Stanley’s Best

It was an awesome sunrise that woke Tim up this morning. After a long day in the sun yesterday, we relaxed and took it easy.  After a leisurely Cowboy Omelet, we got ready for our respective rides. Sarah and I were going to ride an 11 mile loop called Elk Meadows. Tim and Geoff decided to do a longer ride up Potato Mountain. We each got our respective directions and started pedaling.

Sarah and I began with a two mile uphill. At the top of Elk Mountain, we turned on to a rocky single track. The ride was technical with infant head sized rock gardens (no joke, this is the guidebook’s way of quantifying rock size), but then smoothed out into spectacular pine needle padded single track. The ride took us in and out of trillium filled meadows and up shady hills. We took a wrong turn at the end which dumped us out on the highway 8 miles from camp. The detour cause us to be late getting back and the guys were getting worried.

Their ride was the opposite in style to ours. Compared to our leisurely chatty tour, they rode fast and hard on what Geoff calls one of the 3 best rides in Idaho.  After a big uphill, the ride cruises next to a creek for 15 miles of curvy ups and downs. When they got to back to camp and we weren’t there, they started to wonder, but we pedaled up a ½ hour later none the worse for wear for our extra miles.

Once together again, we all stripped down to our swimsuits and dove into the lake to rinse off. For a mountain lake, Stanley isn’t too cold and we were able to cool off without actually freezing. By 3 o’clock, we packed up camp and parted ways. Geoff and Sarah had to head back to Boise, and Tim and I are on our way home to Jackson for the week. We stopped at our favorite spot in Arco (Idaho’s Atomic City, known for its proximity to the Idaho National Laboratory) for dinner. Pickles serves the delicious atomic burger with a side of fresh Idaho tater tots.  It’s the best way to end the day!