We had to abruptly pull the plug on our Idaho Hot Springs bike tour due to growing wildfires in the Payette and Boise National Forests.🔥
It’s remarkable how quickly things change.
We rolled into McCall on my birthday, decided to take the next day off to resupply, do laundry, etc. and after checking the Watch Duty app and confirming with the Valley County Sheriff Department, decisions were made. We were done.
Our forest road was closed due to wildfire and Highway 55 was much too dangerous to cycle on back to Boise.
Question was… how would we get back to Boise from McCall with bikes.
We brainstormed several ideas and came up with renting a car at the McCall airport and driving with our bikes back to Boise.
We then had to pick up a second rental car in Boise and drive the first rental back north two hours to McCall (or pay $1,000 one way rental fee or take a puddle jumper from McCall to Boise for $2,000).
So we made a total of three trips on Highway 55 along the scenic Payette River while watching all kinds of fire activity up and down the corridor. And btw, the Sheriff Department was correct on the “bike-ability” of Highway 55: no shoulder, too narrow and no line of site along much of the road.
Sorry to end the ride early but more sorry for the loss of property and national forest land. These wildfires are no joke.
Thanks all, for joining us on our ride. We are already planning the next one. 😊
Click on the image below to view more pics vids:
Keep Calm and Pedal On 
Oh, such a bummer! Tis fire season. Sent from somewhere wonderful
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😉😉
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Cool cycle packs. Glad you’re safe ‼️🍀🇺🇸
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Thanks for the follow Finn!
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I’m happy you guys made my wise decisions and are safe. 10 days are better than no days or getting injured so praise God for successful trip.
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Agree with you!
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Mother Nature always has the upper hand. Glad you could pivot to safety. And happy birthday fellow Leo!
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Thanks Kathleen and Happy birthday to you too! 🦁
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Oh no. Sorry to hear but you made a good call. I have been in fire zones three times and I respect how quickly they can change. Bummer about the rental car but I have driven ID55 and I think you made the right decision. Safe travels home. GR
https://garryrollins.com/2018/09/29/thursday-september-27-2018/
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Thanks Garry!
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I hate to press the “like” button on this post – but I like that you found a solution to get out of there and I like that you are already planning your next trip. Keep the wheels turning!
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Will do and you do the same. 😊
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Isn’t interesting how different the world looks at the speed of a car when you just spent a week at the speed of a bike?
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