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.