Sunday, February 28, 2016

The House that Dirt Built - Doyle Mountain 2 /28/2016

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Loop – 50 miles
Trail  Ranger / Trail Boss / Coach – Dave
Riders – John , Chad , Eric
Photos – John , Dave



Sunday morining still couldn’t decided between Doyle Mountian or Jacks Creek.
Dave rode Doyle on Saturday but said he would go back to clear more trail . Great ride !

Snow was cleared on most of it ,the ground was still moist and creeks weren’t too high.
Dave carried a saw , brushing the trail and clearing the face slappers.

Temps were in the 50’s by midday , had to shed a layer after lunch.

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Chad- West Fork Birch Creek,
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Dave

 

 

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Portland Gulch

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View from lunch stop.

 

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Ridge above Savage Crossing

 

 

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Eric descending Doyle Mountain .

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Friday, February 26, 2016

Afternoon Lava Tour 2/26/2016

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Took advantage of a warm afternoon and rode , ~150 miles , through the flats south of town.

 

 

 

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Smith's Crack is a fissure in the lava flow that folks spelunk .
I just heard about it a couple of weeks ago.

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3-4 miles away are the Ring Craters.  They are remnants of lava lakes, maybe the only ones in North America .

 

 

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Started back on the Baja Road and decided to cut across the National Guard Range.

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Explored some jeep trails and tank tracks. The 1190 handles great in slow 1st gear stuff.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

3 Day Binge–Owyhee Desert Rides Feb - 7 , 11 & 13th

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Got a break on the weather and was able to get 3 rides in the Owhyee’s  ,clocking 177 miles .
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Sunday 2/7 - Grand View

 

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Met the Mountain Home crew at the Y-BAR for breakfast.

Loop – 50 miles

Jeff was out trail boss.

Photos- Spode Daddy , Y-man

 

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“The hill climb” above Birch Creek wash. I took the trail around.

 

 

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Wash below the cliffs

 

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Jeff

 

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Jeff took us on a “new” section of single track, nice tight canyons and washes.

 

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Me and Rich in one of the “new” canyons.

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First step-up in Hog Pen . The face was iced over.

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The big waterfall was still frozen.
The “young” guys picked their way up the dry lines. Wyman & Jeff spotted them on the steep part.
I had Wyman ride my bike up, I don’t think he even dabbed . 
My knee was still sore from the last ride and  the climb is challenging enough for me when dry.

After Hog Pen we rode up and down the face of Doyle, it was thawed and a sloppy mess.
Dave got behind me when I was stuck and got a mud roost.


Then took Vinson Wash back to the trucks, it was still smooth.

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Thursday 2/11 – Jacks Creek

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The forecast was for a warm clam 50F day, however an inversion was set along the Snake River.
It was foggy and ~ 35F when we parked.

Trail Boss – Chris

Riders – Dave , Loyal, Scott, John

Loop – 57 miles

 

 

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Above Jacks Creek

 

 

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The Draw , we rode it twice

 

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Owyhee Wilderness .
We had lunch below the butte to the right. After lunch I was the last one out of the wash, took a left
turn, instead of a right. For some reason I thought we were at the Little Horse Gap right above
Jacks Creek Crossing but we were at Big Horse Gap.

 

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After riding up and down the road a couple of times I figured out I took a wrong turn.
Met Loyal on the way back to the lunch spot. He said Scott and Dave would wait for us at the crossing.

They weren’t above the crossing but we saw fresh tracks down. They weren’t on the other side either.
After waiting ~ 20 minutes we decided to ride the single track above Little Jack and meet them at the truck.

After riding past Parker Ranch and back on top we crossed paths with Dave and Scott !
I was able to guide them back on some nice single tracks and washes that somewhat made up for my
excursion !

 

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Scott tried high marking on a greasy clay bank , did a 360 !

 

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Black Rocks Canyon


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Sunday 2/13 – Grand View

 

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Trail Boss – Dave
Loop ~ 70 miles

We rendezvoused at the Y-Bar for breakfast . 

Parked at the sand pit. Started out exploring opportunities across Mud Flat road .

 

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The big sand hill. Took me two tries. Had to pin it in 3rd then shift to 2nd at the crest.

 

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Lunch stop.
After lunch we passed through a gate on our search for the single track to the missile bunker .

I waited a the water tank thought everybody had past ( counted wrong ) and took off.
Brian was still closing the gate but he said he saw us across the desert . We took a wrong turn in a wash and
had to back track to back track to find the single track. That may have been where he lost us.

 

 

 

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Brian caught us at the bunker but had to ride a rear  flat a couple of miles.

 

 

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The tube was split , had to replace with a 21” tube.
While Brian was working on the flat another group rode up. Don , Mariah and Daryl were with them !

After the repair the two groups rode together up to Doyle Cabin . After Doyle we rode the first
single track over the ridge that drops you into the top of Vinson /  Twenty Mile washes.
There was a slimy muddy stretch that was a few hundred yards long ( I was thinking it was only ~50
yards long).  I thought I was on the wrong line , tried to change and spun out. Daryl had to help me get the
bike pointed in the right direction.  The bike must of packed up 50 pounds of mud.

 

 

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After the mud .

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Daryl and Mariah working through the last stretch of mud .

I hit reserve ~ 58 mile mark , rode in on fumes . 
Goal this year is start riding in higher gears to get more miles per r’s .

I’m doing a bit better in sand and mud !

 
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