey! We’re back with our old pals from the Ride Guide.
On deck is a story about backcountry lodges, and as luck would have it I’m doing some work guiding for Retallack Lodge.
I’m not the host this time. Our pal from NSMB.com and Rocky Mountain team mate Eamonn got the duties on this round.
We spent most of our first day playing around on Idaho Peak, above New Denver.
The Wakefield trail is an old classic, and I mean old. It’s part of a network of mule train access roads for the old mines. Here’s Mason Mashon carving around the upper entrance to the old Wakefield Mine.
Eamonn getting a beauty shot at the entrance to the trail.
On the other side of the mountain, there’s a wealth of old mining roads that the locals have spent many seasons clearing out and connecting with bits of singletrack. There’s not much in the way of built up trail, but there are occasional hits. Here’s a bit of a session that Kris and “You Like This” creator Kevin Landry threw down.
Down lower, in the dark forest, it’s all about steeps and hard, shithook corners.
Mason had the edge with his oddball 24″ front wheel setup (no, not really. Do you have to be so gullible? It’s just lens distortion…).
One out of the trees, it’s actually a very nice summer’s day.
We took a bit of a break in Sandon for some background shots. While Josh got some work done, we just hung out on the bus.
There’d better not be a fire. I don’t think these guys have much of a department.
After a long day, another epic BC sunset, courtesy of the over the shoulder quick snap technique.
Although I did stop to get this shot of a cow moose. It was getting pretty dark, so sorry about the grainy factor. She seems to be hanging around, maybe I’ll get another crack at a better pic later.
