We had the Benchmark Atlas out looking at routes and decided we had plenty of time for a bonus loop through Copper Basin !
Wildhorse Canyon
Being the weekend before Labor Day we had a reprieve from UTV’s and ATV’s , only seeing a handful of cars .
Copper Basin , we didn’t have time to the loop or any side canyons .
There are several really nice houses along the river. Don’t appear to get much use ,maybe they are on AIRBNB .
Antelope Pass was on my punch list for this year and I want to go back.
View toward Arco , even in the haze you could see the INEL that is in-between Arco and Idaho Falls.
Copper Basin from the pass.
The atlas showed a road from Antelope Creek to HWY26 allowing you to bypass Arco. We “found” it but thought it was a ranch access and ended up riding all the way to HWY93.
They were chip sealing about 10 miles of highway into Arco which seemed like it cost us an hour .
We were bucking headwinds and crosswinds along HWY26 through the Crater of the Moons .
We had highway all the way home. A throttle lock would be nice on long highway stretches. Probably the longest stretch of pavement I ever have ridden .
Tim put out a call for a Baumgartner ride. The Harrell's drove straight through from the mossy bottoms .
It would be my first campout and mountain ride of the season. When I rolled in Thursday afternoon smoke was starting to fill the canyon. During the night the smells would wake me up along with an occasional cough, however Friday morning it was much clearer.
Friday 8/18
Trail Boss - Tim Riders – Scott , Paul , John
Loop – 75 miles
Little Water , Ross Peak , SF Ross Fork , Ross Jeep Road , Johnson Creek ,Vienna Creek, Smiley Creek , Emma Creek , SF Boise Road , the wash out trail .
Paul was driving in from Boise and expected to be in camp ~ 9AM but finally found us sometime after 10. He said he wasn’t that late but the campsite map got him turned around and he wasted time roaming the campgrounds trying to find us.
We finally rolled out around 11AM. The plan was to ride into Smiley Creek for food and fuel then ride back up Big Smoky .
Little Water
At the bottom of Little Water I could make out some haze on the ridge but couldn’t tell if it was smoke or dust – I didn't think Scott would be THAT far ahead of me.
It was dust from the sheep heard.
Willow Creek Tie
Being my first ride I wasn’t desensitized to the side hills and too tentative.
The ride up Ross Peak was a grind but I seemed to be moving OK.
Ross Peak
South Fork of Ross Fork
We took a break to top off our water.
At the bottom of SF Ross Fork we decided to reroute ,not do the NF of Ross Fork and take the jeep trail to Johnson Creek.
Johnson Creek-
At the Vienna intersection I was a bit winded , then the ride over Vienna took it out of me.
At the bottom of Vienna a couple of guys rode up on Honda CRF 230’s . No helmets , no gloves Danner work boots and big packs. Wanted to know where to find Johnson Lake , we had no idea .
The initial climb was ~ 1/3 mile of loose side hill then a visually challenging off camber side hill but it had a good tread and traction. As I got over the side hill I could hear the Honda’s behind me !
On top the trail meandered through some saddles then a climb through some loose ground that zapped your momentum then it got real loose and steep. Trying to navigate around a trench I got dug in - one of the Honda riders , Jamie , trotted up to help. By himself he lifted my bike out of the trench !
At the top of Vienna there was a fire crew mopping up a fire. They detoured us around the burn , we had to boondock across the side hill back to the trail on the bottom. Going cross country was easier than riding the trail. I also found out that if we had stayed on ridge we would have come out near Emma Creek.
Emma Creek just up from the staircase
Paul riding through the staircase.
After Emma it would be road all the way back to camp plus a bit of single track around the washout.
The first detour around the wash fooled us , then we got to trail through the rock gardened that made Emma look groomed.
Tim and Scott rode ahead then Scott came back and offered to ride my bike. I was spent and said sure. I walked through the ~ 1/2 mile. Scott walked it once and rode it 4 times .
Someone spent a lot of effort building the trail. I hope they leave it, in another year or so it will be pretty good.
I must of got make to camp ~ 9:00 PM.
Saturday 8/13
The plan Saturday was to do a couple of short easy rides. In the morning we would ride the Kelly Creek and Blue Ridge ATV trails with David then another short single track loop in the afternoon.
There was a bit of traffic riding up Kelly Creek but not to bad.
We were thinking about looping the ATV trail back down to the flats but would be heading against traffic and decided against it. Back tracked to Iron Mountain.
David and I stayed at the base while Scott, Tim and Paul rode to the top. We shared a sandwich and caught up on things.
Paul’s pano from the lookout.
Riding back to camp on Kelly Creek there was more traffic and “hold my beer” knuckleheads but we made it back.
At camp both Scott and Tim said something was “wrong” and decided to soak in the pool instead of riding.
I used the opportunity to ride the FreeRide adjusting the clickers and carburetor .
I dinked around Kelly Flats riding some roads I’ve been on and finding the “new” trial that connects the campground to Beaver Creek.
The connector trail between Kelly Flats and Virginia Gulch . The Freeride is a “different” ride , light and nimble and the engine is very different.
My TE250 feels more plush, the FreeRide engine in a full size frame could be the perfect trail bike for me.
When I got back to camp Teresa told me both Tim and Scott were chumming in the South Fork of the Boise. They both looked like absolute crap suffering from some food poisoning.
