Merri Travels

Owyhee Canyonlands: Eye On the Sky

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Saturday September 26 2009

Day 1 of the Owyhee Canyonlands ride is 3 days away (Tuesday). As for the broken rib, that is not up for discussion here. Then there's the weather: a touchy subject.

It's going to be cooler, in the 60's and 50's, but if I do a yippee dance about the cold nights (down to 38* and 35*!) I'm going to get drop-kicked into Pickett Creek. What can I say, I'm a cold weather junkie. : )

What's slightly disconcerting is the "chance of showers". It was 20% chance of showers on Monday - which would have been perfect for our godawful dusty trails and ridecamp, but now it's changed to 50% chance, on Tuesday. That could mean anything from a hot, cloudless sky to a 2-day downpour.

Now, weather has rarely stopped endurance riders (unless it's thunderstorms and I'm riding, and that's because I'm a lightning wimp). Adverse weather sometimes just makes things a bit more challenging - an extra layer of clothing here, a butt blanket there. But I bet you that anybody who spends one day here in this dust bowl of a ridecamp will be happy for a day of good rain. The desert will drink it up, and the trails will be good for days afterwards. It might even wash away this smoke in the air from distant fires.

So, ignore the weather forecast, saddle up and come on down to the Owyhees to ride. For five days, ride the old trails, and some new ones: over the desert and through canyons, past some old homesteads, over the original Oregon Trail, along the Snake River.

Just ride!

More info here on endurance.net on the Owyhee Canyonlands