House Mountain Lookout, Idaho

[XLR8]

It gets hot here in July so there's no better way to escape than to go vertical. I haven't been to House Mountain Lookout since I was a kid so I grabbed my tankbag and Forest Service map and hit it.


not quite 8000 feet



There wasn't too much drama getting the big 990 up here and although this little stretch doesn't show it, the last 500 meters were steep with loose boulders. This is the way almost every lookout in Idaho is...baby head boulders and hairpins.  


way...way out there would be the tetons



the road up



looking back down toward prairie idaho



The little lake out there on the basin is Little Camas Reservoir. The lake down there in the canyon is Anderson Ranch reservoir. My grandfather was an operator at the dam there for many years. I spent the summers with my grandparents so I basically grew up around here. My grandfather and I used to come up here to get firewood and he taught me a lot about living in the mountains. It's also why I don't care for rattlesnakes.  


what's left of the lookout



you can explore these roads for hours



I like this shot even though it's hazy. This looks back toward Prairie and in the direction of Boise. If you look very close in the canyon, you can see a canyon within a canyon.  


canyon within a canyon



sidi and I approve of this landscape but we don't like concrete



Two pictures up looks down at this very spot.


headed home



Look in just about any offroad ride report from riders who come to Idaho and they have a picture from this spot. Nice.


famous spot? with orange



without orange



By the time I descended down into Boise it was 106 degrees. I knew what was waiting for me. I should not have come down!

[DogBoy]

Awesome.  

[Smoke]

Nice.

[Ack535]

I loved the pics, makes me wish I was out there!  

[kurtw]

The Canyon-with-the-canyon shot is cool. Your photos always show off some really cool topography.  

Looks like a great ride!

[sagerat]

Well done!

I thought Sat. I was riding to a lookout in the Ochocos based on the small building and antennae we could see, but it turned out when we rounded the last hairpin, it was a microwave relay station.

And I know what you mean about steep hairpins and babyhead boulders.   I'm still learning how to ride that type of surface.  

Oh, and thanks for reviving my 990 Adv lust.  Every time I think I am master of my motorcycle domain, your pics come along and ruin it for me.  

[XLR8]

And I know what you mean about steep hairpins and babyhead boulders.   I'm still learning how to ride that type of surface.  

Me too.

The mountain biker in me says sit down, get grounded, and technique my way through it.

Neduro says get up on those pegs! It's not second nature to me yet and on the 990 it feels like I'm on a step ladder.

[sagerat]

And let's not forget while standing you're shifting your weight all around, keeping steady throttle, stabbing rear brake, and a few other items that I forget...

Still, it's great fun and what a sense of accomplishment when you're done.  Although coming down from the microwave I did biff at about 0.5 mph about two seconds after we started our descent.  I had just got my right foot on the peg when a babyhead turned my front wheel hard left and down I went.  

[R Doug]

I love the wide open spaces of that area.  Great images.  

(next time, keep the ugly bike out of the shot).