Burned up forests and Idaho bike trip planning

[Dirtyhip]

So, I was down in a rabbit hole loking for ride zones in ID. I found this blog. 

Biking 150 miles of the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route | Visit Idaho

As I read her stuff I saw this pic.  Yeah, all those dead trees are burn scars.  We are seeing mass die offs and fires that destroy so much forest.  This pic reminds me of the massive scars that we saw as we drove around the West coast last summer.

This is not normal and it really sucks.  

I think Coeur d' Alene would be a nice area to see.  Not bike packing, but MTB day trips and living in the Van.

[shootingstar]

42 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

So, I was down in a rabbit hole loking for ride zones in ID. I found this blog. 

Biking 150 miles of the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route | Visit Idaho

As I read her stuff I saw this pic.  Yeah, all those dead trees are burn scars.  We are seeing mass die offs and fires that destroy so much forest.  This pic reminds me of the massive scars that we saw as we drove around the West coast last summer.

This is not normal and it really sucks.  

I think Coeur d' Alene would be a nice area to see.  Not bike packing, but MTB day trips and living in the Van.

It is distressing to bike through a burnt out wilderness forest area. Especially if it's a longer ride. I know Nature heals....but it takes a very long time for forests to regenerate.

[ChrisL]

28 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

So, I was down in a rabbit hole loking for ride zones in ID. I found this blog. 

Biking 150 miles of the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route | Visit Idaho

As I read her stuff I saw this pic.  Yeah, all those dead trees are burn scars.  We are seeing mass die offs and fires that destroy so much forest.  This pic reminds me of the massive scars that we saw as we drove around the West coast last summer.

This is not normal and it really sucks.  

I think Coeur d' Alene would be a nice area to see.  Not bike packing, but MTB day trips and living in the Van.

I think it’s the new normal.  Burn scars are the norm out here but it’s brush, not trees so within a few years you can hardly tell. 

[dinneR ★]

I ride through a burn all the time. This was Sunday. 

[jdc2000]

4 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

I think Coeur d' Alene would be a nice area to see.  Not bike packing, but MTB day trips and living in the Van.

The Route of the Hiawatha (with an extended ride into Avery and back), and the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes should be on your list.  The Centennial Trail is also a possibility.  A visit to Wallace to check out the historic buildings and the railroad depot museum would also be worthwhile.

 

[Dottleshead ★]

No it's not normal.  The whole thing is abnormal.  Most of the folks in here don't live out West and probably don't even know what the hell a glacier is or why it's even important. I just heard on the news yesterday that Mt. Rainier is losing it's glaciers at a rate of 3 feet every ten days.  Do the math (hmmm.... maybe this is the problem?).  It stands at about 14,400 ft and the glaciers starting point isn't on ground zero. Also I just heard that it's being reported that the ice sheet in Antarctica is going to melt in the next century and there's nothing anyone can do about it.  No matter what we do now, it's going to melt.  It is not reversible and they say when this happens the ocean levels will rise roughly ten feet.  Miami's going to be another Venice.  Good luck trying to convince the myopic views in this forum and around the country. You're wasting your time.  They don't really give a shit because deep down they know they will be dead before the really difficult choices will need to be made and they won't really have to deal with it.. And if they happen to be alive, watch them bait and switch and tell you and all their friends that they always believed in GW from the beginning.  It's important to look good and protect the ego in dire consequences.  Somebody in the universe might actually be keeping score you know.  So I say relax.  Climate change is far too big of a problem for us minions to solve and nobody is going to take it serious anyway until the water supplies are short and the food supply suffers -- and maybe rampant skin cancer.. 

I say enjoy your bike rides now and forget the rest.  You're alive and you'll be dead later one way or another. We all will.  You can't change people's minds and yet you can't do anything without them.  But by the time those stalwarts come around, it'll be too late.  If they don't give a shit, then why should you?  It's kind of like when an airplane is going down. You can scream and holler in fear -- maybe smash the face of the passenger next to you -- or you can simply take a deep breath, sit in silence,  maybe meditate, and accept your fate.  Screaming and hollering isn't going to change anything. The plane is going down.

I personally don't care what folks think about it.  I don't care what they think about what I think about it. Get that?. Because on this matter, it's all moot.

P.S. You might look into mtb rides in Canada.  I think at some point, there may be a big migration to the Great White North.  Heh.  Mhhahahahaaha.  I said "great white north".  Muahahahahahahah.  Muahahahahahahah. Muahahahahahahaaahhah.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 hours ago, jdc2000 said:

The Route of the Hiawatha (with an extended ride into Avery and back), and the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes should be on your list.  The Centennial Trail is also a possibility.  A visit to Wallace to check out the historic buildings and the railroad depot museum would also be worthwhile.

Yeah, I've done all these and they are great rides.  I've done them multiple times and wife and I are thinking about doing them again.  I know @Dirtyhip is a mtb rider so these may not be up here alley but I'm sure jdc, you can suggest many great places out where you live.

[Wilbur ★]

2 hours ago, Dottleshead said:

No it's not normal.  The whole thing is abnormal.  Most of the folks in here don't live out West and probably don't even know what the hell a glacier is or why it's even important. I just heard on the news yesterday that Mt. Rainier is losing it's glaciers at a rate of 3 feet every ten days.  Do the math (hmmm.... maybe this is the problem?).  It stands at about 14,400 ft and the glaciers starting point isn't on ground zero. Also I just heard that it's being reported that the ice sheet in Antarctica is going to melt in the next century and there's nothing anyone can do about it.  No matter what we do now, it's going to melt.  It is not reversible and they say when this happens the ocean levels will rise roughly ten feet.  Miami's going to be another Venice.  Good luck trying to convince the myopic views in this forum and around the country. You're wasting your time.  They don't really give a shit because deep down they know they will be dead before the really difficult choices will need to be made and they won't really have to deal with it.. And if they happen to be alive, watch them bait and switch and tell you and all their friends that they always believed in GW from the beginning.  It's important to look good and protect the ego in dire consequences.  Somebody in the universe might actually be keeping score you know.  So I say relax.  Climate change is far too big of a problem for us minions to solve and nobody is going to take it serious anyway until the water supplies are short and the food supply suffers -- and maybe rampant skin cancer.. 

I say enjoy your bike rides now and forget the rest.  You're alive and you'll be dead later one way or another. We all will.  You can't change people's minds and yet you can't do anything without them.  But by the time those stalwarts come around, it'll be too late.  If they don't give a shit, then why should you?  It's kind of like when an airplane is going down. You can scream and holler in fear -- maybe smash the face of the passenger next to you -- or you can simply take a deep breath, sit in silence,  maybe meditate, and accept your fate.  Screaming and hollering isn't going to change anything. The plane is going down.

I personally don't care what folks think about it.  I don't care what they think about what I think about it. Get that?. Because on this matter, it's all moot.

P.S. You might look into mtb rides in Canada.  I think at some point, there may be a big migration to the Great White North.  Heh.  Mhhahahahaaha.  I said "great white north".  Muahahahahahahah.  Muahahahahahahah. Muahahahahahahaaahhah.

With all that melting, scientists are sure to find the remains of things that were around during the last big freeze cycle.  BTW, this doesn't happen overnight.  I am very sure coastal cities and towns will migrate to higher land as water levels rise.  It is hard to take seriously when the biggest polluters are complaining because of their 2050 targets.  I don't deny climate change but there is not much we can do to change the current cycle.   Taxing people into starvation and homelessness isn't the answer for sure. 

[Longjohn ★]

4 hours ago, Dottleshead said:

Miami's going to be another Venice

Start building your gondolas now. Avoid the rush.

[Dirtyhip]

4 hours ago, Dottleshead said:

No it's not normal.  The whole thing is abnormal.  Most of the folks in here don't live out West and probably don't even know what the hell a glacier is or why it's even important. I just heard on the news yesterday that Mt. Rainier is losing it's glaciers at a rate of 3 feet every ten days.  Do the math (hmmm.... maybe this is the problem?).  It stands at about 14,400 ft and the glaciers starting point isn't on ground zero. Also I just heard that it's being reported that the ice sheet in Antarctica is going to melt in the next century and there's nothing anyone can do about it.  No matter what we do now, it's going to melt.  It is not reversible and they say when this happens the ocean levels will rise roughly ten feet.  Miami's going to be another Venice.  Good luck trying to convince the myopic views in this forum and around the country. You're wasting your time.  They don't really give a shit because deep down they know they will be dead before the really difficult choices will need to be made and they won't really have to deal with it.. And if they happen to be alive, watch them bait and switch and tell you and all their friends that they always believed in GW from the beginning.  It's important to look good and protect the ego in dire consequences.  Somebody in the universe might actually be keeping score you know.  So I say relax.  Climate change is far too big of a problem for us minions to solve and nobody is going to take it serious anyway until the water supplies are short and the food supply suffers -- and maybe rampant skin cancer.. 

I say enjoy your bike rides now and forget the rest.  You're alive and you'll be dead later one way or another. We all will.  You can't change people's minds and yet you can't do anything without them.  But by the time those stalwarts come around, it'll be too late.  If they don't give a shit, then why should you?  It's kind of like when an airplane is going down. You can scream and holler in fear -- maybe smash the face of the passenger next to you -- or you can simply take a deep breath, sit in silence,  maybe meditate, and accept your fate.  Screaming and hollering isn't going to change anything. The plane is going down.

I personally don't care what folks think about it.  I don't care what they think about what I think about it. Get that?. Because on this matter, it's all moot.

P.S. You might look into mtb rides in Canada.  I think at some point, there may be a big migration to the Great White North.  Heh.  Mhhahahahaaha.  I said "great white north".  Muahahahahahahah.  Muahahahahahahah. Muahahahahahahaaahhah.

Food security and water is already a problem.  

 

2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

With all that melting, scientists are sure to find the remains of things that were around during the last big freeze cycle.  BTW, this doesn't happen overnight.  I am very sure coastal cities and towns will migrate to higher land as water levels rise.  It is hard to take seriously when the biggest polluters are complaining because of their 2050 targets.  I don't deny climate change but there is not much we can do to change the current cycle.   Taxing people into starvation and homelessness isn't the answer for sure. 

I don't believe taxes are going to buy our way out of this problem.  

I know one way to help end the homeless problem, but you won't like my idea.

4 hours ago, Dottleshead said:

Yeah, I've done all these and they are great rides.  I've done them multiple times and wife and I are thinking about doing them again.  I know @Dirtyhip is a mtb rider so these may not be up here alley but I'm sure jdc, you can suggest many great places out where you live.

Correct, singletrack is what I am seeking.  Big berms and some terrain features.   I want to see some of the pan handle.  

[Dirtyhip]

10 hours ago, dinneR said:

I ride through a burn all the time. This was Sunday. 

Sorry to see this.  .  

I bet @Wilbur sees what states have really severe scars and burn damage.  I bet he also can see the Oregon larch trees smiley face right now in Northern Oregon.  I think they still stand.  

[Wilbur ★]

10 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I know one way to help end the homeless problem, but you won't like my idea.

I like all new ideas.  Nobody has thought of everything. 

[Wilbur ★]

18 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Sorry to see this.  .  

I bet @Wilbur sees what states have really severe scars and burn damage.  I bet he also can see the Oregon larch trees smiley face right now in Northern Oregon.  I think they still stand.  

I feel bad for wildlife, not trees.   Whether it be clearcutting or fire, the scars are huge but well-managed forests recover quite quickly.  By "quickly" I mean 30 - 50 years.  The fires in BC and Alberta are largely due to poor forest management.  The one thing people forget is that trees are a crop.  They are slow-growing but a crop nonetheless.  If we approach it that way, we would take better care of that crop.  I don't know any farmers who just abandon the dead corn crop in the fields in hope of healthy returns in following years yet, that is how we treat the forests. 

[Wilbur ★]

43 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Start building your gondolas now. Avoid the rush.

We are now all old enough to remember the move to plastic to "Save the Trees".  Now, we are banning plastic in favor of wood products to save the world.  One BS crisis after another. Better to build your gondola from carbon fiber... er.. wait... bloody carbon..   

[Dirtyhip]

9 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I like all new ideas.  Nobody has thought of everything. 

Tax the extremely rich more.  I am talking billionaires. 

10 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I feel bad for wildlife, not trees.   Whether it be clearcutting or fire, the scars are huge but well-managed forests recover quite quickly.  By "quickly" I mean 30 - 50 years.  The fires in BC and Alberta are largely due to poor forest management.  

I think from the ground up.  All of that flora is here for the fauna. I see growth and I think of life that begins with a bug.

[dinneR ★]

23 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Sorry to see this.  .  

I bet @Wilbur sees what states have really severe scars and burn damage.  I bet he also can see the Oregon larch trees smiley face right now in Northern Oregon.  I think they still stand.  

I'm not sorry. Some fire is natural. I believe this was caused by a lightning strike. At the height of summer, the wildflowers are beautiful. It has created a natural firebreak for the town.

[Dirtyhip]

4 minutes ago, dinneR said:

I'm not sorry. Some fire is natural. I believe this was caused by a lightning strike. At the height of summer, the wildflowers are beautiful. It has created a natural firebreak for the town.

A break for the town is good.  I get a bit sensitive to the fires here.  I hate when it burns my facorite places.  

With the drier climate, some are not re-generating. Scrub overtakes the land.

[dinneR ★]

17 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

A break for the town is good.  I get a bit sensitive to the fires here.  I hate when it burns my facorite places.  

With the drier climate, some are not re-generating. Scrub overtakes the land.

It's not all bad.

https://www.patagonia.com/stories/remember-to-breathe/story-142912.html

[Wilbur ★]

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

Tax the extremely rich more.  I am talking billionaires. 

That is a nice idea but it is proven not to work.  The reason is, that money isn't fixed in place.  If we put an unreasonable burden on wealth, the wealth leaves.  The people may stay, but their assets will be moved to a more favorable environment.  This is why states give tax incentives when trying to attract wealth or business. 

 

[Dirtyhip]

Just now, Wilbur said:

That is a nice idea but it is proven not to work.  The reason is, that money isn't fixed in place.  If we put an unreasonable burden on wealth, the wealth leaves.  The people may stay, but their assets will be moved to a more favorable environment.  This is why states give tax incentives when trying to attract wealth or business. 

 I do not understand the mentality of such greedy behavior.  

[dinneR ★]

11 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

That is a nice idea but it is proven not to work.  The reason is, that money isn't fixed in place.  If we put an unreasonable burden on wealth, the wealth leaves.  The people may stay, but their assets will be moved to a more favorable environment.  This is why states give tax incentives when trying to attract wealth or business. 

Tax rates in the 90s were much higher than they are now and our economy did just fine.

I see the results of no income tax locally. It is not good.

[Dirtyhip]

Just now, dinneR said:

Tax rates in the 90s were much higher than they are now and our economy did just fine.

I see the results of no income tax locally. It is not good.

Auto workers could afford a home, and to retire when they were old and broken 40 years ago.  The economy was fine. 

Greed overtook common decency.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Food security and water is already a problem.  

I don't believe taxes are going to buy our way out of this problem.  

I know one way to help end the homeless problem, but you won't like my idea.

Correct, singletrack is what I am seeking.  Big berms and some terrain features.   I want to see some of the pan handle.  

They have some decent places out of McCall. And plenty in Sun Valley.

[Wilbur ★]

4 minutes ago, dinneR said:

Tax rates in the 90s were much higher than they are now and our economy did just fine.

I see the results of no income tax locally. It is not good.

But manufacturing left.  Hello, China!  Lower wages, lower taxes.  There is a drain happening in Canada right now.  The wealthy are moving assets offshore and opening new headquarters in places like Barbados.  Why did every pharma company re-register in low-tax states?  The government tried to stop that drain by blocking foreign made drugs so the companies left manufacturing in the US and Canada but moved their sales and Financial headquarters offshore.  When you get greedy at the tax collection end, they find a way around it. 

My boss is the only billionaire I know that has left everything in Canada and proudly pays taxes accordingly.  He still uses the tax code to his full advantage though. 

[Dirtyhip]

7 minutes ago, Dottleshead said:

They have some decent places out of McCall. And plenty in Sun Valley.

Sun Valley!  That is a good idea.  

https://www.mtbproject.com/photo/7026687/mountain-biking-at-sun-valleys-bald-mountain

 

[Dottleshead ★]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

Sun Valley!  That is a good idea.  

https://www.mtbproject.com/photo/7026687/mountain-biking-at-sun-valleys-bald-mountain

That’s where I first road mountain bikes for the first time. I loved it so much I went out and bought a bike. There are endless tracks

[Dirtyhip]

2 minutes ago, Dottleshead said:

That’s where I first road mountain bikes for the first time. I loved it so much I went out and bought a bike. There are endless tracks

The pics look nice too.  This state is so close and I haven't done anything in there.

[Dottleshead ★]

3 hours ago, Longjohn said:

Start building your gondolas now. Avoid the rush.

So typical of you conservatives. Closet spenders! We don’t need no stinking gondolas… we need boats!  Besides isn’t the largest hill in FLA like 6 feet?! Asking for a friend.

[Randomguy]

I used to mountainbike on one particular section of the Colorado Trail, and it all burned.  It was weird at first, but it changed every time I went back out and rode it.  Just part of a cycle.

Anyway, it does seem normal to me that forests burn and bounce back over time.  The only weird thing seems to be how many forest fires there are now.

[Randomguy]

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

That is a nice idea but it is proven not to work.  The reason is, that money isn't fixed in place.  If we put an unreasonable burden on wealth, the wealth leaves.  The people may stay, but their assets will be moved to a more favorable environment.  This is why states give tax incentives when trying to attract wealth or business. 

So what, just don't tax billionaires?  That is no kind of solution, tax those fuckers.    Let them leave and try to hide assets, and fine the everloving crap out of them, the entire amount they are trying to offshore illegally.  We can leverage the world, but throw our hands up in the air when our dumbest and most malevolent "leaders" actively work to reduce taxes on the rich?  And the dumbest bastards want him back in?  We are a shit country because of past shit leadership and profiteering and dumb people without backbone allowing the whole farce to go on.

At any rate, let them leave and go where?  I really don't care, billionaires are not the glue holding society together, and I have seen no evidence suggesting that they are somehow better to have in-country.  Let the whiners go away.

[jdc2000]

11 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Correct, singletrack is what I am seeking.  Big berms and some terrain features.

There is Silver Mountain bike park also.

https://www.silvermt.com/index.php/mountain/bike-park

The rail trails should not be overlooked though.

The 2011 and 2012 USA Cycling MTB Nationals were at Sun Valley.  There are plenty of nice trails in that area, although many have some burned areas.

 

[Bikeguy]

12 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Tax the extremely rich more.  I am talking billionaires. 

Yeah... like our states governor JB Pritzker (and the others) will let that happen.  He's the 3rd richest person in our state.  And there are 3 other Pritzkers on the list of 17 billionaires in our state. 

We are just doomed... 

Kind of reminds me of medieval times when the kings and nobility had all of the wealth.  And the peasants (that would be us) just barely survived. 

[Dirtyhip]

51 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

Yeah... like our states governor JB Pritzker (and the others) will let that happen.  He's the 3rd richest person in our state.  And there are 3 other Pritzkers on the list of 17 billionaires in our state. 

We are just doomed... 

Kind of reminds me of medieval times when the kings and nobility had all of the wealth.  And the peasants (that would be us) just barley survived. 

I honestly fear what might come someday.  That kind of uglyness is terrifying.

[Wilbur ★]

1 hour ago, Bikeguy said:

Kind of reminds me of medieval times when the kings and nobility had all of the wealth.  And the peasants (that would be us) just barely survived.

This is what I was mentioning earlier but you know, the messenger. It came to an end with the Edwardians.   My great-grandfather was a lamp lighter in Buckingham Palace.  It doesn't seem like much of an occupation but I guess candles were many.  That era is when the nobles were losing hereditary wealth and the peasants were moving into occupations that would pay well by the standard of the day.  It is also the reason many moved to North America for employment and business opportunity. 

[dinneR ★]

11 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Sun Valley!  That is a good idea.  

https://www.mtbproject.com/photo/7026687/mountain-biking-at-sun-valleys-bald-mountain

We rode in Sun Valley this spring. Bald Mt is a big climb. Riding in Haley was awesome.

[Dottleshead ★]

Yeah, we stayed in Bellevue and stopped in Haley for some chow.  A lot of trails around there that we did not have time to explore.  TBH, I wanted to ride the paved river trail from Bellevue to Sun Valley mountain resort.  But I remember seeing plenty of advertising for the Haley trails @dinneR mentions.  I would think you could have a lot of fun exploring that area with your bike. It's all within 20-30 miles if I recall correctly. 

[Dottleshead ★]

As mentioned, my wife and I rented mountain bikes in McCall and had a lot of fun. There was a lot we didn't explore.

https://visitmccall.org/things-to-do/activity/mountain-biking-in-mccall/