Back to 100 in Hell

I just got back from a longish visit with the many friends and family we have in Montana and North Dakota...I had a great time but was kind of a whirlwind tour. Spent some time on the Sperry Horse Ranch (wife's cousins) who have over one-hundred horses. The Sperrys are 100% pure country...they are true and some of the best people I have ever known. It was amazing that so many of the people out there were coming up with places for me to ride a bike, but I didn't bring a bike on this trip. Instead I rode many horses...that's not a typo - I have a horse-crazed wife who owns 6-horses and my past is loaded with a fair amount of horse riding and training...yep I have a soft-spot for horses too.

I came home disappointed that nothing has changed...the Idaho redneck Hickabillies still think it's fun to run me down with their monster trucks (2 times on this ride these Idaho butt-winks forced me to the very edge of the road - an this was in Washington)...beyond that, the L-C Valley still smells like Hell, looks like Hell, and is hot as Hell. With the 100+ temps I am convinced this demonic place is truly the Gateway to Hell (just like they proudly advertise here).

With the sub-inferno temps further parching the already ultracrispy-ready-for-a-massive-friggin-fire-sun-bleached landscape I ventured out to higher cooler ground.

I drove to the Asotin Creek Trailhead in the Subi...yeah I shamefully drove the 20ish miles of treeless-hot-convection-oven-canyon that I normally ride...believe me it was worth the gas for the ride through the cool forest that waited.

The scenery is almost fall-like up near the trailhead...I typically don't see this kind of color until the latter part of August (early fall)...just another indicator of how crispy-dry it is out there.

I rode up another new route around Cape Horn that I have been wanting to explore.

Hmmm...looks like I found the Dead-Horse Trail ....

A few bighorns keeping watch on a very hot slope (can you say "stooopid")

At the 5100-feet elevation only a few flowers are left to provide some happy color to the dry bleakness...