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.
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.
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