Day 3: Ketchum to Ice Springs Campground

I got up relatively early and went through my standard bikepacking breakfast/pack up routine. I stopped at the creek close to where I camped and topped off all my water stores before heading off to the queen climb of the trip, Dollar Hide. The ride from where I camped to the start of the climb was really pretty. The first part was shaded with trees and some cliffs then things opened up a bit more where most everything was burned. The elevation was high (7000+ feet for most of the climb) so that was taxing and I was going slow. But it was an enjoyable climb and I was kind of sad it was over.

Once you get over the top you get back into the trees. The downhill was steep and long, but not too precarious. You just have to really stay focused and pick your lines, etc. I could tell the temps were rising a lot was I was dropping down.

A guy on a horse who was herding cattle with a couple dogs yelled to me a couple miles after the bottom of the descent. He was wanting to know if I had seen any cattle on the descent. I told him I didn’t and we talked about moving cattle and wildlife for a few minutes before I kept moving. He mentioned that there were a lot of wolves in the area and indicated I should have a pistol on my hip at all times for protection. I know there are wolves in the area, but I’m not terribly afraid of them as I don’t think they are much of a threat to humans. I’m much more worried about humans, rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and bears (in that order).

Shortly after talking to the cowboy I came across the hot springs area Heidi and I stopped at in 2018. I checked it out a bit – the water felt amazing! – but didn’t get in as it was already getting a bit warm and I didn’t want to overheat myself.

My mid-day target was the Smokey Bar; I was hoping they had some type of “real” food there I could have for lunch. I think I had about 10 miles to get there. The road was mostly downhill a percent or two, which was nice. The road surface was really sandy, though, and got progressively sandier the closer I got to the Smokey Bar.

I got a cold Coke and a Gatorade, but unfortunately wasn’t able to get any food since they only had packaged stuff and I had plenty of that. (Man, some fries would have been nice!!) I had a nice chat with the owner, whom I had seen talk on the PBS documentary about the SnF race. She confirmed that the road was open to Featherville and said it had been completed in 2020.

The section after Smokey Bar pretty much all the way to Featherville was probably the most scenic for the entire day. I think in 2018 I was so preoccupied with getting through the washed out sections safely that I didn’t really have an opportunity to appreciate how beautiful it was.

The route I had plotted had me skirt around Featherville on an ATV trail, which was kind of fun. I popped out on the highway and rode that to Pine where I stopped at the Pine Store for drinks (a spicy V8 and La Croix!) and some snacks. I calculated I had about 8-10 miles or so to Ice Springs, which is where I planned to camp. However, I was looking at the wrong spot on the map and it was more like 13+ miles. And there was a pretty significant climb along the way so that caught me by surprise. I was struggling in the late-afternoon heat and was barely able to turn the pedals on the steepest part of the climb. But I made it to the top and had a mile or two to go to the campground.

Unfortunately all the official spots at Ice Springs were occupied, but there is a large “overflow” area right next to it so I just found a suitable spot and set up camp. No table, again, so that sucked. But I had access to the creek, which was clear and cold. I filtered a bunch of water, made dinner, and tried to get some sleep. My plan was to get up as early as I could so I could beat the heat and get home at a reasonable time.

• Distance: 85.6 miles
• Climbing: 5394 feet
• Highest point: 8712 feet

Morning filter spot

Climbing up Dollar Hide

More climbing

Still climbing

Over the top and heading down

Cowboy

Worswick Hot Springs

The bikepacker-friendly Smokey Bar

Big Smokey Creek

South Fork Boise River

South Fork Boise River just north of Pine

Anderson Ranch Reservoir

Home for the night at Ice Springs Campground

Day 2: Stanley to Ketchum

It rained a bit during the night, but I don’t think it really amounted to much as my tent and bike were basically dry in the morning. I didn’t sleep great, but that’s pretty normal after a tough day of riding and then camping solo. I went through my normal morning routine and was riding a little after 7:00. I quickly hit a problem on FSR 682 about a mile from the campground. The road was underwater and there was a gate on the other side so even if I could get across the deep water section I’m not sure I could have gotten past the gate. I decided to turn around and just blast all the way into Stanley on Highway 21, avoiding the Nip and Tuck/Lower Stanley part altogether. That would have probably added an hour or two to my day and it was already going to be a long one. I was bummed to not be able to ride that, but I had to make some choices.

I think it was around 10 miles before I got to Stanley so it was a little farther than I had thought. It was really nice riding on the highway, though. Barely any cars that early in the morning, a decent shoulder, and mostly downhill so I made good time.

I got some snacks at the gas station and went to Pioneer Park to get on the Stanley-Redfish trail. There was a little bakery/cafe right near the park; had I known that I would have stopped there for some food (and coffee!) rather than at the gas station.

The airport is right where the trail starts and it was surprisingly busy. I think I saw seven planes land in the time it took me to find the trail and take a few pictures.

As for the trail itself, it was really nice – so much better than having to ride on the highway. It ended at Redfish Lake Road right by Chinook Bay Campground. I crossed that and got on Decker Flat Road, which was also a cool little road that paralleled the highway. It was steep and rocky in places, but better than the highway. The first 3/4 was wooded, but then it opened up a bit toward the end where I crossed the Salmon River and Highway 21 and got on Valley Road, which I had remembered vividly from when Heidi and I rode it in 2018. I think it was a brutal 12 miles to the Highway 75 crossing. Lots of ups and downs on an OK road. But wide open and getting hot. Not my favorite part of the day, for sure.

The route/Garmin was a little messed up the last two miles before the highway. I was supposed to hang a left, but the road wasn’t where my GPS was telling me it should be. I had to backtrack and take a different road/trail, but it ended up working out. If I do this again I need to revisit this area and make sure I know where I’m going.

I crossed the highway and started the climb up to Galena Summit. I think the official climb on my Garmin was around 4.8 miles and 1,300 feet of gain. While the climb wasn’t as brutal as I thought it was going to be, it was still tough. It topped out around 8,700 feet so you could definitely feel the elevation. In the interest of time/safety I rode the highway down rather than the Titus Lake singletrack. I got some much-needed water at Galena Lodge and rested for a couple minutes before hopping on the Harriman Trail. (I wish I would have gotten a big salad at the lodge and skipped the greasy Pad Thai I got in Ketchum.)

I rode the Harriman as far as I could then got on the highway and rode into Ketchum. The highway has a really wide shoulder so I felt really comfortable doing that. A few miles from town there’s a really nice paved path that takes you into town. I scouted out a Thai place and went there for some Pad Thai. It wasn’t that great, but I was so hungry that anything would have tasted good. I picked up a Gatorade at a gas station afterwards and made my way to Warm Springs Road, which was where I was going to try to find a place to camp.

There are quite a few dispersed spots on Warm Springs Road, but unfortunately most of them are geared towards vehicle camping. So, not great for tents. The farther you get from town the better the spots are. I think the place I ended up at was around five or six miles out of Ketchum. There was a creek nearby, but it was a bit of a walk, which wasn’t ideal, but was better than nothing. And the site was basically just a dirt spot with no table or anything so keeping stuff clean and organized was a little challenging. But I was able to get cleaned up pretty well in the creek and since I had already eaten I didn’t have to prepare any food. I got settled into my tent and tried to get a good night sleep, which of course didn’t really happen. hahaha

• Distance: 89.1 miles
• Climbing: 5200 feet
• Highest point: 8714 feet

Not motivated enough to cross that

Stanley airport

Decker Flat Road

Valley Road. Ugh.

More Valley Road

Climbing up to Galena Summit

Climbing up to Galena Summit

View over the top of Galena Summit

Harriman Trail

Dispersed camp spot outside Ketchum

I’ve been itching to go on a longer bikepacking trip this summer, but the timing just hasn’t worked out. Before you know it it’s going to be winter so I figured I had to get creative if I was going to make something happen. We had a camping trip to Warm Lake planned with my parents so I started researching route options around there. Heidi was willing to drive home without me so I was focusing on ways to get home from Warm Lake. Initially I was thinking about spending a single night out and taking a direct route that went by Deadwood Reservoir and then Placerville. But as I thought more about it, doing the reverse Smoke-n-Fire route and spending a few more days was something I was more interested in.

Day 1: Warm Lake to Stanley

After a great couple days camping with my parents I strapped my gear on the Fargo and took off for Stanley. I shed my jacket quickly as I started the climb up to Warm Lake Summit. The weather was clear and cool, the car traffic was nonexistent. The climb was hard, but perfect. And the descent was even better. I hung a right near the bottom and made my way towards Deadwood Reservoir on Landmark Stanley Road.

The first part of the Landmark Stanley Road was very scenic with lots of waterways and creek crossings. I met a few motorcycles who looked like they were doing the Idaho BDR. I climbed up past Deadwood Reservoir Summit and then descended that as the road got a bit sketchier. About seven miles before the actual reservoir I turned east and continued on the Landmark Stanley Road. (It would have been nice to go and check out the reservoir, but a 14 mile roundtrip was just too much.) This was a gradual climb that got up into a really burned out area that was pretty exposed. The road continued to be pretty shitty (i.e., lots of washboard).

I stopped at Deer Flat Campground and ate a little “lunch.” The road continued to deteriorate into more and more washboard. It was a bit frustrating, as much as riding your bike in an amazing part of the world can be, because it seemed like either I was climbing (slowly), descending on a sketchy road surface (slowly), or riding on a flat part of the road, but going slowly due to the washboard. I was also getting pretty beat up.

But it was a pretty amazing area. Lots of waterways and riparian zones. Once I got to the Bruce Meadows rest area the road got a lot better. But only because they were actively working on it and there were a ton of gravel trucks on the road. I mean, a ton. At one point there was a flagger where the guy had traffic stopped, which was really just me and a bunch of these trucks. One of the drivers was out so I was talking to him. I thought maybe they were just running over the road to tamp down the fresh gravel (because there were so many and they seemed to be turning around at the rest area), but he said, no, they were actually dumping fresh gravel ahead of where we were stopped. But the only place they could turn around was at the rest area, which was miles down the road. So it was like a parade of trucks.

After that I climbed up to Cape Horn Summit, which was were the road work stopped. I descended that and crossed Highway 21 onto a pretty narrow and rough doubletrack. It was, of course, better than the highway, but it was slow going.

I criss-crossed the highway a couple times and made my way towards Stanley. I stopped and filtered some water at Marsh Creek, which was about 10 miles from my target, which was Sheep Trail Campground. I got there around 17:00 and was pretty smoked. There was no one in the campground and while it had a table, a bathroom, a dumpster, and water, it wasn’t great (was pretty burned out from a forest fire). But, I was tired and hungry so I decided to stay. I ate, cleaned up a bit using water from the well/pump, and tried to go to bed early.

It was a pretty awesome day, but was a little harder than I thought it would be. I think the elevation gain and the rough, washboard roads beat me up a lot. Still, an amazing day on the bike.

• Distance: 69.4 miles
• Climbing: 5315 feet
• Highest point: 7300 feet

Rig for this trip (near Warm Lake Summit)

Johnson Creek

Deadwood Summit

Fifty-one to Stanley

Burnout

Elk Creek

Cape Horn Summit (and gravel truck, one of many)

Marsh Creek

Sawtooths in the distance

More burnout

Sheep Trail Campground

Heidi and I saw Dinosaur Jr. play at Treefort Music Hall last night. We went downtown early and had dinner before the show so we kind of made a date night out of it.

Easy Action was the first opening band. I had never heard of them so I wasn’t sure what to expect. OMG. They were an old-school hardcore punk band with a bunch of old dudes. Lots of loud screaming and loud guitars. Heidi was dying, but was a good sport about it. hahaha Not exactly my cup of tea, either, but they were entertaining. I probably would have enjoyed them a bit more, but I was preoccupied with making sure Heidi was hanging in there. Luckily their set was pretty short.

Backing up a second…. Whenever I go to a concert that’s general admission, I usually want to be up at the front. Now days when I go to a show Heidi is usually with me so I end up dragging her to the front. She’s always game, but I think if it wasn’t for me she’d probably be hanging out in the middle somewhere. Anyway, we were like right up at the front when Easy Action came out and started ripping/screaming. I glanced over at Heidi and gave her a sheepish, “Sorry” look and we both started cracking up.

The next band was Snail Mail, whom we both really liked. I had listened to a few songs prior to the show so knew what to expect (unlike Easy Action). They played a pretty long set, which was cool. I was impressed with them and am looking forward to listening to more of their stuff.

After a short wait while the equipment was swapped out Dinosaur Jr. started playing. I was expecting a really loud show so I obsessed over getting good ear plugs for us in the weeks prior. I had never seen them live before, but everyone who has tends to say that they are extremely loud. So we had a few different ear plug options along. My ears weren’t ringing after the show so they definitely worked.

As for the band, I thought they sounded great, especially J’s guitar. The first half of the set was a lot of older songs, some of which I knew and some that I wasn’t too familiar with. But, of course, all of it was great. They played the stuff you’d expect and it was just so amazing to be up close and see them live.

When I was in high school in 1993 I was in a music store in Fargo and bought Where You Been. They let you sample CDs back then and after listening to a few songs I thought it sounded like something I’d be into. Who would’ve thought that I’d see them live over 30 years later. J Mascis is someone I really admire and he’s had a big influence on my life since I was in high school. It was a dream to see them in person – such a great night.

Easy Action

Snail Mail

J Mascis’ setup (yeah, it’s loud)

Dinosaur Jr.

J Mascis

J Mascis ripping

Last year I went on a camping trip through the Magruder Corridor with my dad and his friend Bill. We got the band back together this year and set our sights on the Lolo Trail (aka Lolo Motorway). We had some rain and a lot of clouds on last year’s trip, so I don’t feel like we were able to experience all the Magruder had to offer. However, this year’s trip was a different story – we had amazing weather. I’m not sure if that was the sole reason, but I kind of feel like the Lolo Trail was more scenic.

Both routes feel really remote at times, which is one of the reasons why they’re popular. The road condition is definitely a lot worse on the Lolo, though. Easy for me to say because I wasn’t driving, but I was happy the road was in poor condition. Bill’s brand new Raptor didn’t have any issues with it, but we were getting tossed around inside a bit, which forced us to slow down and spend more time on the route.

One of the things I love about bikepacking is the slow nature of it. It really allows you to fully experience and enjoy the area through which you’re traveling. Under normal conditions you lose most of that when you’re in a truck. But if the road is super crappy, like it was on the Lolo, and you can only go a few miles an hour, you get a lot of that slow travel back.

We spent almost two full days on the motorway, which was really great. We camped at Devil’s Chair the first night on the actual Lolo Trail and it was a really nice spot. Amazing views and a beautiful sunset and sunrise. The best camp spot, though, was at the Rocky Ridge Lake Campground. We were right on the lake and the weather was absolutely perfect.

It was a really fun trip with lots of laughs and amazing views. I was even able to test out some dehydrated meals I made at home, which were a success. :)

Homemade dehydrated meals

The start

Big views

Bigger views

The gang

Indian post office

Indian post office

Lake overlook

Devils Chair campsite

Castle Butte Lookout

Castle Butte Lookout

Rocky Ridge Lake