Idaho or Bust….3 Texans 4 Strokes 5 States

[KsTeveM]

Enjoyed the cold morning as the day came alive…..along with my phalanges. You ever think you didn’t get it in good enough shape for a big ride, do enough leg days, more cardio? Me neither, was just curious about others level of laziness. Fashion show…Gumby, Gary……and Pokey.

Hated to bust camp but we have new places to see. Choked down a sawdust bar and then the 500 kept doing that thing he does where he dips the front fender under my hand, repeatedly, trying to get me to pet him. I gave him a pat and that was that, we got at it.

We got on some good high country riding right out of camp, good flowy flow flow flowing through the woods.

This is all that I could have hoped and dreamed for on the routing. Epic seems to fall short to describe it. Wow!

That was some really fun scenic stuff, not too rowdy or technical but still kept you entertained and happy….mostly.

Sometimes you just got to take a minute. Grape came to the Bear’s rescue.

We eased out of that zone, little bit of desert.

We breezed through a town, supplied up…..back out for some more terra not so firma. We’re just getting started defiling ourselves today.

I was thinking about Grandpa Walton and when he told Jeremiah Johnson that elk don’t know how many feet a horse has. That was life changing. Does a grizzly know how many legs a 500 has? Probably not, I hear they just go for the second 500 in the group. Exhibit bate, I mean B.

Good solid ridin!! I was thinking this is my jam!!!! Oh no, brain drifting, something about tea and jam? Tune wedgy, crap, this is no good, it’s Ti, a drink with jam and bread. It’s risky, but I’m showing you my cards.

You still following along? Do the best you can. Start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When you buy, you begin with K-T-M. When you ride, you begin with 5-OH-OH.

Desert dog day afternoon going down.

Had to call an audible, deviated from plan A, went with plan B to cut some miles out. But I still worked at it to keep us on interesting stuff. I’ve heard it said before, plan B is just as good as plan A.

Transitioning from desert to mountains again.

Looking pretty remote, pretty tore up, pretty hard to pick your route. Perfect. They are all perfect.

Fun stuff going down?

I studied this area pretty hard before this trip and was proud I found the one trail that went over these big mountains.

The trail was climbing, transition from two track, atv track, single track, Graham Jarvis track? We really pushed the group up the mountain, bikes were going down, it was hot, elevation hurting us….

I was scouting the viability of punching through and almost went down hard, like fall off the trail in a real bad way. Barely saved it. The next move was going to take a miracle….and looking ahead at the trail from my bike looked ugly. I laid my bike down, there was no kickstand happening. Went on foot and gave it an eyeball.

I don’t know that it would be possible even with a naked woods bike. But one thing for sure, I was tapping out.

Getting turned around was fun….I worked on that while other bike rescues were happening down below.

We tucked our tail, went back down the mountain and regrouped at this cool campground. Plan C….backtrack and slab it around the mountain.

We needed people fuel. Gassed up, heading back out there, somehow………somewhere………there’s a place for us. Risk taker am I.

 

[Hump]

Enjoyed the cold morning as the day came alive…..along with my phalanges. You ever think you didn’t get it in good enough shape for a big ride, do enough leg days, more cardio? Me neither, was just curious about others level of laziness. Fashion show…Gumby, Gary……and Pokey.

Hated to bust camp but we have new places to see. Choked down a sawdust bar and then the 500 kept doing that thing he does where he dips the front fender under my hand, repeatedly, trying to get me to pet him. I gave him a pat and that was that, we got at it.

We got on some good high country riding right out of camp, good flowy flow flow flowing through the woods.

This is all that I could have hoped and dreamed for on the routing. Epic seems to fall short to describe it. Wow!

That was some really fun scenic stuff, not too rowdy or technical but still kept you entertained and happy….mostly.

Sometimes you just got to take a minute. Grape came to the Bear’s rescue.

We eased out of that zone, little bit of desert.

We breezed through a town, supplied up…..back out for some more terra not so firma. We’re just getting started defiling ourselves today.

I was thinking about Grandpa Walton and when he told Jeremiah Johnson that elk don’t know how many feet a horse has. That was life changing. Does a grizzly know how many legs a 500 has? Probably not, I hear they just go for the second 500 in the group. Exhibit bate, I mean B.

Good solid ridin!! I was thinking this is my jam!!!! Oh no, brain drifting, something about tea and jam? Tune wedgy, crap, this is no good, it’s Ti, a drink with jam and bread. It’s risky, but I’m showing you my cards.

You still following along? Do the best you can. Start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. When you buy, you begin with K-T-M. When you ride, you begin with 5-OH-OH.

Desert dog day afternoon going down.

Had to call an audible, deviated from plan A, went with plan B to cut some miles out. But I still worked at it to keep us on interesting stuff. I’ve heard it said before, plan B is just as good as plan A.

Transitioning from desert to mountains again.

Looking pretty remote, pretty tore up, pretty hard to pick your route. Perfect. They are all perfect.

Fun stuff going down?

I studied this area pretty hard before this trip and was proud I found the one trail that went over these big mountains.

The trail was climbing, transition from two track, atv track, single track, Graham Jarvis track? We really pushed the group up the mountain, bikes were going down, it was hot, elevation hurting us….

I was scouting the viability of punching through and almost went down hard, like fall off the trail in a real bad way. Barely saved it. The next move was going to take a miracle….and looking ahead at the trail from my bike looked ugly. I laid my bike down, there was no kickstand happening. Went on foot and gave it an eyeball.

I don’t know that it would be possible even with a naked woods bike. But one thing for sure, I was tapping out.



Getting turned around was fun….I worked on that while other bike rescues were happening down below.

We tucked our tail, went back down the mountain and regrouped at this cool campground. Plan C….backtrack and slab it around the mountain.

We needed people fuel. Gassed up, heading back out there, somehow………somewhere………there’s a place for us. Risk taker am I.

Dang those KTM 500’s are getting tired. Looks like they are needing frequent naps . I’m enjoying your trip and commentary. Have fun and be safe.

 

[woodsguy]

Good to know when to tap out. Pretty remote to need a rescue.

 

[humanrace]

^^^YEP^^^

 

[Kiyoti]

 

[KsTeveM]

We survived another night in the bush somewhere, somehow, sort of. After we got supplies, it felt good to just meander along with a lower intensity vibe. Little bit of Lewis and Clark Trail, little bit of Continental Divide and Amish folks…..what the?

This overall trip has been a good balance so far and why I didn’t want to Tour of Idaho T1 myself to death for a week. I would have, if I had unlimited time off, was 30yo and if Julie Bowen was at the top of one of those treacherous spine trails dispensing cold beer in that white number. Don’t play dumb.

Rolled up on Sacajawea Memorial in the Lemhi Pass area. Little overrated, she deserved better. The bathroom was the best thing there.

Was Sacajawea supposed to make me think of Zacchaeus? Probably not. Too late. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. And a wee little man was he. For he had seen the Lord that day and a happy man was he. Ha ha!!!

We rolled on some more miles and started feeling the tug…..we needed to hole up some place so we could get whole again.

We were losing light and having a hard time finding a camp.

It was working on 9pm….we were settling on a spot and then Garbear did a hard dab about a 1/4 mile from camp….and bent his fallopian tube in his knee or something. We had to help him to the ground and get camp situated with head lamps.

He trooped it out and visited with us from the ground. Then we grabbed a pic of his night light in his tent.

Grape and I stayed up till midnight star watching. Really bummed about Garbear’s knee yet still trying to enjoy the night. We listened to Fanfare For The Common Man. Another day in the books, another crampsite. Have to go, I could tell my 5Hundy was wanting some butterfly kisses before going to sleep. And a happy man was me. Stevajawea

 

[my6]

Awesome write up and the pics!!!

 

[woodsguy]

Awesome write up and the pics!!!

pics are awesome, what a sky!

 

[woodsguy]

hope the knee is close to ok!

 

[ConejoDon]

Wow. Methinks this is the best ride yet. Did i already say wow? "They are all perfect"

 

[KsTeveM]

Wow. Methinks this is the best ride yet. Did i already say wow? "They are all perfect"

 

[KsTeveM]

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Thoreau

Good morning Montana, you cold mutha you. I don’t know that frost covers it….ice was more like it. But we are deliberately living for sure. And my body feels it. I slept pretty dang good considering. Tent sleeping can suck..…but if you are tired enough, you will sleep. And you learn some tricks. Also might be worth mentioning, I upgraded to a little bit bigger sleeping pad several months back when my normal Klymit Static V sprung a leak. I patched it but wanted a new reliable one for this long trip. And decided to try a little bit bigger one, Klymit Static V Luxe. It’s been worth the little bit extra packing space it takes up, pic for comparison.

It still rolled up with my tent, stowed on my left side, above the Wolfman medium rollie. The sleeping part…I think it is only 4 inches longer which is nice for me at 6’1”, but the 7 inches wider and a little thicker is where it has shined….matches my **** better, enjoying it on this trip. The mattress, not my ****. He’s suffering from bunga bunga symptoms.

We were hoping Garbear’s fallopiamaniscus would heal itself like a lizards tail, no such luck. We broke camp and got him squared up on Grape’s lighter 500 for the offroad trek out of the tundra.

We limped to a town, got some grub and regrouped. Plan D in effect. We were going to ride south a bit and split up.

MungMark was going to get Garbear to his house in St. Anthony and load him in his truck for an OBGYN visit and see what was what. We split up here.

Grape and I meandered on our way into the Gravely Mountains in Beaverhead NF.

When planning this adventure, I was trying to cut back the miles as things were getting away from me time/distance wise (I always have this problem)…..I was going to skip these dudes in 2D theory. Mark kept steering me back to this area. He wasn’t wrong.

A part of our intended route was closed due the fires, Plan E worked out.

We were getting a bit hot, did our thang.

I have a hard time imagining Lewis and Clark coming through here and being the first Americans to see the Rockies, see the plains, reach the Pacific. Zero Americans or real civilization out here! I think that is what makes us do what we do, meandering around on steel horses to see the void of people in majestic places and pretend we are explorers.

C

Things have changed drastically in 218 years since Meriwether and William trekked out here.

Yet you can still slip into some remote places and look over country where you see no evidence of man or scars upon the land. I know I’d be a poor man if I never saw an eagle fly…..a bald eagle took off right in front of us….

We blew through a pass and came down from on high.

And bam, Goodbye Montana, we were back in Idaho. Hello my friend, hello. It’s good to need you so. I just rode to say hello.

We decided to take advantage of Mark’s gracious offer to use his cabin in the Island Park area….uhhhyeaaaah. We been tent camping quite a bit and look like hammered dog feces. We meandered that direction snagging some supplies along the way.

We decided to make the best of it at this terrible spot. With a garage for the bikes, did our laundry, Mark crushed a dinner spread, Garbear was back with us but hobbled a bit.

Mark’s wife pulled up like Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, when she brought the old poop and Billy lunch….except she brought us dinner….and beer. She didn’t stay long, turned the dingy around and left us to our manly evening. First Class.

So we started doing our normal dumb stuff, like making a fire, beating our chests, throwing some beers back. Winding down the day, couple more rando pics of the crew. Much ado about nothing. Billy S

And the Grape and I caught the moon rise and stars off Mark’s cabin back porch. Nighty night y’all. Plan F brewing.

 

[KsTeveM]

I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it. Billy S

We’ve been hard at it for a week, maybe we should take the day off.

The look on their faces above…..I’m not sure if I’m Jack or the boy at this point. Sometimes I even think I’m Olive Oyl and want to lock myself in the bathroom. Here is a pic below of Grape and the Mulleteer, they’re driving me crazy. Grape is on the left, notice the bigger smirk.

So today on our day off of no riding, we are about to leave to get some riding in. It happens. What can you do? I guess you could get a new trail boss. Sometimes I wonder if there is a mutiny brewing. Do yall remember Mutiny on the Bounty, when Mr. Christian sees the island girls as they pull into the bay? I like that part. If yall don’t hear from me again, you know the who and the why.

 

[William Wolfen]

All this talk of pads and sleeping on the ground reminds me of why I much prefer my hammock!

 

[misterk]

Awesome report Steve, great pics! BTW steaks always taste better in a firebox stove

 

[KsTeveM]

I’m back, didn’t have to walk the plank. I was really enjoying the morning and started thinking about Indians and the romance of that lifestyle back in their good ol days. No taxes, no mortgage, hot squaw, huntin, fishin, lovin every day…that’s the prayer that a country boy prays. Thank God he made me this way. I’m getting red dirt rich and clear river pay. Won’t you come along with me….. on some flowy fifty inch stuff.

It was so nice to start with a shower, clean riding jersey and pants for the first time in days. Meanwhile in Grapetown……

Little bit of fast sandy track with the Tetons off our shoulder in the distance. Not too shabby of a morning.

We rolled into Mark’s home town and again he took care of us like we were royalty. We used his garage, looked the bikes over, did some oil changes, filter cleaning etc. Super cool. Thanks Marky Mark. First my bike. Oil change, new filter sock and threw 14 tooth sprocket on.

Grape’s bike….same game, just needed full air filter clean up, little more dusty further back in the convoy. His filter skin looked like it had been to the moon.

We said our goodbyes and parted ways with Mark….and Garbear. Prince Mark is going to truck Gary to Rocksprings and meet us tomorrow. And Grape’s FNL, KX5Hundy Mike, is coming up from Denver to take the hand off.

I know some might be expecting some geysers in my path, not to be confused with geezers. But I purposely planned to avoid going through Yellowstone (before it flooded), so shouldn’t be seeing either one. We zigged and zagged the backcountry making our way south.

I keep reminding myself this trip is not the Yellowstone trip. I can do Yellowstone in a 2wd van, sitting in a wheel chair, on oxygen, wearing a diaper….or on a KLR. Or maybe one day in a hover craft that runs on banana peels. But I will need a four door DeLorean so my wife can go, with me and Elizabeth Shue. The Karate Kid can’t come, but Johnny Lawrence can, he will be in charge of the play list and liquids. For now, I’m going to make like a tree and keep riding.

I’ve been wondering what Targhee means as we rolled through her NF again, but I’m not going to look it up, need some mystery. If my calculations are correct, we hit 8.8 miles per hour.

I lied. Targhee—an American breed of sheep developed by intercrossing Lincolns and Rambouillets to produce a hardy range sheep with good mutton conformation. That’s what I was thinking it meant.

We hit some pavement to make time. Plan F is to meet Grape’s high school buddy to camp tonight.

We stopped to cool off. Pretty incredible spot.

We cruised along the Snake River through Swan Valley. I read a lot of mountain man stuff about the Snake when I was younger, loving riding through here, stood up in the stirrups all manly like. Feeling bad I don’t have a long beard and some pelts hanging off my steed. And I’ve been trying to figure out a way to slip ‘good mutton conformation’ into a sentence. I got nothing. Wait, dadgumit, I pulled it off!!

Goodbye Idaho, you just got rode Texas style! Took a little break as we snuck into Wyoming and resupplied. Headed back into the bush, cheers mate!

 

[JT]

Aww, mann, I hope you didn't just leave him there...

 

[triman]

Gravelly Range!!! I think I could ride around and around that loop for a month or so and never get tired of it. I camped next to that creek last year. Cold water but it sure felt good!!! I love it up there.

I went by this place several times right off the Gravelly before I realized its a Air B N B. Birds made a roost on the chimney sticking out the top so they've made a mess all over the roof so I originally thought it was abandoned. After looking into it a little more its obvious it isn't.

https://www.jbarl.com/rentals/smith-house

Love the pics and the story telling. Kuddos to yall!!!

 

[Tigerkf]

Alright Steve, this is getting a little bit ridiculous. You're just trying to rub it in now! I did see you trying to remove the "lazy" from that bike that keeps taking naps!

 

[_RG_]

Very enjoyable. Thanks for taking us along.

 

[KsTeveM]

I found myself ready to call it, 5hundy knew it too. We meandered for a camp spot.

He reined us in once we slipped into Bridger NF. Decided he’s right, this place will work.

Repeat….fire, meat, stupidity, stars.

Like to see @misterk pick up his box stove and eat a steak one handed!

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms. Thoreau

So much speaks to me, fender goes under my hand…..ok ok, us. Him

Warning-if you ride a KTM as demonstrated, you could suffer side effects. Among these are, arthritis in your right wrist, sore soles, monkey butt, soaring soul, chapped lips, red eyes, runny nose, full heart, half wit. Ride at your own risk. TexasStevo

 

[ConejoDon]

Nice shooting star. Pics are awesome as usual. Makes me breathe a little deeper thinking about being there...

Coors dropped from the sky on little Coors parachutes? They seem to be in every camp shot. Steak looks good too ("Argh.")

 

[k-dubya]

I found myself ready to call it, 5hundy knew it too. We meandered for a camp spot.

He reined us in once we slipped into Bridger NF. Decided he’s right, this place will work.

Repeat….fire, meat, stupidity, stars.

Like to see @misterk pick up his box stove and eat a steak one handed!

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms. Thoreau

So much speaks to me, fender goes under my hand…..ok ok, us. Him

Warning-if you ride a KTM as demonstrated, you could suffer side effects. Among these are, arthritis in your right wrist, sore soles, monkey butt, soaring soul, chapped lips, red eyes, runny nose, full heart, half wit. Ride at your own risk. TexasStevo

Sharing in another's joy is great, but there comes a point when sharing can turn stingy and ... dag nab it, I'm there!

I want a Silver Bullet and a steak on a stick to go with sore muscles, monkey butt, and all the other appropriate ADV maladies, too!

Thanks for driving home just how miserable work really is ... grumble, grumble

 

[Kiyoti]

...this little trip will surely leave a mental mark on y'all....a good mark...!!!

 

[misterk]

You look like a caveman eating your steak that way. I eat mine like a proper gentleman. BTW you forgot a can of corn

Kidding aside, what an awesome trip on the perfect machine for that job! Very funny and witty story telling and great pictures. I enjoyed every post, thanks.