My friend Brad called yesterday morning to see if I would be
interested in driving up to the Bogus Basin ski resort and riding the 2002
24 Hours Of Boise course. Neither of us had ridden this since last year
while training for the 2003 edition of the race, so we were both pretty
fired up. No race was held this year due to a number of circumstances.
The weather has been almost perfect the past week or so and today was no
different, maybe 75 when we started. Bogus is about 40 minutes from home, so
not too much time is wasted to get up there. This course is approximately 16
miles long and included lots of long steady climbs and some really fast
downhill. Throw in a few killer single track sections and you have one
beautiful course.
The course starts in front of the lower (Bogus Creek) lodge and heads up
the Bogus Creek Trail cat track to the bottom of chair 4 (Showcase) and then
we head up a mean little single track section that eventually connects up
with the Sunshine cat track. The trail is tight and has a few rocky sections
and always kicks my butt. No other part of this ride even comes close to
making me work so hard. Anyway we head up Sunshine to the top of chair 2
(Morning Star) and continue on the Lodge Cat track winding our way up and
eventually getting onto the Majestic run and finally we reach the top by
chair 3 (Superior). This part was mostly double track, but we do get to ride
a short section of single track as a treat. It is really hot in the sun but
very nice in the shaded sections. The foliage are all in Fall mode and the
colors are striking. Add to that the smells of sagebrush and pine trees and
clean air, wow this is nice!
We now have a long downhill section on the Cabin Traverse cat track
down to the top of the Upper Nugget run. This double track has lots of
little rocks, loose sand and washouts that keep you on your toes, cause you
can really get messed up if you get too cocky. One of the treats of this
ride is the Elk Meadow single track that goes from Upper Nugget and winds
it's way through a stand of Ponderosa pines. This trail brings us back
around the mountain under chair 6 (Pine Creek Express) and to right around
the top of Upper Paradise run. We are now back on the Majestic run and take
the switch back double track down and out of the ski area. We end up in the
Shaffer Butte campground and the beginning of my one of my favorite sections
of single track in the state, the Mores Mountain bike trail.
This baby has all kinds of treats on hand, tall water bars, rock
gardens, really tight single track and the decapitating tree. And when you
feel suicidal and take your eyes off of the trail, you have some really
awesome scenery. I read somewhere that this section is about 2 miles long,
but I am not too sure if that is true, all I know is ends way too soon. The
trail dumps you out on the Boise Front road so from here we head back around
Mores Mountain, a little bit of climbing, a little bit of descending until
we reach the Shaffer Butte campground turn-off. We climb this road back up
to the campground and back onto Majestic.
Since we are having such a great time Brad suggests that we forgo riding
one of the last sections of the 2002 course and head back up to ride the
main section of the 2003 course. The 2003 course was only 6+ miles in
length, but it was still a great course. So we climb Majestic back up to
Upper Paradise and yippy, back onto the Elk Meadow single track on over to
the top of Upper Nugget and the beginning of the next kick butt single
track.
This part of the ride was the main treat from the 2003 course and is
really tight, twisty and rutted. The switchbacks in some areas are almost
180 deg. and force you to come to a stall as you pivot the front wheel
around. There are a few really big root sections that you better be
committed to hit hard or you are going to hit the ground hard. This trail
intersects with the mean singletrack that we started on, so we have a choice
of heading down to the lodge or up to the top of chair 2 and completing the
2003 course. Even though we are pretty beat, we head up to chair 2.
When we get to the top, instead of continuing on up the cat track, we
now head down a trashed singletrack that drops below the tennis courts next
to the upper lodge (Pioneer) and condos. This trail has some bad erosion and
loose rocks and sand. Being by civilization there are quit a few people
hanging out so I decide to give them a show and go over the handlebars. I am
going to feel that for the next few days. We are now on the Smuggler run and
tear downhill until we turn onto the Snoozer run then climb back up and over
to the bottom of chair 5 (Bitterroot). Almost done. Now we get on to the
Nordic trail and follow this around the mountain back onto the Boise Front
road and to the car.
Right around 17 miles total. I got some nice rock rash, sunburn and
beautiful memories. We are thinking of coming back Thursday or Friday night
to do part of this with the lights and with the moon about full, it would be
fantastic.
Mike
Link Bogus Basin ski trails:
http://www.bogusbasin.com/index.php?page=maps.shtml