IDASPODE’S EXCELLENT RIDE REPORT -
“John and I set off yesterday morning to explore the terrain on the south side of Baumgartner with low expectations. The weather was forecast as mid 20s overnight, mid 40s for highs with a good chance of precip in the afternoon. We didn’t expect to get very far up the trails but are totally bored with the desert. I just wanted to get out and ride. Normally we start doing this about mid to late May.
The morning dawned with light rain in town but by our 9am departure time we had partial sun, low clouds over the foothills above town and windy.
We park a few miles off Hwy 20 on the road to Pine/Featherville. From here we have to ride several miles of dirt road to get to the single track. Normally, the creeks are roaring at this time of year so we first tried getting to the only trail that doesn’t entail crossing the So Fk. of Lime right off the bat. We call it Sheep Drive and there is a bridge across the main fork of Lime. We didn’t get a quarter mile down that access trail before we hit snow blocking the trail. Fail.
Option 2, go look at the South Fork crossing, fully expecting it to be very high and fast. Surprisingly it wasn’t high at all, more like summer levels so we crossed it w/o issue. From here we hoped to get to the bridge across the MFk. of Lime and ride Presidents but once again ran into snow blocking the trail. Fail.
Option 3, see if we can get down a trail called Hole in the Wall, maybe cross the creek and ride Roanhide, Coyote or the SFk trails. No go, snow blocking the trail on a long downhill through thick sagebrush. Fail.
Option 4, try to get onto Hole via some old logging roads. Yea, more impassable snow. Fail.
We had about exhausted our options so we headed back toward the truck and could see a storm brewing off in the distance. We did find a short section of cow trail which was fun but dead ended not far in. Light snow had started to fall, that storm wasn’t as far away as it had appeared. Within a few minutes the snow got very heavy and the wind picked up appreciably. At one point on the ride out the cow trail the snow had no vertical component, fully horizontal. John had full wet weather gear on, I had a waterproof jacket on and pants in my pack but didn’t want to stop and put them on in the blizzard. We’ve ridden in plenty of snow and if it’s cold enough, nothing sticks, it just blows off. This wasn’t the case today, it was wet sticky snow, accumulating on any and all exposed surfaces, goggles, chest protector, arms, pants, boots etc. Within ten minutes the ground was covered and getting slick. With the blowing snow, flat light and wet goggles it was hard to pick a line, couldn’t tell where the ruts were. It was a long, slow 12 miles to the truck. When the snow started we joked that the sun would probably be out by the time we made it to the truck. Sure enough, the sun came out a few minutes after we got back.
All in all, it was a fun ride, nice to get out of the desert and into some real trees, we ended up with 43 miles.”
BEAVER POND ON THOMPSON CREEK
SURVEYING THE SNOW ON THE NORTH SLOPE OF TRAIL INTO HOLE IN THE WALL.
WOULD BE EASY TO MAKE IT DOWN BUT NOT BACK UP.
LOGGING ROADS BLOCKED BY SNOW
BEGINNINGS OF SNOW STORM
BACK AT THE TRUCK.
First pass using SONY AS100V helmet cam. Using stock mount your limited on position on the helmet.
These are a few clips with better views.
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