Grey Ridge

Spent the day with some old friends cruising around the alpine on Grey Ridge.

New Frame

The last frame I built before I sold off my frame building tooling was this 29er frame and fork, with eccentric BB so that I can run it single speed or geared.  I had Toxic Design Lab in Vancouver paint both the frame and fork.

Finally got it built up and off on the trails.  Rides sweet.

Mt. Perkins

Yet another gem in the Whitehorse area that sees no traffic, even though its right next to one of the most poplular hikes in the Whitehorse Hikes and Bikes guide.
Over the last month, we have had some friends from NZ staying with us at various times as they flew into and climbed Mt. Logan.
The last two, Mark and Chris from Queenstown, had a couple of days to kill before flying back to NZ, so we went out to the cabin on Friday night, enjoyed a lovely warm summer evening, then bagged Mt Perkins the following day.
Swims and home made pizza on the deck followed.

Another picture perfect Yukon evening

Heading up



Still lots of snow in the alpine



Gazing into the coast range

Kona wanting to herd Dall sheep



Looking down towards Needle mountain



Another FatBike

Not so long ago, I was building a few bike frames.  It was fun, and satisfied a creative itch (not to mention trying something I had always wanted to try).  However, the market for Steel hardtails in Canada is pretty slim, so I sold all my frame building tooling to Russ from Portland.
Recently, he sent me a shot of his just completed winter bike based around 160mm Chris King hubs.
At the time, I had a dummy axle made for building around a 160 CK, as it seemed like the way to go, but now that more companies are going 170mm (like Salsa and Phil Wood) it might make more sense to head over to the 170mm axle.
Regardless, Russ did a bang up job on it.  I'm trying to get him to build me one for next winter.

The Rose Lake Loop, Finally!

Warning.  Picture heavy!

After a couple years of waiting, the conditions finally came together to consider riding the whole loop from Fish lake out to Rose lake, then back out down the Watson river trail to the Annie lake road.

Ideally you have :

1. Warm days and cool nights
2. Several weeks of no snow
3. Enough traffic on both trails for a firm trail.

Well, this past weekend, conditions seemed ideal, so 7AM Saturday morning found me loading the Pugsley at Fish lake and casting off.

It was a cool start, but the conditions on the lake were absolutely perfect.

Leaving the lake is always the big question; how is the trail?  Well, it was bomber.  The cold night really locked it up, and the high pressure system promised a cool day, perfect for solid trails.



Cruising along near Ibex mountain



Passed some dog sledders breaking camp, who gave me the Euro stink eye.  Perhaps a bike cruising by their camp ruined the "extreme-ness" of it all?

Looking towards Mud lake



It was still pretty cold



Looking down the Rose creek valley

The trail stayed great, but where it went though willow flats, it was starting to rot out.

Overflow, bummer!!!!

In the meadows, with the easily recognizable Rose mountain to the right.

Heading down through the burn to the lake.  Good times!!

The snow stayed firm right to the lake, making for a fun 500' descent through the old burn.

Finally!!

Arrived at the cabin at 1:30.  Above zero, sunny.  Good time to relax for a while.

Fired up the wood stove, drank tea, read the old magazines, snoozed.

Up at 5:30 the next morning and off by 6:30 to take adavantage of the firm snow.  The weather had deteriorated over the night, and it was socking in and blowing by the time I reached the meadows, so I decided to head out the Watson trail to avoid the exposed, above timberline Fish lake route.  Glad I did, as it makes a satisfying loop.

Some BIG wolf tracks over my tracks from yesterday

The Watson river trail was in A-1 shape, and I was able to fly out, arriving at the Annie lake road 5 hours after leaving the cabin.

Its all downhill from here.
The head of the Watson river.

The great thing about coming out the Watson river is once you are over the pass, its all downhill.

Things are breaking up

Fuel!

Its ~61Km into the cabin from Fish lake, and about 58Km out the Watson.

Worth The Wait

Last week, a couple of friends and I snowmobiled into a remote lake and cabin in the Southern Lakes area.
When we came out on Friday, I made a mental note of how good a condition the trail was in, and Saturday loaded up the Pugs for a trip back up the same trail.
It was fantastic.  Easily the best winter bike ride I have ever been on.  The trail was rock solid, winding up the river valley for 30 miles or so before cresting a divide and dropping down to the lake.
I only went about 25 miles up or so before turning around.
Its a great ride, moving through Spruce forest before entering lovely Aspen forests, then dropping down to wind through the river flats.

Ended up back at our cabin after a great 6 hour ride.


Making Trail



Lots Of Snow Out There







Breakfast At The Cabin