Thursday, October 20, 2016

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

map

topo

Loop ~ 250 miles
Riders – John , Byron

 

route


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 .

20161019_120118

Castle Rock Road

 

20161019_123817

Iron Mountain behind Fairfield

 

20161019_133007

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

20161019_133948

View of the Fairfield Prairie from Davis Mountain .


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



compare



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.

20161019_135707

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.

 

20161019_141727

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.

 

compare

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.

 

Thursday, October 6, 2016

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

 

LB  map

 

lb topo

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 .

========================================

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

20160928_150627

 

lazy butt 2016

20160928_165212

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.

20160928_165228




20160929_083959

20160928_170527

20160928_172226

=========================================================================

Thursday 9/29

map

topo

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 

DSCF5632 Stitch
Summit of Chicken Creek , old mining road .
Scott and I met the miners on one of our misadventures 8-9 years ago.

 

 

DSCF5635 Stitch
West Fork Big Smoky drainage.

14566431_1480707791944609_8424590036456181884_o


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

Snowslide Trail

DSCF5637 Stitch
Side hill on Snowslide

14566194_1480707735277948_3232459542298156763_o

Me riding up Snowslide


DSCF5639

DSCF5640 Stitch

 

DSCF5643 Stitch

Snowslide Summit

Johnson Creek

Johnson Creek

DSCF5645 Stitch

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

DSCF5646 Stitch

DSCF5650 Stitch

Johnson Creek * NF Ross Fork * Alturas Creek intersection 


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

14567451_1480707128611342_1228225963904164205_o

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

20160929_175316

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 .


=========================================

Friday 9/30

map

topo

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

14633515_1480707025278019_1468170787463506291_o (1)

Jon and Bob replacing brake pads

DSCF5653

Dennis
 

DSCF5654

Fantastic colors

14560222_1480706898611365_9201110177690620994_o

14570763_1480706928611362_46217093945225243_o
Brent helping Dennis and I over a step up on a side hill above the creek.

DSCF5655

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.

DSCF5659 Stitch

 

DSCF5656

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

DSCF5658 

 DSCF5665


There were ~ 4 more water  crossings.

Gerald crossing Germania


14570593_1480706831944705_7534272396796427637_o
Sarah dropped her bike in two of them !

 

 

DSCF5666 Stitch Stitch

DSCF5666 Stitch
Germania Trail Head on East Fork Road



14570730_1480706801944708_4428607820115136070_o

14633173_1480706748611380_8445386651002285372_o

DSCF5670

Livingston Mine at Boulder Creek Trail Head



DSCF5670

14468250_10210878228450442_6377781032900722635_o

“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 .

DSCF5671 Stitch

Castle Peak

DSCF5674 Stitch

Frog Lake

DSCF5676 Stitch
Parking Frog Lake

 

DSCF5678 Stitch

DSCF5680 Stitch

 

DSCF5682 Stitch 1

 

DSCF5685

We crossed paths with hunters packing in.

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

 

DSCF5686 Stitch

Boulder Creek Trail Head on East Fork Road .

14556781_10210878173529069_7041664828772808977_o

14556794_10210878176689148_1314329845848290275_o

Grand Prize

14434941_10210878148768450_5876464790215360928_o

Camp end of the day

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

=================================================

Saturday 10/1

map

topo

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 .

20161001_104201

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.

 



DSCF5688

Gerald at the summit .

20161001_132432

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

20161001_132639

20161001_131658

 

DSCF5689 Stitch

DSCF5691 Stitch
DSCF5693 Stitch

Bob was thinking about his 96 Husaberg 400 .
==================================================================

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 .Smile

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

 
Site Meter