It's about time I start this report. My Dad, Brother, and I spent 12 days in Idaho and a bit of Montana riding over 1,000 miles of dirt covering all the good stuff. We dodged fires, caught lots of fish, hit some hot springs, and ended up in the middle of a manhunt for a murderous kidnapper. Just another Harder family adventure...One day we'll talk Mom into going. We hauled the bikes and gear to our base camp in the Clearwater NF near the Kelly Creek work center. I've spent many days exploring and fly fishing this area, and it makes a great launch point for what were were gonna do. We spent Friday 8-2 thru Sunday8-4 riding and fishing around base camp. Hoodoo Pass. My Dad realizing we are headed to BFE. We hit up some fishing missed by the masses I was in my happy place. Yeah PBR, but the IPA's were in the cooler at camp...
Solid work by my brother Aaron Base Camp We knew we'd be living off of freeze dried food, so we took full advantage of things like ice and coolers. I was the chef, and we didn't go hungry! Or thirsty. Life was good. We headed out for the big ride on Monday 8-5. We headed south over toboggan ridge and rode 60 miles of awesomeness to the Lochsa Lodge for food and fuel
We fueled up bikes and bodies at the Lochsa Lodge and headed into the Lolo Motorway to re-trace Lewis and Clark's path and take in some awesome history and sights. Indian Post Office: This place had some mojo. I was happy to finally be there. Devil's Chair:
We rode about 100 miles of the Lolo Trail and were aiming for Lowell along Highway 12. I tracked a route down called "VanCamp" Rd. This dropped about 4,000 ft in about 4 miles. It was really a 4 wheeler trail and had water ditches dug every 100'. Going downhill we were hitting the steep side of those things and you couldn't get out of 1st gear. I was sick of those damn things by the time I made it down to Hwy 12, so I stopped and took my helmet off and waited. Time had passed the pee break picture taking time frame and my Dad and Brother still were'nt down yet. I started to get a bad feeling. Right as I was getting my helmet on I saw two headlights coming out of the woods. My brother pulls up and says "Dude, Dad ate shit hard." There was no humor in his tone and I could tell my Dad was in pain. That trail was a rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other. My Dad hit a water ditch with too much speed, and as he got bucked his top luggage shifted. He nailed the wall without getting his hands off the bars and shoulder checked it hard. I felt for bones sticking out and then we limped to Lowell and up the Selway river to camp and figure out how bad the shoulder was. Camp: I could tell my Dad was in a bad way and possibly getting "shockey" on us so we had him lay down by the fire and drink some water and advil. At this point I started to wonder if we could pull this ride off or if we were going to find a hospital in the morning. I was bummed at the prospect of aborting the ride, but was fully prepared to accept it if need be. Brother and I made sure to tell Dad it'd be OK if we needed to etc. He said we'll see how it is in the morning, so we made hot chocolate and Jack Daniels and laid by the river and watched shooting stars and saw a UFO. I think it was a F.S. drone - I hope! We must have said "WTF is that!?" at least 50 times as it slowly moved 300' over us emitting an orange glow. It was dead silent and moving side to side. WTF indeed!
In the morning we did our oatmeal and coffee routine and my Dad was surprised that his shoulder wasn't worse. He was willing to push on and keep going. The old man is as tough as he is stubborn, so we loaded up the bikes Our route would take us up to Selway Falls and over the mountains to Elk City. From E.C. we'd head thru Dixie and down to the Salmon River to camp on the river bar and fish and swim. This was a lower mileage day, so it was perfect for my Dad to test his shoulder. The Falls: Me and Pops On the Way to Elk City my Dad chased a black wolf for 1/4 mile - he was pretty stoked on that. He tried for a pic, but it didn't turn out We made it to Elk City and got food and fuel. I always like hanging out here because you meet the best characters.
We passed thru Dixie and stopped at the old graveyard. My Brother and I rode thru here 2 years ago and couldn't believe how many new cabins sprung up. I guess the world is getting smaller everyday...
To get down to the Salmon River, you have to descend almost 4,000' and 27 switchbacks. It is absolutely beautiful! But every time you gawk at the scenery, you hit a baby head and almost fly off the cliff. I don't have any pics of the way down - it's all on helmet cam. We made it down and secured our camp spot, then it was time for laundry and a refreshing swim! Only bikes and quads can fit across the bridge. My Dad got into the water and somehow managed to float like a dead body. I guess he's full of hot air after all. He said it felt great on his shoulder etc. My Brother and I couldn't stop laughing so we snapped this pic: We all have that moment on a trip where the work stress finally melts away and our "give-a-shit" button turns off. This was that moment for my Dad. Don't worry, that his finger...he's a joker. I looked at my brother and said "Dad's officially on vacation." More to come....
Great pictures of your trip! I used to head over there at least twice a summer until the wolves eliminated most of the big game that I enjoyed so much. How about that temp change dropping down to the Salmon?
T Thanks Xcuvator! It's pretty sad what the wolves have done over there. I didn't even see one moose this trip, and Elk seem near extinct there. One guy in Elk City had a shirt on that said "If you see an Elk, shoot the wolf that's eating it" I love how warm it stays at night down in the canyon on the Salmon. Can't beat it!
Thanks for tuning in everyone! So, where was I? On day 3 we headed back out of the Salmon River and back to Elk City. It's an in and out ride, but worth every mile of it. This is one of my favorite places to camp. In the morning we watched the bush pilot / mailman make his mail run like he does every Wednesday. He does one hell of a maneuver to land on the bar down river, and he's in his late 70's! I'm told it's the last air mail route in the lower 48. The way Up: I knew there was a fire in the Magruder Corridor, but we went into Elk City and checked with the Rangers to see how far in we could get. If we could get to the upper Selway Crossing, we'd go just for the good fishing... But, they had it shut down at Observation Point. Damn!
I had a plan if we couldn't get thru: We'd just run the route backwards from Elk City. So we had lunch in E.C. and jumped onto the old Elk City Wagon Road We then went up Mt. Idaho and onto the Grangeville Salmon Rd towards the ghost town of Florence. The Grave Yard is cool and spooky:
There really wasn't much left structure-wise in Florence but the Grave Yard is worth the side trip. We headed towards Riggins and made a beautiful descent down to the Salmon River: By the time we reached Riggins it was getting pretty late. I mentioned getting a room so Pops could rest his shoulder in a bed and get some ice on it. That didn't much arm twisting so we ran the main drag and eyeballed chow stops and hotels. On the north end of town there was a nice outside door hotel on the river. I said "I bet that one ain't cheap!" but my Dad and Brother went in and proved me wrong. $66 a room! At that price we got two rooms so we could all have a bed. Then we went to an awesome cafe and nearly went into food coma from homemade chicken parmesan and blackberry cobbler with ice cream. Man it was good! Adventure riding is tough sometimes Room with a view: More to come...
Thursday 8-8 We woke up well rested in Riggins and had breakfast at the same place we had dinner. The River Rock Cafe' is too good to pass up! Our plan was to ride up river and climb French Mountain towards Burgdorf. That Climb up French Mountain is awesome. I lost count on how many switchbacks there were. The ride to Burgdorf was pretty nice. We checked out the hot springs and thought about grabbing a cabin, but it was too early in the day to stop. Plus, Hot springs are less awesome when it's 95 degrees out. But, Burgdorf is really cool!
