Loop – 565 miles
Riders – Byron ( Flat Czar), Kurt , Thad, Carl, John
Byron set up the ride to Fields Station, Oregon .
Sunday
Sunday –
Boise – Fields 253 miles
We meet for breakfast at 8AM at Owyhee Lanes in Homedale, which meant I had to leave in the dark ~7AM.
It was in the mid 50’s when I left the house, but riding I84 chilled me , then when I dropped into the Snake River Valley the temperature
must have dropped below 40. I was cold and my face shield frosted up.
Carl took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and was late , but it allowed me time for plenty of coffee and finish my body functions.
The Lanes has recently changed hands and the food wasn’t as good as I remember but still OK.
Byron took us through Succor Creek and Mahogany Gap into Jordon Valley.
I was still cold riding through Succor Creek but it finally started to warm at the Leslies Gulch intersection.
We topped off in Jordon Valley.
Oregon always confuses me – can’t pump gas & the speed limit is a guess. US 95 is posted at 55 MPH but most traffic is driving at 75 MPH or more.
Charbonneau’s grave site. That’s not litter but trinkets left at the grave.
After Charbonneau’s we rode the ION to Arock. It has about 2 miles of “lava “ trail.
This section is a cobblely climb. First time I’ve been on the 950 in a 6 weeks and first time I needed any
clutch control.
After Arock we took HWY 95 to Tudor Road > Bone Canyon > Mickey Basin > Alvord Desert
Mickey Basin in the foreground
Mickey Hot Springs parking
This time we found our way on to north end of the lake bed , then buzzed across to Hot Springs access trying to make it to Fields before the café closes.
We were too late , the kitchen was closed but the beer tap was open ! After Sandy got the kitchen cleaned she fixed us platter of hamburger patties , buns,
cheese , etc , that we cooked on a propane grill in front of the room.
One of the guest flew in his 172 , landed on the highway in front of Fields . He said on Monday he was planning on landing on the lake bed.
The cat made friends with everybody.
MONDAY 10/20
Fields > Boise ~ 312 miles
Since I was first to bed I was first up. Spent a little bit of time looking over the Benchmark Atlas
determining some routes home. I had plotted a route through the southeast corner of Oregon as well as
South Mountain and Mud Flat into Grandview.
The café didn’t open until 9AM , Pacific Time ( 10 AM Boise time ).
We didn’t get on the bikes until sometime around 11AM MDT. Late start but it was warmer than Sunday.
Entrance to White Horse Ranch , also was site of Fort Smith on the Oregon Trail. The plan was to catch the “White Horse Cut off” a couple of miles
down the road, but I missed the intersection ( it was a entrance to another ranch ). We had to take HWY 95 to Jackson Creek. At Jackson Creek Byron suggested
we ride into Mcdermitt to top off.
Top of Jackson Creek summit.
We dropped off the east side of summit and followed the road toward Three Forks.
Some of it was improved and some of it looked like old fire breaks.
All of it through featureless seas of cheat grass and sage brush on straight monotonous stretches.
We were in emptiest portion of The Big Empty.
Map check at an intersection.
Byron repairing his flat, took a couple of tries but he got the hole plugged.
Kurt and Thad spotted some Big Horn Sheep on the way into Rome.
We got into Jordon Valley around 5PM , gassed up . Decided we would have to take HWY 95 into Marsing since we only had a couple of
hours of daylight left.
A few miles west of the HWY 55 intersection , Byron’s tire was flat again, the plug came out . As Byron was repairing the flat we got a raspberry from
a few of the cars we had passed. After a few we were on our way , but it was dark when we got to HWY 55. Decided to take HWY 55 all the way through
Nampa to I84 vs Lake Lowell and Kuna. Finally got home around 8:30 PM.
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