Spruce Lake Mountain Bike

Saturday. Get up, get dressed and wait for a friend's pick up to pull into my driveway to take us to the start of the trail up to Spruce Lake. I had never been there before, but the local guys that I go ski touring with are avid mountain bikers and asked if I would like to join them on a full day ride. Yes please!

It took us about seven hours round trip, peddling and pushing our bikes up the mountain, stopping in the fields that will be ripe with wildflower in the coming weeks, walking through snow at the top to look at the lake and then riding downhill. I even went swimming! Apparently there was ice on the lake last weekend, but I love swimming in cold water and couldn't resist the urge to dip in after all the uphill riding. It was like an instant full-body ice pack, and if the entry into the lake wasn't so marshy (the snow was deep, so we didn't feel like trudging through it for another thirty minutes to get me better swimming access) I would have jumped in again!

Spruce Lake. There are a couple of cabins on the opposite shore. When the snow is off the trail at the top it will be easier to bike around and get a better view of the lake.

Grizzly tracks that were in the mud and snow up the trail. This picture doesn't really do the print justice. The paw print was about six inches across!

The ride was awesome, although I had a couple of very minor wipe-outs (I was busy looking around at the scenery and rode off the single-track trail once, among other things). I walked some of the trickier stuff as well, which is common practice for me as a new biker. My thinking is that I have two legs that work great, and I love hiking, so why not use my feet instead of risking life and limb to ride over obstacles I am not comfortable with.

 Looking down the trail on the ride downhill.

Looking up the trail.

I was more interested in taking in the scenery with my own eyes rather than snapping pictures, but I did manage to take a couple of shots during the ride. I'll be up here again, I'm sure, when the wildflowers are out in full bloom, and I'll certainly be stopping for more pictures then.

Here's an action shot of me looking all pro while riding through a criver (creek/river). What you don't see is me putting my foot down to re-soaker it right after this pic was taken. I had soakers for most of the ride after a double foot dip in the first criver we crossed. It was actually refreshing to have wet feet all day, because the sun was shining and it was HOT!