Sign up to ride Barking Spider Saturday in Owyhees, Pond Skimming, Greenbelt closures

Riding down that singletrack canyon on Barking Spider course. 

You won't find a trail quite like this in the Boise Foothills! Go to the Owyhees! 

Pond Skimming at Brundage is happening on Saturday! 

Yeah baby! 

Hi all,

The Wild Rockies Racing Series is hosting the annual Barking Spider mountain bike cross-country race out by Hemingway Butte OHV Park near Murphy on Saturday, April 8th. This is a great opportunity to get your legs tuned up for the mountain bike season on a cool xc singletrack course of approximately 9.5 miles per lap.

I featured the Barking Spider course in my Owyhee Canyonlands hiking, biking and camping guide because I just loved the course, particularly the fun downhill in an enclosed singletrack canyon. It's really cool riding downhill in that canyon. Check out Darren Lightfield's video ...

Darren Lightfield, the guy that makes
it all happen for Wild Rockies 

Pre-registration is encouraged! Even if you're not really into the racing scene, I highly recommend the ride. It's good to know about, and it's something you'll come back to ride again and again.

The weather doesn't look great in Boise on Saturday, but the forecast for Murphy is saying only a 20 percent chance of rain out by the course. The course is quite sandy, so it can handle some moisture, unless it really comes down. Give it a whirl!

The Wild Rockies Race Series has been a happening scene for a long time. They offer downhill races, cross-country mountain bike races, running events and triathlon events. People who participate are in incredibly great shape, and they stay in great shape, knowing they have to be ready for the next race!

Saturday looks to be a fun day at Brundage Mountain Resort for their annual Pond-Skimming event, beer relay race, poker run and costume party. The weather looks favorable for the day as the temperature will drop to 21 in McCall Friday night, and the forecast calls for 100 percent chance of snow at Brundage on Saturday for the end-of-sesaon festivities. Sunday will the last day of daily operations, and there's a bonus ski day planned for Saturday April 15th.

In other outdoor news,

The Idaho Statesman has been tracking Greenbelt closures. With the Boise River running 8,000+ cfs on a continuing basis, and potentially higher, the high water is causing a great deal of erosion on the river bank, and it even required the removal of a pedestrian bridge tying together the Plantation greenbelt area with the Garden City greenbelt near Les Bois Park. Mayor Bieter is recommending that people stay off the Greenbelt.

But if you're wondering what part of the Greenbelt is still safely rideable, you can still use the Greenbelt between Bown Crossing and Lucky Peak, and other shorter sections. The Statesman put together a great map of the closure areas (shown in red) and open areas (shown in green).

A group running Pair of Dice Rapids on the Murtaugh section of the Mid-Snake River ... Photo by Rob Lesser 

I wrote a wide-ranging story recently for the Twin Falls Times-News about running Idaho rivers this year because of bountiful snowpack, which will mean longer seasons for the desert rivers, and much more high water and long seasons than usual in the mountain rivers. Here's a link to the article. The title is, "If there ever was a year for whitewater rafting in Idaho, this is the one!" Make your plans now to enjoy a great river season!

Have fun!
- SS