Bryon and I had plans to ride through Hill City cut back across the mountains to Bliss then work our way to Box Canyon.
As we climbed Immigrant Road I decided to change the route through the valley since the mountains looked like they might have weather.
We had strong cross winds that would blow you off the road if you stood on the pegs .
Google Earth showed a row to the canyon edge . Cool ! I’m not going to hike to the bottom but should get some nice pictures from the top. However you have to park just off the pavement and hike a couple miles to the canyon. The wind was still blowing 30+mph and I was in motocross boots . It was big UGH UGH.
We decided to loop back to Hagerman for lunch.
Shoestring hugs the cliffs above the Snake River between Bliss and Glens Ferry. Great views.
We held the ride at Baumgartner this year , camp was set up in Kelly Flats . 12 riders showed up across the 4 days, including two from California . I rode 3 of the 4, clocking ~160 miles.
A cold front moved through the prior week dropping 8-10 inches of snow at the higher elevations.
The lows hovered around freezing with highs in the 60’s , epic conditions !
Thursday 9/28 – Atlanta
Trail Boss – Dave Riders - Scott , John C , Jon , Gerald, Gary E , Gary T , John A
Loop ~ 75 miles Little Water , Willow Creek Connector , Decker Creek , Flint Creek Atlanta – Burgers at Beaver Creek James Creek Road, Corbus , Trail Creek , Shake Creek
My first time on (the entire length of) Decker , Flint and Corbus .
The View from Little Water
Little Water
Top of Willow Creek Connector , the north slope had 4-6 inches of snow. The ground wasn’t frozen but still felt sketchy with a trials tire.
Willow Creek Connector and Decker Creek
Dave helped get everyone over a couple of trees at the bottom of Decker.
Saddle after climbing through snow and rocks on Decker
Quite a bit of snow on the north slopes. Decker probably had 6-8 inches. I was spooked all the way down. Decker and Senator intersection. We decided to take Decker into Atlanta to avoid more snow.
Looking back up the Decker drainage
Flint * Decker intersection
Had lunch at Beaver Lodge , got the last burgers they had on hand. The wood stove was blazing so we stayed outside. A couple of the guys bought gas from Johnny , a third generation resident of Atlanta.
Gary T and Scott decided to take James Creek Road into Featherville and camp.
The rest of rode Corbus/Trail Creek/Shake Creek , ~ 30 miles of uninterrupted single track. Corbus was a first for several of us , sweet sweet trail.
I started to fade on the way back, riding slower and doing stupid shit. Dave rode sweep to keep an eye on me.
Shake Creek
Dave’s helmet cam.
Friday 9/29 – Boardman
We split into two groups :
A Riders – Dave , Gerald, Randy ,Gary – Beaver Creek /Deadwood /Boardman / washouts along SF Boise Road
Spodes ~John A, Jon, John C , Scott Loop ~ 48 miles Kelly Creek/Bremner /Boardman/Conant/Little Skelton/Skelton
We would meet at the Deadwood* Boardman intersection, wait 30 minutes before moving on if we didn’t connect .
When I rolled out of Deer Park , I tried to ride a ridge between two ruts after dropping off a tree root. The front wheel washed and I body slammed into the hillside . Felt like I got rabbit punched in the kidney.
I was able to pick the bike up so I decided I would be OK.
John , Jon and Scott on Bremner .
Riding up Boardman Driveway
Boardman Pass. The north side had a bit of snow and was frozen in spots.
Just below the snowline .
As we rolled up to the intersection shortly after Dave had arrived .
After maybe 20-30 minutes Gerald, Gary and Randy arrived.
One of the first creek crossings .
About halfway down there are several shale slides and rock gardens on the side hill.
In a easy section between the obstacles I was cruising in 2nd , clipped a rock and high-sided. It took be a bit to crawl back on the trail. I walked down around the corner and gave a couple of shouts for “Gerald” .
Walked back to the bike to wait for help. After a few Gerald walks up, he happened to be stopped at the next rock garden with his helmet off and heard me !
I had a tow strap , tied the front wheel off to the stump and we flipped the bike over. Then we worked the back wheel up. Moved the strap to the rear Tugger and tied off to a rock ( the one I hit ). Started alternating moving the front and rear until we got the bike back on the trail.
It’s a beautiful canyon but I didn’t do much sight seeing after my spill.
In the creek bottoms I started to notice every time I was on the pegs my pack felt heavy . When I stopped, I couldn't swing my leg off. Finally figured out the bungee cord I had fastened my wind breaker had hooked on the Tugger and my wind breaker was gone !
I rode Conat , Little Skeleton , Skeleton to get around the washouts on the road.
A-Riders – Dave , Randy , Gerald and Gary wanted to ride the washouts and slides.
Gerald was heartbroken he scratched his bike !
Saturday – Started raining ~ 6AM and quit about 10-11AM.
I would be exceptional conditions but I felt beat up and tried. I decided to take a rest day and hang around camp.
Sunday 10/1 – Middle Fork Lime Creek and Presidents
Loop ~ 35 miles Kelly Creek/ MF Lime Creek / President / Blue Ridge
Riders – Scott ,Loyal, Jon , John , Doug
I wanted to do a quick ride , get back , break camp and be heading home by 3PM.
Doug said this was his first ride in maybe five years .
Dropping down the Middle Fork of Lime Creek.
We stopped to wait for Doug , he started out OK.
I had stuffed the ear plug in my ear and couldn’t get it out. Loyal had to use Leatherman's to retrieve it.
While waiting for Doug we heard a yell.
I thought it was happy yell but he had jammed his foot between the peg and a rock. We offered to ride him back up to the ATV trail but he wanted to do the loop.
The bottom of Presidents
The “lunch spot” on President. It started snowing and we had to gear up. We heard Doug’s bike then it was quite . He had looped his bike and broke the handle bars. Loyal was able to shift the bars and clamp each piece into the clamps.
It was couple of miles of easy single track then ATV trail into camp. Doug had to retighten the bars a couple of times but he was able to make it back to camp !
