Trail Rider Magazine

26 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Solo riding is discouraged at the rally, so I went to the mee ng place for solo riders and found I was the solo, solo rider. No ma er, I'm comfortable riding alone, so I pointed the 890 to the blue Saint Joe River Loop. The first 10 miles paralleled I-90 westbound on various back roads and dirt roads, but just east of the Coeur d'Alene River the track headed south into the higher hills west of the Crys- tal Lake Wilderness area. Many miles followed winding up into the heavily logged hills un l the track reached an op onal spur for the Saint Joe Baldy Mountain Lookout. Of course I had to take the spur because who doesn't like a lookout on a beau ful day. The spur was relentlessly scenic, but the road was a lot of loose rip-rap, and you really needed to stay on the pegs and maintain momentum. A er enjoying the 360° view and munching down a cliff bar, it was me to head down. Nine miles and 2100' of southbound descent later, the track popped out by the St. Joe River, which we'd follow east to the town of Avery for almost 39 miles on a mix of asphalt, dirt roads, abandoned railroad grades, and even some trails. What this sec on lacked in challenge, it made up for with sheer beauty. You could look right down into the river and see dozens of trout swimming around the fly fishermen. I passed a few groups along this stretch and began to appreciate the low dust benefit of riding solo. In some of the drier stretches, the dust would hang. A er the Avery gas and grub stop, the route headed north on my favorite part of the day. Tight two-track winding up an impossibly steep, walled drainage where the GPS would occasionally lose satellite con- tact and start guessing. The occasional beaver dam kept things interes ng and knocked down dust for a few hundred feet. Some loose, rocky hills were also included to keep you on your toes and remind you that momentum is (most of the me) your friend. 24 miles later, I landed in Wallace, Idaho, and it was

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