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Post by Larry M on Aug 23, 2021 20:00:23 GMT -5
We are here. We are in Salmon, Idaho. Tom and I arrived yesterday. Charlie arrived today from the state of Washington. Nelson from Charlotte and Carver from Knoxville arrived today as well. So there are five of us total. Rather than twiddle our thumbs waiting for the rest of the gang, Tom and I rode a 60 mile nearby loop. Tom saw a bear cub running in front of him. We used my chainsaw already to cut away a 10 inch tree that fell across the trail. The views here are just amazing. No words can describe, but I will try. The trails out of Salmon were steep and had softball size and larger rocks all over the trail. The elevation went from 3,900 feet to 8,000 at the top of the mountain. The temperature was 43 degrees this morning. It was 78 degrees when we left at noon. Temperature dropped to 65 degrees at the top of the mountain. I was a dumbass for leaving in short sleeves and shorts. The trails were narrow as they hugged the mountain sides. The drops on the other side were straight down. I have to tell you, I probably left squish marks on the steering wheel, I was holding on so tight. The mountain sides had high evergreens with meadows way down at the bottom. We did cross streams that were extremely cold when they splashed over the SxSs. The wind gusts jostled my SxS they were so gusty. The area is slightly arid, but has forests in a lot of places. We saw places where forest fires had gone by in years past. Tomorrow, our destination is the Wild Game Inn. This outpost is near Darby, Montana. We will be in Montana! Another state I've never been in. There is a nearby state park called Painted Rocks. It has a large lake that we will navigate around the next day. Anyway, that's it for now. Will report in next time I have WiFi. larrymccallie.smugmug.com/2021-Idaho-TripLarry
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davyw
Seasoned Trail Rider
Posts: 160
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Post by davyw on Aug 24, 2021 9:23:43 GMT -5
Thanks Larry for the update and looks like you guys are going to have great trip... Please keep the updates coming and get out of dumbass mode and take your jacket...
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Post by Lonnie W on Aug 24, 2021 9:47:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the report, I wanted to make this trip but it fell on my birthday and couldn't make it.
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Post by Randy_R on Aug 24, 2021 20:16:25 GMT -5
Looks like great accommodations and very scenic
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Post by Larry M on Aug 26, 2021 22:11:37 GMT -5
Ok, its the end of day 3 of our Idaho trip now. We are in Riggins, Idaho. It is Thursday, Aug 26th. We had no cell phone service or WiFi at Wild Game Inn near Darby, MT on Tuesday, Aug 24 and at Elk City, ID on Wednesday, Aug 25. So this is the first chance I've had to post anything. The ride from Salmon, ID to the Wild Game Inn was....how can I adequately convey this.....it was awesomeer (more awesome) than you can imagine. The views were scenic and spectacular. Saw mule deer and huge turkeys. The turkeys are bigger than those on the East coast. The turkeys are dummer here though. I almost ran over six of them before they decided which way to go off the trail. The squirrels are totally black and smaller than our grey squirrels. Our Day 2 ride from Wild Game Inn to Elk City was about the same only more mountain ranges that were nearly bare. Forest fires had completely wiped out all the trees. We only saw burned out spires where large fir and spruce trees once stood. The mountains looked torched as well. They were rugged and even tortured looking. We went through three mountain ranges up to summits and then back down into valleys. The summits were just over 8,000 feet. Today, we went through more mountains and valleys up to about 6,500 feet. Oh, temperature at Wild Game Inn was 31 degrees that morning. This morning was 35 degrees in Elk City. It got to up to 88 degrees when we pulled into the Salmon Rapids Lodge in Riggins. So temps changed rapidly based on elevation and valleys. Tom ran into a problem with his Can-Am Maverick Sport. He can no longer go in reverse. Even though his gear shift is in reverse, he can't back up. So, he has to be careful where he parks. Not a real big deal until we miss a turn and he has to do a 20 point turn. Tomorrow, we go to Yellow Pine which is 114 miles. Today, we went 128 miles. Yesterday, we went 124 miles. Nearly all the trails are plenty wide enough for us to go at a brisk 30 miles an hour. There were spots where I could only go 9 mph because the terrain was rough or because the trail got narrow. The heights bothered me a bit at times where the views were not blocked by trees. Open areas were a problem high up the mountains. The smoke has hindered our views. We are not seeing forest fires. What we are seeing is a general haze similar to what you see in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but thicker. That's it for now. I have posted more picturesLarry
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Post by Larry M on Aug 27, 2021 21:59:16 GMT -5
I'm hanging my head in shame today. We were high up a mountain. We had just started down a narrow mountain trail. On the left side was the mountain. On the right side was a straight down to a valley 6,000 feet below. And what do you know....a truck was coming up the trail with a porche right behind it. I yelled, "I can't move. I literally cannot move." My brain was so locked up I couldn't move. I spent about 30 seconds wondering what I was going to do when Carver drove down next to me on his ATV. He asked me if he could drive my SxS past the truck and car. I was so so so relieved. I got out of my SxS. He got in and drove past the automobiles like it was a two lane highway. I walked. As I went past the truck, the guy in it was chuckling. All I said was, "Nice truck", which it was. The woman in the car looked at me like I was crazy. I was. We rode 124 miles from Riggins, Idaho to Yellow Pine, ID. We wanted to get gas first once we arrived. It took 30 minutes to find the owner of the store that had the gas. The gas cost $7.00 a gallon. I got 7 gallons. I then checked into the hotel. Back up the horse. Its not a hotel. The downstairs was a home. I closed the door and knocked on it instead. I nice old lady answered the door. I asked if this was the Yellow Pine Lodge. She said yes. Her husband was looking me over as I was guided to our room upstairs. God what a dump. Tom was shocked. After conferring for a minute, we decided to stay. There is a living room like area near our rooms. Only problem was that a bunch of Mexicans were occupying the living room. When I checked out the porch, more non-English speaking Mexicans were cooking their meals. I had noticed a tavern near our "hotel", so I fast walked over there. I had a very good tasting fajita burrito and a beer. I noticed they had WiFi at the tavern. The "hotel" didn't have WiFi. So I'm here drinking a beer and writing this down. Nelson saw a mountain lion. He almost ran into it. Nelson and Carver took a 10 mile side trip to Pilot Peak. Nelson relayed to me that a Forest Ranger retiree was living at the lookout at Pilot Peak. He had been there 18 days straight. His job was to look for fires. He as a fire spotter. We did see a forest fire in the distance. Actually, we didn't see the fire. We saw the smoke that seemed to go up to the clouds. Remarkably, the smokey haze was clearer than yesterday. We went 124 miles today. Carver and Nelson went 10 miles further to Pilot Peak and back. Today is the end of Day 4. We have 3 more days of riding. I'm guessing we will all wake up early and skedatal quickly in the morning. Our destination is Stanley, Idaho. More pictures and video thanks to Carver
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Post by Bob T on Aug 28, 2021 8:19:40 GMT -5
Larry, that's the funniest ride report I have ever read. I would love to hear the stories the guy in the pickup is telling.
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Post by Ken K on Aug 28, 2021 17:29:49 GMT -5
I can picture it, especially since I remember a few similar episodes from previous Utah trips! 😀
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Post by Randy_R on Aug 28, 2021 19:18:03 GMT -5
Sounds fun. I’ll pass on staying at dumps - hope you don’t get bed bugs.
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Post by Larry M on Aug 28, 2021 20:15:20 GMT -5
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Post by Larry M on Aug 30, 2021 0:23:55 GMT -5
Woke up this morning to 24 degrees in Stanley, ID. Rode 110 miles. We made it to Challis, Idaho at the end of Day 6. Today, the trails were the roughest, narrowest, and highest of the previous days. We reached an altitude of 9,360 feet. Now, if you've been to high plateaus like Taylor Park, Colorado, you'd think 9,360 feet is no big deal. You'd be so so wrong. Imagine being on the side of a mountain and all you see is deep deep valleys below. At one narrow spot, I had a stop because a large rock was in the trail. I was afraid I'd bounce off it, loose control, and plummet to the bottom. I yelled over the radio that there is a rock in the trail I can't get around. Carver to the rescue again. Carver says over the radio, "I'll move it". He gets off his ATV, reaches down. Picks up the rock, and throws it overboard. So the rock wasn't that big. Sue me. It sure looked big. Charlie said he saw another fire in the distance. I didn't look. I was too busy concentrating on the trail. As we approached Challis, on flatter land, I could see a layer of brown haze in the distance. I even got a whiff of the smell of smoke. That's it for today. Tomorrow is our last day on the trails. Even more wonderful picturesLarry
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Post by Randy_R on Aug 30, 2021 13:38:18 GMT -5
Great report Larry. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by Larry M on Aug 30, 2021 16:17:20 GMT -5
Just as we were leaving Challis, Idaho this morning, two mule deer walked into our hotel courtyard. We rolled into Salmon, Idaho at noon. We traveled 93 miles at a fast clip today. We averaged about 40 mph through rolling hills and valleys mostly on wide gravel roads. Total miles on my rig was 865 miles. Sadly, our SxS trip is over. End of Day 7. What a blast. Its over too soon. Larry
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Post by Nelson B on Sept 2, 2021 20:58:41 GMT -5
Best ATV/SxS trip I've ever been on. The most spectacular scenery that varied every day and during the day. Collectively we saw hawks, bald eagles, lots of mule deer, elk and antelope, a bear cub, mountain goats, and a close encounter with a mountain lion. Carver and I heard wolves howling in the middle of the night while camping in Stanley. Carver and I camped two nights (one night down to 24 degrees); we did all of the side trails up to the peaks - including Pilot Peak fire lookout that was 9846 ft. elevation. There were tons of trails everywhere, but we stuck with the main trail around this wilderness area that was probably 80-90% gravel/dirt/paved roads - but many were high elevation. We ran into very few other riders. Very pleasant temps, mostly cold at night. People in Idaho were friendly and very cool.
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Post by CarverO on Sept 5, 2021 22:16:52 GMT -5
One of the best to date. Thank you Larry and Tom.
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Post by CarverO on Sept 6, 2021 14:59:52 GMT -5
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Post by Randy_R on Sept 6, 2021 15:25:22 GMT -5
Very scenic. Nice pics.
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Post by Larry M on Sept 6, 2021 18:41:17 GMT -5
Great panoramic pictures Carver. You gotta teach me how to take those kind of pictures.
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paul65
Novice Trail Rider
Posts: 67
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Post by paul65 on Sept 19, 2021 19:19:23 GMT -5
I really enjoyed hearing from Larry about the trip. I'd love to place that rock at your camp at Hilltop. Each time I go to WV I always find at least one rock to bring back home. I put them where the water drips off the roof at the base of the garage where the machines live. My favorite story is Matt's Dad rode with me on one trip and I found this huge rock. He's a big guy and I wanted it, took the both of us to put it in the back of the X2. THAT rock stands out now!
Carver's video and pictures blew me away. What a bucket list trip! So glad you guys had a good one, and thanks for sharing.
It is things like this that inspire others. I'd have never considered a trip out west until I saw this. Not saying I'm going - Saying I'm thinking about it. THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
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