Idaho Mountain Biker Maps Out Palouse Routes
In the peak of last summer’s heat, Jim LaFortune found himself at the bottom of a 1,000-foot descent pedalling his mountain bike along an ever-narrowing trail in McCroskey State Park.
Finally, the trail disappeared in undergrowth so thick the brush held his bike up for him when he got off.
“Why on earth am I doing this?” he thought.
The short answer: to find a loop that he could ride around Huckleberry Mountain without having to double back, as he had to do about 10 times over three weeks.
The long answer: to put the loop in a book of mountain bike trails in the forested hills that border the eastern edge of the Palouse.
The Huckleberry Mountain loop is one of 16 rides and dozens of variations that the Moscow, Idaho, science teacher has assembled in the “Mountain Bike Guide to Hog Heaven,” a pocket-sized guide to Moscow Mountain, McCroskey and the North-South area near Emida, Idaho.
The book is available in most area bike shops and Auntie’s for $10.
LaFortune sees the book as a way of extolling the wealth of forested trails in an area that for the most part has more hills than trees.
“I actually think this area has better riding than anywhere I’ve lived,” said LaFortune, whose homes over the years have included Burlington, Vt., and LaGrande, Ore.
The 36-year-old LaFortune grew up in the Portland area and took to the outdoors through regular trips with his family and cross-country skiing lessons on Mt. Hood. At the University of Vermont, he became a ski biathlete, qualifying as an alternate to the 1982 World Championships.
In recent years, he has dominated the wood ski division of Mt. Spokane’s Langlauf cross-country ski race. But the mountain bike has been a growing passion since he first tried one while at Oregon State University in 1986.
“I didn’t realize at the time that I was becoming addicted to being outdoors,” he said.. “It’s kind of like the cheezy bumper sticker - a bad day on a mountain bike is better than a bad day at work.”
After moving to Moscow in 1990, he worked part-time and spent hours exploring side roads and looking for loops on Moscow Mountain. “I found it was like doing a challenging puzzle,” he said.
He also saw bicycle shopkeepers explaining the same routes to their customers.
“People were mostly riding in one or two areas,” he said. “It was never really crowded, but people didn’t know where to go.”
LaFortune spent about half a year plotting out routes in the three areas, all of which are within an hour of the Moscow-Pullman area and a little further from Spokane.
With the help of a $500 grant from Rock Shox, he spent another seven months of long nights to computer-scan topographic maps and write extensive directions (“Moose, mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders all share the trail, so be aware, especially on blind corners”).
Rides are rated for their technical challenge, adventure and “grunt” factors.
By including tips on responsible riding, LaFortune said he hopes to improve biker etiquette, creating a sort of civic culture among the knobby-tired set and other trail users.
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