ORIGINALLY I HAD GRAND PLANS FOR A 3 DAY WEEKEND IN THE SAWTOOTHS. A NUMBER OF ITEMS CONFLICTED – OPENING SEASON OF ELK WORK WEATHER WAS THE FINAL NAIL. THE COLD FRONT HAD MORE PUNCH & UPPER ELEVATIONS WOULD LIKELY BE ICY WYMAN TOLD ME THERE WAS SNOW AT 6300FT SATURDAY NEAR THEN TRINITYS
GERALD & I DECIDED TO RIDE IDAHO CITY ON SATURDAY. MET AT THE GRANITE CREEK PARKING LOT AT 10AM. IT WAS ~ 25F & CLEAR. HAD TO JUMP START GERALD'S 450 BERG OFF OF HIS FORD. BY THE TIME WE LEFT THERE WAS PROBABLY A DOZEN RIDERS IN THE LOT.
HEADED ACROSS THE CREEK FOLLOWING DIFFERENT TRIALS, SOME I RECOGNIZED BUT I EVENTUALLY GOT TURNED AROUND. HOWEVER WE POPPED OUT AT THE RABBIT CREEK SADDLE, AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT I ALWAYS CALLED IT.
MADE OUR WAY DOWN TO GERMAN CREEK THEN UP ON THE RIDGE
VIEW FROM THE RIDGE
AFTER THE FIRST BIG DROP ON SHORT CREEK
GERALD PSYCHED ME OUT ABOUT THIS OFF CAMBER CLIMB THAT RANDY HAD SPUN OFF
I POKED UP IN 1ST WAY TO SLOW & HAD TO PADDLE
GERALD AND ME ON THE SIDE HILL.
GREAT VIEWS OF THE NORTH FORK OF THE BOISE RIVER
WE HAD TO DOUBLE TEAM THE BIKES OVER THIS OFF CAMBER STEP UP.
THE BIG LOG ON HUNGARIAN . GERALD SCOUTED FOR A PATH AROUND. WE ENDED UP HAVING TO HOIST THE BIKES OVER.
ME , JUST AFTER PADDLING THRU THE LOOSE ROCK GARDEN ON HUNGARIAN. RIGHT AFTER THIS THE SNOW ROLLED IN.
ME TOP OF HUNGARIAN TRYING TO SPOT GERALD'S TACKS TO THE SUNSET LO
GERALD SHELTERED UNDER THE LO’S DECK
THE GROUND WASN’T SLICK BUT I HAD ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS WITH MY GOGGLES. THEY WOULD FOG UP , ICE UP. TRIED NO GOGGLES BUT THE SNOW STUNG MY EYES.
LOWER ELEVATION WAS BETTER, THEN I FOGGED UP AGAIN PANICKED , SPUN THE OFF THE TRAIL. DIDN’T MAKE ANY PROGRESS GETTING ON THE TRAIL UNTIL GERALD CAME BACK TO HELP.
THE STORM TAPERED OFF UNTIL WE HIT THE ROAD BACK TO THE TRUCK. PRETTY WET RIDE BACK, THEN IT GOT HEAVIER AS WE LOADED UP.
GREAT INDIAN SUMMER DAY. IT WAS ~ 30F WHEN LEFT THE TRUCK AND 60+ WHEN WE GOT BACK. HAD A BIT OF SNOW AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS ON THE NORTH SLOPES.
DAVID'S SUMMARY -
“The weather was close to perfect, the dirt was too! The fall colors are in full swing up there. We saw 3 guys on quads at end of the Kirkham ridge trail at Bull Trout and one guy on foot at the bottom of Warm Springs but other than that we had the place to ourselves. Diner at Trudy's in Idaho City on the way home capped off a great day in the mountains of Idaho.”
VIEW OF SAWTOOTHS FROM LINKS TRAIL
DAVID ON KIRKHAM
BRIDGE AT BOTTOM OF A CANYON. CLIMB OUT A FEW STEP UPS TO NEGOTIATE
ME – I SWEAR I WAS YOUNGER AND PRETTIER
DROPPING INTO WARM SPRINGS CANYON
MID WAY THROUGH THE CANYON. I HAD TO STOP AND SHED MY JACKET & TAKE A PICTURE.
1st down tree of the day on Roanhide. Brian showed us how to pop the front wheel over.
Top of Roanhide
Deer Park - Ross Peak is capped in snow.
Another set of down trees, these we could ride over. Obvious effect of Government Shutdown.
Great view from top of President.
David on President
Jubal Brownat the bottom of President - works at Vurb Offroad. He blew past me up the trail. “Caught up” with him when was getting David’s (Jones) bike back on the trail. DJ launched his bike and landed the bike on a stump. Near the bottom of the President Jubal’s riding buddy put a pass on me then crashed ! Banged up his hand. We guided Dave out to the road that would take him to Hill City.
Side Note : Got some of those “tag less” underwear at Walmart. They prove to be confusing – harder to tell front from back & inside from outside
FSR227 > SKELETON > LITTLE SKELETON > CONANT > JONES GULCH > FSR 79 >FSR 63> CALF CREEK > BIG SMOKY> WF BIG SMOKY> SNOW SLIDE > PARADISE > FSR 227
RIDERS – JOHN , BRIAN D, PAT , BRIAN K
LOOP ~ 80 MILES
Pat , Brian K & Brian D drove in for a day ride from Idaho City and Boise
SF BOISE DRAINAGE FROM CONANT CREEK TRAIL
JONES GULCH TRAIL AT SOUTH FORK OF BOISE RIVER. FOREST SERVICE HAS REMOVED THE BRIDGE AND TRASHED THE CROSSING.
HAD TO EXPLORE BY FOOT TO FIND A PATH TO THE RIVER AND POINT WHERE WE COULD CROSS.
THE WATER WAS LOW SO THE CROSSING DIDN’T PROVE MUCH OF AN ISSUE.
WE THEN FOLLOWED THE ROADS OVER TO CALF CREEK TRAIL TO BIG SMOKY.
BIG SMOKEY
BIG PEAK INTERSECTION. I NOTICED I DIDN'T RETIE THE CARB VENT LINES UNDER THE FRAME. HAD TO REMOVE THE SEAT AND TANK TO TAKE CARE OF IT.
ONE OF THE BOULDER FIELDS ON BIG SMOKY. OH THANK GOD FOR REKULSE !
Views from the top of Snow Slide. We’re about 60 miles into the ride at this point and I was feeling it ! I struggled down Paradise. It was dry , loose and I was tired. Whenever I sat down I would go off the trail.
I caught up at the Big Smoky Guard Station, told them stay to the right & the road would take us to camp, but I forgot it was a 3 way junction. Brian K and Pat took the hard right back to the church camp !
Dahl & I waited at Big Smoky Junction until Pat and Klinger returned. Klinger said they rode all back to Sunk Creek until they figured it out. He said he saw the Featherville sign , but thought it was pointing on the turn he took.
We ran Klinger out of gas. Dahl had to milk his 300. I managed to do 80 miles without hitting reserve.
LOOP ~ 60 MILES RIDERS – DAVID, DENNIS , JOHN T, JOHN A
SMOKY DOME WOULD BE AN EASY LOOP AFTER BIG SMOKEY. ITS AN MIX OF EASY SINGLE TRACK , TWO TRACKS , ATV TRIALS AND ROAD.
IRON MOUNTAIN FROM DEER PARK. DENNIS PUMPED UP HIS TIRES WHILE WE WAITED. WE ALL DISCUSSED HOW MUCH AIR WE RAN. DENNIS HAD HIS TIRES LOW, ~8 PSI FOR THE OREGON MUD.
ON THE SINGLE TRACK UP TO SMOKY DOME MY BIKE WANTED TO GO SIDEWAYS. I HAD A REAR FLAT. TURNED OUT TO BE A LARGE PINCH FLAT. I HAD TO PUT IN MY SPARE 21” TUBE. TOOK A LITTLE WHILE , BUT DENNIS AND I DIDN’T USE ANY CURSE WORDS.
WE CAUGHT UP WITH JOHN AND DAVID. HAD OUR LUNCH AND REFRESHMENTS. THEN TOOK SOLDIER/MILLER CREEK DOWN TO THE SOUTH FORK BOISE ROAD.
BOTTOM OF MILLER CREEK. THE TRAIL WAS MUCH LOOSER THAN IN JUNE.
BACK AT CAMP I PUT AN 18” TUBE IN THE REAR. WHILE I HAD THE TIRE OFF, I DECIDED TO PUT A NEW TIRE AND REAR BRAKE PADS ON.
========================================================================================== TUESDAY – REST DAY
SKELETON / LITTLE WATER
LOOP ~ 30 MILES
RIDERS – DAVID, DENNIS, JOHN T , JOHN A
DECIDED TO MAKE TUESDAY MY “REST DAY”. JUST DO A SHORT LOOP AND BE BACK IN CAMP FOR LUNCH.
DENNIS AND JOHN AT LITTLE SKELETON JUNCTION
DAVID AND DENNIS
JOHN TOP OF SKELETON.
DAVID, DENNIS AND JOHN AT A LOOK OUT POINT ALONG THE BEAR CREEK JEEP ROAD.
BALL MILL OF OLD MINE
LITTLE WATER GULCH REROUTE . NICE TRAIL , STILL A LITTLE LOOSE.
DENNIS NEAR THE BOTTOM ===================================================================================
WEDNESDAY – LIME CREEK LOOP
LOOP ~ 48 MILES VIRGINIA GULCH > NF LIME CREEK > PRESIDENT > SF LIME CREEK > ROANHIDE > BREMNER > KELLY CREEK
RIDERS – JOHN T, JOHN A , DENNIS
DENNIS AFTER HELPING ME UP A STEP ON VIRGINIA GULCH.
DENNIS AT THE BOTTOM OF PRESIDENT.
JOHN TOOK THE 1ST RUN AT THE ROOT. IT’S BEEN 6-8 WEEKS AND NO ONE HAS CUT THE ROOT OUT OF THE WAY. HARD TO GET A RUN WITH ENOUGH MO. WE ALL GOT OUR FRONT WHEEL OVER THEN HAD TO PUSH & PULL TO THE BIKES ALL THE WAY UP.
SKELETON> BEAR CREEK> PARADISE> FSR 227 > CONANT CREEK > LITTLE SKELETON > SKELETON > FSR227
LAST RIDE OF SPODEFEST FOR ME. LOOP ~ 60 MILES
RIDERS – DAVID, DENNIS, JOHN, MURRAY, KAT
TOP OF SKELETON AGAIN. I DID BETTER ON THIS RUN. FELL OVER ONCE WHEN I SAT DOWN AND BOUNCED OFF THE TRAIL RIGHT BELOW THE ROAD.
DENNIS ON BEAR CREEK SIDE HILL.
YOU CAN SEE THE HAZE AND SMOKE FROM THE BEAVER CREEK FIRE ( BETWEEN FAIRFIELD AND HAILEY).
DENNIS AND DAVID AT THE BOTTOM OF PARADISE.
KAT AND MURRAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TRAIL.
ON THE WAY BACK DENNIS AND I PEELED OFF ON CONANT CREEK TO GET TO 10 MORE MILES OF SINGLE TRACK.
THURSDAY NIGHT THE WIND HOWLED. I ROLLED UP THE AWNINGS BECAUSE THE FLAPPING KEPT ME AWAKE. IT FINALLY COOLED DOWN AROUND 3AM.
IN THE MORNING THE CAMP WAS COVERED WITH A LIGHT ASH. I PACKED UP AND HEAD OUT TO HAILEY FOR A BIKE CLINIC WITH JIMMY LEWIS ON SATURDAY. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE BIG SMOKY ROAD BEING CLOSED INTO FAIRFIELD SO I HEADED BACK OUT THROUGH FEATHERVILLE AND PINE. HOWEVER ON THE WAY OUT THE RADIO WAS REPORTING HWY 20 WAS CLOSED BETWEEN MOUNTAIN HOME AND FAIRFIELD. I GOT “LUCKY” THE ROAD INTO FAIRFIELD WAS OPEN.
THE PONY-ELK COMPLEX FIRE IN THE TRINITIES FRIDAY ON THE WAY OUT OF PINE.
WE DODGED THE FIRES THIS YEAR BUT I DIDN’T FOLLOW DAVID'S ADVICE AND REST EVERY COUPLE OF DAYS.
ENDED THE WEEK WITH PULLED / STRAINED MUSCLES IN MY RIGHT CALF AND BUTT.
