I had sent an email out asking if anyone was interested in an adventure ride through the Owyhee’s. Kurt respoded that he and Tim were going to ride Deadwood on Sunday. I was in !
We got to the parking at 9 AM sharp. We had the mountain to ourselves the whole day.
Kurt said he wanted to ride up Julie Creek then down the Ridge on the way back
Tim and I at the crest of Julie Creek . Julie Creek was a steep climb with a couple of technical spots , cobbly rooted sections. Tim and I are still in prime physical condition.
White Hawk Basin
There is even more bridges on trail than last year. I never had to drop to 1st and most of the trail was in 3rd gear.
Kurt ine “the creek”
Tim
Kurt in The Basin. Kurt wanted lots of photos !
Tim at the White Hawk intersection at the road.
Deadwood Dam, the Feds seem to have a new sign every year.
Tim taking a rest waiting for Kurt to catch up.
Kurt told us he was tried and wanted to ride Julie Creek back down, didn’t feel like the challenge of Deadwood Ridge side hill. Heights gets to him when he is tried .
TRAIL BOSS - DAVID RIDERS – BRIAN , JOHN ( BEST DRESSED )
LOOP – 67 MILES
TRAILS – HOLE IN WALL , ROANHIDE , COYOTE, BREMNER , BLUE RIDGE , PRESIDENTS , NF LIME CREEK , SHEEP DRIVE
IT WAS “COLD” FOR MID-JUNE , STILL 50 DEGREES AT 11 AM. I PUT ME JACKET ON THEN DECIDED TO CARRY IT IN MY PACK. MOST OF THE RIDE I KEPT THINKING ABOUT PUTTING IT ON BUT NEVER DID.
THE MAJORITY OF THE DIRT WAS GOOD , NOT DRY SLICK YET.
SHEEP DRIVE , PRESIDENT , LOWER SOUTH FORK ALL HAVE HAD SHEEP. SOME OF THE SIDE HILLS WERE SLOUGHED OFF AND HAD SMALL ROCK SLIDES ON THE TRAILS.
SF LIME CREEK – WATER IS DOWN TO SUMMER LEVELS
DEER PARK IT WAS TOO WINDY AND COOL TO EAT LUNCH HERE, FELT LIKE FALL.
David and Karen spent a long weekend camping at the end of Willow Creek Road. Brian and I drove up Saturday to ride.
David met us at Cherry Creek. We rode through Ditto Flats to “The Secret Trail”.
Brian and David at one of lower saddles above Ditto Flats.
On top of Dollar Hide Ridge.
The Middle Fork still had a large cornice on top so we doubled back and rode over to the top of South Fork.
There was a couple of snow banks to negotiate and someone had already made several cuts.
Brain was my personal trail groomer.
Burn in the bottoms of the South Fork, a good wind will bring more trees down.
Brian and I swapped bikes so he could compare suspension. Took a bit before I could ride with a clutch, it was a real cluster fuck the first few minutes.
Decided to take Meadow Creek back up the ridge. It’s an old logging road that is an ATV trail. Brain cleared it for us.
There was a tree too large to clear so we had to cut across the switch back. I made it in one try !
We took Willow Creek ATV trail back to David’s camp. It’s in rough shape, full of new rocks , small landslides , blowouts and the creek has lots of new square edges. I don't see the FS putting the money into repairing this for ATVs.
I decided to try aPirelli MT43 Trials Tire on the front. Felt goofy on the road but I liked it in the rocks , creeks and logs. Also felt good on side hills and ruts. Also first ride with Trail Tech Fan, set point was at 190F need to reset at 200F to keep it from coming on so often. Now I just need something that will whistle Dixie !
When I got home my new helmet was waiting at the gate ! Big surprise since I ordered it the day before from Atomic-Moto and it had to be shipped from KLIM.
RIDERS – UNCLE KURT , UNCLE TIM , THAD , SPODE DADDY
Byron plotted our route , rooms and gas stops. Our original intent was to explore Jarbidge and then the different ghost towns in Elko county.
However the road south through Charleston would not be open for another month or longer.
TUESDAY , BOISE TO JARBIDGE ~ 270 MILES / 7.5 HOURS IN THE SADDLE
We met and had breakfast at the Shari’s in Meridian.
Top of Bachman Grade. Shortly after this I dropped my bike going through a turn that had a fresh load of gravel. I was sitting down , got out of balance, over corrected and went into a slomo tank slap.
The tank guard was scrapped up but the tank survived.
The east end of Antelope Ridge.
Had lunch a the Bruneau One Stop. Never pass up a meal or gas ! FYI- There is non-ethanol gas across the street.
After lunch I matched my idle mixture screws to Kurt's setting. Bike ran better the rest of the trip.
It was warm in Bruneau almost 90F.
The wind picked up after lunch and we had stiff head winds all the way into Grasmere.
Regrouping on Roland road at HWY 51.
Stop along Tokembamy Ranch entrance
Ride into Roland.
Roland is an old ranching and mining community that was active in the early 1900’s through the 40’s.
View of the Jarbidge Mountains from the Diamond A Desert .
We thought we would be able to take Deer Creek into town but it was marked closed. Later we found out from the locals that it is passable.
Butch helping us plan an alternative route to Wells, still snow above the 8,000 ft. Decided to ride Three Creek out of the canyon and loop just west of Salmon Falls Creek to just south Jack Pot.
The canyon just north of Jarbidge.
Kurt and Tim on top of the canyon.
Phone break on China Creek road
Cattle round up.
Fuel stop in Jack Pot
O'Neil basin east of Jarbidge.
On the way into Metropolis The Dude collided with a cow pie at 70mph.
Lincoln School ruins
Hotel
Metropoliswas a planned community that never got it’s water rights secured before being built.
We gassed up in Wells , which has seen better days.
We took a service road just north of I80 then a series of roads that followed the railroad tracks to HWY 233 into Montello.
Just outside Montello. I had pulled over because I forgot my ear plugs. Tim pointed out the boots . The owner , Greg, came out and talked to us while I was taking photos.
The Californian Trail Byway.
Tim at Rock Springs
High desert range land just outside of Jack Pot , NV.
We gassed up in Rogerson and tacos for a snack.
We then took Antelope Spring Road to Castleford.
Balanced Rock
Thor , German Shepard , towed behind a Harley.
Spent the night in Hagerman. Had a great meal at the Snake River Grill .
FRIDAY - HAGERMAN TO BOISE
Friday was pretty much a straight run into Boise. The only issue was me blowing right by Byron on a turn. We had to regroup in Glenns Ferry.
