Taco Fest 2011: Ketchum, Idaho

For the 4th of July I met up with a bunch of friends and family to hang out and ride for about a week. Some I have not seen for some years now....Unfortunately my wife, Molly, was unable to make it! Next time though. It has been two years since the first Taco Fest in Vernal, UT. This year we met up in Ketchum, ID and the turnout could not have been better. My brother and his wife came all the way from MN, they have been going to this area for a few years now over the 4th of July to get some big adventure rides in and to hang out. Old neighbors and long time friends from Duluth, Martin and Lexi, who now live in Bozeman, MT came as well as one of their neighbors....And a Salt Lake City contingency made a showing too; Dave Stenehjem, Jay Beyer, and their nephew Judd...Hope you enjoy the shots as most of them came from Jay, he is an amazing person and an impressive photographer..Check out his website at www.jaybeyer.com.   Cheers to good friends, mountain biking, and beautiful areas of our country..

The back of my Taco with 3 Specialized Carbon Enduro's and 1 Camber...A beautiful ass end of a truck!!!

Here Dave is shredding in an old burn near Fox Peak, Sawtooth National Forest.

Dave, Judd, Ryan(my bro), and I from left to right. Baker Creek Road with the Boulder Mountains in the background. This area has many trailheads to head off and to let the adventure begin...The loops are endless....10 miles to 100 mile loops of bitching high alpine singletrack...and there are plenty of primitive campsites easily accessible.

Judd, doing some hiking...Always a possibility when heading above 8000ft after a big winter..This is near Apollo Creek..

Once you are up and over a saddle, it is time to ride down..Sometimes this includes a little snow decent!! I believe this is Judd shredding the sun baked snow..

And then there is singletrack again....Up and over the next saddle and we should have clear riding back down to the valley. Apollo Creek Area, Sawtooth National Forest.

Another shot of same area.

Fischer Creek Trail..Dave, myself, and Judd ripping!!

Dave once again, I believe somewhere near Greenhorn Creek. Just 6 miles south of Ketchum, this area has an impressive network of trails!!!

The man once again, he is always in the right spot at the right time...Dave, more often than not has his wheels off the ground! Somewhere near Norton Creek, SNF..

This day, near Apollo Creek, involved a fair amount of snow time....Group shot; Ryan, Jay, Judd, myself, Sherie, and Dave....And a sweet lineup of Specialized Bikes...A lot of Carbon Enduro's getting put to the test!!

Dave letting it rip over another saddle..

Nice shot in a burn near Fox Peak, I think...

Fischer Creek..

And another...

Near Ketchum...Somewhere in the woods...

After a time or two of going over the bars I thought ghost riding the bike and chasing it was a safer option!!!

Myself, last snowy saddle of this ride to hike over!!! In the background was where we hiked that saddle and rode down...

Ryan, giving a try..a few seconds later his front wheel slipped out and he stayed locked into his pedals and slid about 25 yards....

"The Wife" to my brother that is, always a trooper and willing to follow us boys on our "Adventure Rides..." She rocks!!

A beautiful thing....Heritage & Ski Museum in downtown Ketchum, Idaho...If you get a chance to check it out, do!

A shot of my Taco, loaded up at Fischer Creek with the Sawtooth Mountains in the background...

Dave, Jay, and my Finn....Post ride fishing and beer drinking..

And a line up of 3 of the 4 Taco's on this trip...One from Utah, Minnesota, Oregon, and Montana...Trusty Rigs!!! Oh, Martin and Lexi had their old VW van there too!!! I love that van..they have thousands of traveling miles on that baby!!

After each ride we always had beers and whenever possible we hit up some hot springs....I cannot remember the name of this but it was outside of Stanley, ID and was HOT!!! It was all of about a 10ft hike off the highway, right on the Salmon River...Judd, Dave, Jay, and Aaron(guy from Kansas) enjoying themselves!!

This one I believe was Russian John Hot Spring...Another easy one to hike to post ride....Myself, Judd, and Dave are enjoying this one while Jay was out finding Finn and getting more beer...

Once again, hope you enjoy the shots....I cannot wait to get back to this area to ride, ski, and camp....also enjoy some beer and hot springs too!! Cheers to good times....And also a big thanks to friends from Bend, Kirt and Lindsey Voreis for the use of some of their Specialized Bikes....Check them out at www.kirtvoreis.com and the Allride Tour....