Mapset Archives - Sage Clegg, Thru Hiking

Idaho Hot Springs Bike Trip

When I returned home from the Bigfoot Trail Adam had a surprise- he had planned a bike tour!! Not just any old bike trip, but one that would be mostly on dirt roads and take us to over a dozen hot springs! I was stoked to get back on my Salsa Fargo and check out Idaho with Adam- a real summer vacation!

We drove out from Bend to Idaho past a few smokey fires, through the heat of the high desert, and past the smelly feed lots of the Snake River Valley to a small town along the Payette River, Crouch, ID.We chose to start our tour in Crouch because the southern portion of the 500 mile route was closed due to a landslide near Ketchum. Our plan was to ride the northern half of the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route (IHSMBR) clockwise, and take the Lowman Cutoff to return to Crouch, the lowest point on the route. After enjoying some fine beer from the Payette River Brewing Company we found a camp site and prepped our bikes. Velcro and buckles attach our Bedrock Bags frame bags, handle bar bags, and seat bags in a nice streamlined way. After some rearranging and finagling we were able to fit everything so we didn’t have to wear backpacks.

After driving around a bit we found the perfect spot to leave our truck (Chisos) during the ride: the Starlight Theater Parking Field. Crouch is a very tiny town that happens to have a large outdoor theater with camping and event parking. The woman I spoke to in the Box Office was more than happy to let us park there and wished us well on our adventure.

And then we […]

Bigfoot Trail preparation

By sageclegg|June 24th, 2014|2014 posts, Bigfoot Trail, Current|Comments Off on Bigfoot Trail preparation

This Spring has been busy with things other than hiking, and I am left feeling like a pop-corn kernel about to burst. Soon (early July) my feet will touch down on the Bigfoot Trail. This trail was created by Michael Kauffmann, an adventuring botanist and author from Humboldt County, CA.

The trail highlights 32 different species of conifer in it’s 400 miles. I look forward to the scavenger hunt aspect of this trail, and will learn a whole lot about trees as I walk, not to mention maybe see Bigfoot!

The trail starts in the Yolla Bolly mountains in Mendocino County. These mountains are where I went skiing and adventuring as a kid, they are close to my home town, Willits. The Bigfoot Trail travels through the Trinity Alps and Marble Mountains before turning west through the redwoods to it’s north terminus in Crescent City. The BFT connects with the route I created in 2011, the Japhy Ryder Route, and might provide a great alternate start.

After weeks of work on the computer, my friend Treehugger and I created a map set for the Bigfoot Trail to help supplement Michael Kauffmann’s guidebook. If you are interested in the mapset contact me. Tree, her partner d=rt, and their amazing dog Justa started their hike of the Bigfoot Trail on the 24th of June, follow their blog on trail journals.

Besides spending a bunch of desk time on maps for this hike I have not been prepping much. My conditioning has consisted of gardening and building a patio, my food and resupply prep has included a couple trips the grocery outlet for bars and some time in the kitchen drying up strawberries. I expect the first week of the trail to be […]