I must of got Lost - Davis Mountain 10/19/2016

Loop ~ 250 miles
Riders – John , Byron

 

I wanted to explore some new backroads on the ridge south of
Fairfield, hit the City of Rocks and swing by Magic Reservoir .

Wednesday was the 1st nice day after 4-5 days of weather .
The low was 38F but clear and still.
When we met at GranDel’s  ~10:30 it was in the upper 40’s.

Riding into Hill City on US20 it was ~ 42F , which is my Big Bike limit .
My nipples got so cold they ached .

Castle Rock Road

 

Iron Mountain behind Fairfield

 

One of the mud holes on the Davis Mountain Road. 
No clay but it’s slicker than snot , decided to ride around.

View of the Fairfield Prairie from Davis Mountain .

At the intersection below the hill we decided to ride off Davis Mountain.

Green is the route I wanted to take into the City of Rocks.
Red is what we rode .The up hill path looked steep and greasy .
I wasn’t sure I was on the correct trail so we dropped
down to the flats and were going to go around the mountain.

There was a short rocky section made more technical by the mud.
Riding off rock I slid my front wheel out and got my leg pinned under the bike.

Kind of lost my confidence in the mud after the bobble.

 

At the bottom of the trail there was  “locked” gate. After closer inspection
you could see it had been Macgyvered and the was a why to get through.

Then we had a mile or two of muddy ranch road to negotiate .
Thank God there was no clay to pack up the wheels.

 

We thought we would at least hit Mormon Reservoir but the road I
picked was fenced off. It was ~ 3:30PM so we decided to head into
Fairfield for fuel and coffee.

We rode home along the South Fork, Prairie and Blacks Creek,
excellent debate prep.

 

Lazy Butt 2016 | 9/29–10/2 #SafePlaces

 

 

I clocked 185 miles across 2.5 days.
Two big rides on Thursday , Friday  and a short ride on Saturday.
Spectacular colors and perfect riding weather .

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I met Chris in Mountain Home around noon on Wednesday and we convoyed
through Fairfield  and Sun Valley .

 

Camp was  established just north of the Pole Creek Ranger Station .

We had `15 riders at camp , rode in 2-3 groups .
Several came up for the day on Saturday.

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Thursday 9/29

Loop ~ 73 miles 
              Corral ATV /  Chemeketan / Mule Creek / Chicken Creek /
              West Fork Big Smoky /Snowslide / Ross Jeep Trail / Johnson Creek /
              Alturas Creek / Hwy 75 two track 

Trail Boss – Gerald
Sweep – Spode Daddy

10 riders 

Summit of Chicken Creek , old mining road .
Scott and I met the miners on one of our misadventures 8-9 years ago.

 

 

West Fork Big Smoky drainage.

At the West Fork intersection , Scott said he had lost his clutch and was going to
loop back to camp.  Dennis decided to join him , he wasn’t acclimated to
the altitude ( camp was ~ 7300 ft and we had just climbed 2000 ft ).

Snowslide Trail


Side hill on Snowslide

Me riding up Snowslide

 

Snowslide Summit

Johnson Creek



Brian figured out he had a front flat .
I took a short break then rode ahead to tell the others .

Johnson Creek * NF Ross Fork * Alturas Creek intersection 


It was about 5-6 mile drop into Alturas Lake , a fun easy trail.

We then had to book it to Smiley Creek before they closed a 6PM.

I had a Bacon Cheeseburger and Deschutes IPA !  

We met 3 Canadians, one was driving he chase truck,  riding the Tour of Idaho .
They had just ridden 180 miles from Arco .


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Friday 9/30




Loop ~ 78 miles

Frog Lake Loop

Germania Road / Germania Creek / East Fork Salmon River Road /
Boulder Creek / EF Salmon River Road / Grand Prize  

Trail Boss – Scott , Gerald
12 total riders



Jon and Bob replacing brake pads



Dennis
 

Fantastic colors

Brent helping Dennis and I over a step up on a side hill above the creek.

Dennis dropped his bike in the first water crossing.
It wasn’t deep or swift but you couldn’t see the rocks because of the glare.

 

None of us had a 14MM wrench to drain the bowel .
Brent was able to open with pliers .

 

 

There were ~ 4 more water  crossings.

Gerald crossing Germania



Sarah dropped her bike in two of them !

 

 

Germania Trail Head on East Fork Road

Livingston Mine at Boulder Creek Trail Head

“TRUMP” signs painted everywhere even chalked out on the slag heap !

At the trail head some weather was moving in with enough rain to put on
my jacket and change to clear goggle lenses .
It showered most the way into Frog Lake .

Castle Peak

Frog Lake

Parking Frog Lake

 

 

 

We crossed paths with hunters packing in.

The guy’s were  riding their horses while  they had cute women leading the
pack  horses !

 

Boulder Creek Trail Head on East Fork Road .

Grand Prize

Camp end of the day

Jon brought in a big pot of chili and cornbread to share that I heated up  for
dinner !

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Saturday 10/1

Loop ~ 35 miles
Trail Boss – Gerald

It started raining off and on ~ 2-3 AM .
The skies still looked ominous in the morning.
Eric and Jon called it and decided to head back to Boise .

The rest of us decided to see if we would get a break in the weather.
I wanted to ride Big Smoky .

While we were discussing our plans , Gary noticed I had lost my axle
nut and spacer ! It must have happened on the road from Grand Prize
Friday afternoon .


Chris was headed home and offered the nut & spacer off his bike.
I passed on the offer and decided to ride the FreeRide.


Decided to back track on Grand Prize with the slim hope of finding my parts.

 




Gerald at the summit .

Brand new “Wilderness” on the other shore , just sends a shiver up your leg .

 

Bob was thinking about his 96 Husaberg 400 .
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Al and Gary decided to drive to Sun Beam and ride to Custer Lookout.

I wish I  had joined them but I was too lazy to move camp .

It was a short Lazy Butt , only a couple of days , but I rode OK and had fun.