Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival coming up, plus some ideas on how to escape 100-degree blast furnace

Ride Sun Valley! 

Cool off at Lake Cascade State Park! 

Trinity Lakes 

Harriman State Park ... Mesa Falls is nearby! 

Loon Lake would be refreshing this time of year ... 

Hi all,

Well, the 4th of July is coming up next week, and extreme heat is descending on the Boise Valley after a nice respite of cool weather. Five days of 100-plus heat are forecast in the Boise area, beginning Friday. Geez! This week, I'll share some thoughts about where you could go to beat the heat, but first, I'll tout some events coming up.

The Ride Sun Valley Bike Fest kicks off on Friday with an enduro event and opening party at Sawtooth Brewery on Friday night, and then there is a full slate of events going on through next week that promise to please cyclists of all kinds.

The Ketchum-Sun Valley area will be a nice place to cool off as well. One event that looks fun is the SRAM Gold Rusch Tour, a series of mountain bike rides for women led by Sun Valley's own Rebecca Rusch, known as "the queen of pain." She's a three-time world-champion in mountain bike endurance events and four-time winner of the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. Reba's Ride Camp runs from July 2-7. There is no charge. Seems like an awesome opportunity.

On July 1-2, demo bikes are available from Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, Ellsworth and Scott, among others. The bikes are available at no charge to ride on Sun Valley's 400+ miles of singletrack from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Another great opportunity.

On Wednesday, July 3rd, there's a criterium race in Ketchum starting at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. That would be fun to watch! And from Monday, July 1 through Friday, July 5th, there are a bunch of "local stoker" rides on the creme de la creme of Sun Valley's singletrack trails. For folks who want to ride the best singletrack that Ketchum-Sun Valley has to offer, here's a chance to explore those rides with local ride leaders.

Next Saturday, July 6th, the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships will be held at Bald Mountain ... good chance to watch the strongest riders in the nation compete on the 45-mile course featuring over 5,000 feet of climbing and descending. Plus, there's the MASSV Music Fest on July 5 and 6 at the base of Bald Mountain.

I've got to tip my hat to the folks in the Ketchum-Sun Valley area for packing an incredible amount of fun, food and music into a week's worth of quality activities. If you're looking for lodging, check out the Visit Sun Valley web site for the best deals that fit your budget. You also could camp in the Sawooth National Recreation Area nearby.

Cool off in the Payette River and learn about river safety ... On Saturday, June 29, the Idaho Whitewater Association is hosting a safety clinic on the Main Payette River from Banks to Beehive Bend. Put-on the Main Payette between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Participate in clinics on boat-flipping (and flipping back over), first-aid and throw bag safety.

Here are a few recommendations for cool-off trips during the 4th of July week:

• Head up to Bogus Basin, where it's always 10-15 degrees cooler than it is in the valley, and go hiking or biking on tons of trails at the ski area or nearby in the Eastside, Stack Rock area. 
• Go camping in the Trinity Mountains near Prairie in the Boise National Forest. It's a high-elevation area with a number of high mountain lakes near the end of the road. 
• Head for Lake Cascade State Park in Cascade. Ponderosa State Park is likely booked for the whole holiday week, but Lake Cascade State Park will have some openings. The north unit of the park along Lake Cascade west of Donnelly has a number of nice campgrounds right on the shores of Lake Cascade. You can go canoeing or lake kayaking on the lake, bike the Crown Point Trail (great for kids and families), go tubing or kayaking at Kelly's Whitewater Park, or hike/ride the Eagle's Nest Trail (click on free download). 
• Go camping, hiking and biking in the Payette National Forest, north of McCall. Areas like Upper Payette Lake, Squaw Meadows, Burgdorf Hot Springs, Loon Lake and others will be much cooler than the Treasure Valley. Be sure to bring your bug juice as the mosquitoes will be out in force in the evening.  
• Go camping in Eastern Idaho, visit Harriman State Park and Mesa Falls or go fishing on the Henrys Fork or the South Fork of the Snake River. 
• Rent a cabin in the Boise or Payette national forest and dip your toes into a nearby creek. Go to recreation.gov to check on availability. The cabins are inexpensive and make a great base camp, especially with kids. 
• Go kayaking, rafting or canoeing on the Payette River. 
• Float the Boise River. 
• Go backpacking to a high mountain lake in the Sawtooths, White Clouds, Boise National Forest, Payette National Forest, Sawtooth NRA or Frank Church-River of Return Wilderness. Go swimming in the high mountain lake ... it'll be refreshing, I guarantee it. 
• Escape to the Oregon Coast. 
• Head up to Priest Lake or Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho. 
• Go Ice Skating at Idaho Ice World. Ha! That'll keep you cool. 

There you have it!
- SS 

Don't miss several must-see paddling, mountain biking events coming up in the next 10 days

National Cross-Country Mountain Biking Championships at Sun Valley (courtesy USA Cycling)

Hi all,

For this week's outdoor tip, I'm highlighting several must-see events coming up in the next 10 days, and suggesting some side trip activities that you can enjoy as well.

On Thursday night, June 28, the new Boise River Whitewater Park will be dedicated from 5-7 p.m., with a few speeches and paddling demonstrations. In this video from KTVB-TV Channel 7, you can watch Emily Dickerson from Idaho River Sports kayak on the main play wave.




Idaho River Sports will be having a paddler's-only raffle for all participants who register and then show up with their boats and SUPs to paddle at the event. No purchase is necessary. IRS is hosting a reception after the dedication is over. There will be free food and Payette Brewing will be serving beer. It's supposed to be a warm evening. Should be a perfect spot to hang out with some of your paddling friends.

The new wave-shaper gizmo that the Boise Parks & Recreation Department had installed in the Boise River is just the first phase of the whitewater park. A second phase for flatwater paddlers will involve tying together Quinn's Pond with two other ponds located nearby as part of the new Esther Simplot Park. That will allow people to peacefully canoe or kayak in the ponds and waterways and paddle a full circuit between the ponds. Given how popular Quinn's Pond has become, when they tie together the other ponds, it will become even more popular, and it will create an extensive stillwater paddling experience for canoeing and flatwater enthusiasts that doesn't really exist anywhere in the valley today.
I'm looking forward to that.

Next weekend, Kelly's Whitewater Park in Cascade will host the Ford USACK National Championship, which is a kayak freestyle event. The preliminary heats run on Saturday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, July 8 from 10 a.m. to noon for the championships. The nation's best freestyle paddlers will be there. It should be quite a hoot to watch them do cartwheels, spins and flips in the middle of a frothing play wave. It's easy to watch because there's a new pathway along the Payette River called The Strand. At 5 p.m. on July 7, Muzzie and Billy Braun will play a free concert, and that will be followed by fireworks. That all sounds like heaps of fun.

If you'd like to get some exercise while you're hanging out in Cascade, check out some of these hiking and biking destinations, including Eagle's Nest Loop, an advanced 13-mile mountain bike ride or the Crown Point Trail, a 6-mile out-and-back beautiful trail along Lake Cascade (great for families and kids). You can go biking and swimming on the same trip. I've heard that the Boise National Forest has built a new trail in the Stolle Meadows area, near Warm Lake, but I have yet to hike it or ride it. Check with the Cascade Ranger District for more details, 382-7400.

If you're more inclined toward mountain biking than paddle sports, the National Mountain Bike Cross-Country Championships will be held July 5-8 in Sun Valley. The Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce puts on a number of recreational rides for us average joe's leading up to the event as part of Ride Sun Valley, and that's a great way to try out some new trails that you may have not experienced before in the Wood River Valley. Check out the whole schedule ... things start happening on Saturday, June 30, and continue through the following week.

In case you haven't heard, you could compete for the Sun Valley All Mountain crown between Saturday and Tuesday, by winning the Galena Grinder xc race, the Super Duper Downhill at Bald Mountain, and the Fat Tire Criterium. Whew! Whoever wins that one is a real stud!

Here's one date to remember ... July 28th is the date for the 4 Summit Challenge in Cascade, a bike race and recreational ride from Cascade to Landmark and back. The ride features approximately 7,500 vertical feet of climbing and descending over 75 miles. Need an incentive to train? There you have it! There's also a family fun ride (less than 10 miles).


Have fun! I'm heading out on the Main Salmon for a week of vacation. You'll hear all about it after I get back.
-- SS