Those little towns like that are the best
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- Thread starter Tourmeister
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Day twelve, Thursday, August 24th
Lava Hotsprings to Chemeketan Campground at the Salmon River headwaters?
We got up and got moving because I wanted to get to the dealership in Pocatello to see about new hand guards for the 390s. We ran US 30 West to Old ID 91, which was replaced by I-15. None of us felt like getting on the interstate. Old 91 has a much lower speed limit, but it was a cool ride. The number of homes we saw with lines of old cars and trucks just sitting out junkyard style was amazing. There has to be a market for connecting these owners with potential collectors and/or restorers. Given the winter climate here, it was amazing so many were in such good shape! And then I almost ran over a flock of FAT turkeys hanging out in the middle of the road because I was gawking at cool old trucks and cars
Once in Pocatello, it took me a while to find the dealership because it would not show up on my GPS. Once there though, the parts guy, AJ, was VERY helpful. We found some nice Acerbis hand guards and the kids got to pick the colors they liked for their bikes. Before we got started on them, we ran down the road to a Mavericks to grab something to eat. Then we went back to the dealership and found some shade where we could start replacing the guards. Right off the bat we ran into issues with the bolt sizes that screw into the bar ends. They were too big. After much messing around and head scratching, AJ came out with some bolts from a different brand of guards and they fit perfect, so he just gave them to us and said not to worry about it. With this, we were able to get the guards fitted up and they looked great. Both kids were very happy with them. I think Sarah was feeling better because they made her bike look prettier despite some wear and tear from our recent travails
By the time we finished up, it was getting hot and around 2:30pm or so. I jokingly asked the kids if they just wanted to go back to Lava Hotsprings and float the river again, and they both immediately said, "YES!" So that is what we did. We went back and got the same motel room for the night. They floated and I soaked. I also bought a can of electrical contact spray cleaner. I pulled all the connections apart for my auxiliary lights and gave them a good blasting. This seems to have solved the issue with the lights intermittently not working. I visited with people from all over the place that afternoon while soaking. It was great! We had a late dinner and then called it a night.
Sweet sounding and looking ride. His buddy was trading in a KTM 200 Duke (?) for a Honda 650 something (naked bike).
Pocatello Powersports, very nice and helpful folks! Way more bikes here than we'd seen at any other dealers in the area.
Our workspace, shaded thank goodness!
Sarah's new guards
The bolts that saved the day. I had the right size bolt and it was long enough, but it was a hex head only and a socket would not fit inside the slot on the hand guard so I could tighten it. This bolt had a smaller head and the socket from the KTM toolkit would fit it and I also had a Torx that would fit it!
Our handy work bench
Much happier!
Daniel got his guards installed using the original bolts and spacers from the stock guards.
AJ the parts guy
Groovy Grom
Ready to get back to riding!
The Denali Accessory Manager that controls all my auxiliary lights and horn. I cleaned all of these connections. The cleaner was $16 at the local Ace Hardware, a neat old school hardware store. With no room to carry the huge can, I gave it to the motel manager in case he or someone else might need it in the future.
I should have worn my bike gloves. The cleaner REALLY dries out the skin on the fingers!
Cool sunset pic as we walked back from the river hot springs to the motel before getting dinner
So, tomorrow we will try to make it to the campgrounds at the headwaters of the Salmon River
Lava Hotsprings to Chemeketan Campground at the Salmon River headwaters?
We got up and got moving because I wanted to get to the dealership in Pocatello to see about new hand guards for the 390s. We ran US 30 West to Old ID 91, which was replaced by I-15. None of us felt like getting on the interstate. Old 91 has a much lower speed limit, but it was a cool ride. The number of homes we saw with lines of old cars and trucks just sitting out junkyard style was amazing. There has to be a market for connecting these owners with potential collectors and/or restorers. Given the winter climate here, it was amazing so many were in such good shape! And then I almost ran over a flock of FAT turkeys hanging out in the middle of the road because I was gawking at cool old trucks and cars
Once in Pocatello, it took me a while to find the dealership because it would not show up on my GPS. Once there though, the parts guy, AJ, was VERY helpful. We found some nice Acerbis hand guards and the kids got to pick the colors they liked for their bikes. Before we got started on them, we ran down the road to a Mavericks to grab something to eat. Then we went back to the dealership and found some shade where we could start replacing the guards. Right off the bat we ran into issues with the bolt sizes that screw into the bar ends. They were too big. After much messing around and head scratching, AJ came out with some bolts from a different brand of guards and they fit perfect, so he just gave them to us and said not to worry about it. With this, we were able to get the guards fitted up and they looked great. Both kids were very happy with them. I think Sarah was feeling better because they made her bike look prettier despite some wear and tear from our recent travails
By the time we finished up, it was getting hot and around 2:30pm or so. I jokingly asked the kids if they just wanted to go back to Lava Hotsprings and float the river again, and they both immediately said, "YES!" So that is what we did. We went back and got the same motel room for the night. They floated and I soaked. I also bought a can of electrical contact spray cleaner. I pulled all the connections apart for my auxiliary lights and gave them a good blasting. This seems to have solved the issue with the lights intermittently not working. I visited with people from all over the place that afternoon while soaking. It was great! We had a late dinner and then called it a night.
Sweet sounding and looking ride. His buddy was trading in a KTM 200 Duke (?) for a Honda 650 something (naked bike).
Pocatello Powersports, very nice and helpful folks! Way more bikes here than we'd seen at any other dealers in the area.
Our workspace, shaded thank goodness!
Sarah's new guards
The bolts that saved the day. I had the right size bolt and it was long enough, but it was a hex head only and a socket would not fit inside the slot on the hand guard so I could tighten it. This bolt had a smaller head and the socket from the KTM toolkit would fit it and I also had a Torx that would fit it!
Our handy work bench
Much happier!
Daniel got his guards installed using the original bolts and spacers from the stock guards.
AJ the parts guy
Groovy Grom
Ready to get back to riding!
The Denali Accessory Manager that controls all my auxiliary lights and horn. I cleaned all of these connections. The cleaner was $16 at the local Ace Hardware, a neat old school hardware store. With no room to carry the huge can, I gave it to the motel manager in case he or someone else might need it in the future.
I should have worn my bike gloves. The cleaner REALLY dries out the skin on the fingers!
Cool sunset pic as we walked back from the river hot springs to the motel before getting dinner
So, tomorrow we will try to make it to the campgrounds at the headwaters of the Salmon River
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
- Messages
- 51,257
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- 8,279
- Location
- Huntsville
- First Name
- Scott
- Last Name
- Friday
Day thirteen, Friday, August 25th
Lava Hotsprings to the headwaters of the Salmon River!
For the second time we made the run up to Pocatello. This time we stopped at a really nice Mavericks for breakfast. They had killer breakfast burritos
Then we had to do some slabbing up the interstate to get to US 26, US 20, and then head NW out to Arco. Not much to look at except for mountains in the distance and dirt. There were the occasional fields of dark green crops, potatoes perhaps? Still, boring!! At Arco we stopped for gas and drinks. It was a bit warm. While stopped we saw some adventure bikes passing by, some Beemers, a few Triumphs, and some KTMs. We've been a bit surprised at the lack of bikes we've seen. Maybe we are just off the beaten path now that everyone seems focused on the BDR routes 
We headed North out of Arco up Hwy 93 until we reached Trail Creek Road. This runs SW across the mountains to Ketchum, the Aspen of Idaho. It starts out nice and paved until it reaches the bottom of the mountains and then starts to climb. It was still pretty wide and well maintained, but there were some serious pot holes and crazy washboard as it started getting a bit steeper. Sarah was still a bit stressed about going off the pavement, but she didn't protest. I let Daniel take the lead and then I followed her, letting her set whatever pace she liked. She was nervous, but she was doing what she was supposed to be doing, and doing it well. I coached a little here and there, but mostly tried to leave her alone and let her work it all out in her head. Her confidence was coming back, but slowly. At the summit, I stopped and visited with a local that was bicycling...
He told me the Western descent was kind of steep with some exposure to edges with long drops, but it was not rough. People actually managed to drag RVs up it!! So we decided to head down. It was only 4 miles to pavement and going back meant several hours of extra riding. Again, Daniel led and I followed Sarah. She did great, even when she had to go wide around some of those exposed corners because of oncoming bicyclists and other vehicles, and it was NOT a wide road! Fortunately, the twisty stuff doesn't last too long and then just became a long mostly straight run down out of the valley until we hit pavement.
Ketchum was a pricey place, much like Aspen, Colorado. It was jam packed with super expensive vehicles and people. We managed to dodge the clueless pedestrians and drivers to get to a grocery store so we could stock up before heading out of town to get to our planned campground. The grocery store was like a Whole Foods on steroids. However, we were able to get food at reasonable prices. We headed North out of town on ID 75 and it ran up over the mountains. It was a super nice ride with fantastic views. I did have to pass Sarah and chase down Daniel once to remind him to keep the pace sane. He tried telling me he wasn't going that fast but I mentioned that I knew exactly how fast he had been going because I had been right on his tail for a bit
We eventually reached the far side of the pass and turned down a dirt road that led back into the woods quite a way. It was a nice easy road and Sarah liked it.
About four miles back we reached a very nice campground, Chemeketan CG. It was ALL reserved. There was a good bit of dispersed camping available in the area though. We spoke with some people in the campground and they told us to come back if we could not find a spot and they'd let us stay with them, which I thought was odd because it wasn't like they had much space for three tents?! Anyway, we found a sweet spot just outside the official campground but within easy walking distance of the nicest vault toilet I think I have ever seen in my life! Later in the evening Sarah and I went for a walk and we stopped to visit with the same people. This was when I found out that if you reserve ONE site in the campground, you are basically reserving the ENTIRE campground!? That might explain why the rate was like $125 per night... Strangest thing I have ever heard though. Basically, 3/4 of the sites were empty. I think this was why the person we talked to said we could come back, to use some of the sites they were not using. Had I realized that, we could have had really nice sites with a picnic table and very nice grills right next to the vault toilet, which was virtually odorless. Oh well, our site was still really cool, right next to a stream with a waterfall. The woman we were speaking with was from Boise, ID. She guessed we were from Texas based on our accents and the fact that Sarah said, "Yes Mam and No Mam," when addressing her. I didn't realize basic manners were a Texan thing. Daniel and Sarah eventually went exploring over near the river and apparently climbed pretty far up the side of the mountain on the far side of the river. They were gone quite a while. I sat in my chair with my beer and played around with my drone, trying to get some panoramic videos and images. I am still learning though. We also saw quite a bit of wild life later in the evening, but no bears, much to the relief of the kids
Daniel quickly got a nice fire going. There was a TON of dead wood on the ground. No wonder the forest fires out here are so bad! We thought it might rain, but then the sky cleared and we got to see a LOT of stars and satellites. Even with a half moon, we could easily see without flashlights. We enjoyed an evening just hanging out around the fire until it got real low and then we went to bed. I think it got down in the low 50s or possibly the high 40s. It was nice! At least Daniel and I thought it was nice. I was toasty. Sarah got cold, even with multiple hand warmers, and she hates being cold!
Just before the dirt starts on Trail Creek Road
I just thought the stripes made by the plants was kind of cool, erosion induced I suspect. RV for scale!
Running up the valley on gravel before the climb starts
Washboards are already starting here and just get worse the higher we get
This is after the summit, just looking down the valley.
ID 75 heading North out of Ketchum
Getting close to the summit on ID 75
Our campsite
The little waterfall that lulled us to sleep
This was literally everywhere, and dry as a bone!
My tent is going behind those trees - No dead branches in the area above the tent
The fried chicken from the grocery store in Ketchum was actually quite good
Fried chicken might not have been the best choice when trying to minimize food smells in bear country. We all washed up and burned the remains.
The view from my front porch
Daniel wasted no time with getting firewood and busting out the saw
I supervised
Daniel's bike and tent
If only all the roads were this nice, Sarah would be in heaven! Daniel would be bored
By FAR the nicest vault toilet ever. Has to be brand spanking new. It is all concrete formed to look like logs and then painted/stained. Super clean inside, zero odor, and like 20 roles of TP.
Daniel wanted his Gatorade cold, and it got very cold!
Sarah's bike and tent
I got the drone out to do some aerial photos
Looking North, you can see the road down in the valley in the distance. The highway is back at the base of the mountain at the end of the valley,
Looking back to the Southeast
Our campsite
The people in the actual campground had the 4-5 sites back in the corner, the entire rest of the campground was empty yet still "reserved"
The marshy area to the left is the head waters of the Salmon River and it flows North out of the valley
Needless to say, the kids came back to camp with wet shoes after crossing this to get to the base of the mountain they climbed
There was actually another camping area about halfway back to the highway and on the river. It was full of RVs and two stroke dirt bikes.
Hard to see because of the shade, but most of the trees on the West side of the river are burned from a large fire a year or two back.
Looking South back up into the headwaters, our site is out of frame lower left. The edge of the actual campground is in those trees lower left.
It turned into a beautiful evening and eventually the cloud cover moved out, revealing tons of stars! Up in those mountains is where the two strokers were riding.
Looking North again
A dark view of the slope that the kids climbed somehow. It was loose and rocky. Daniel has a video of him sliding down the gravel on one foot.
Needless to say, we had a sweet fire all evening!
Sarah and I explored back behind our site. This road went up higher than we wanted to hike as it was actually starting to get dark even though it doesn't look like it in the pic. It was also getting progressively rougher and steeper. We were talking about lines for climbing and descending as we walked up and then down it
Lava Hotsprings to the headwaters of the Salmon River!
For the second time we made the run up to Pocatello. This time we stopped at a really nice Mavericks for breakfast. They had killer breakfast burritos
Then we had to do some slabbing up the interstate to get to US 26, US 20, and then head NW out to Arco. Not much to look at except for mountains in the distance and dirt. There were the occasional fields of dark green crops, potatoes perhaps? Still, boring!! At Arco we stopped for gas and drinks. It was a bit warm. While stopped we saw some adventure bikes passing by, some Beemers, a few Triumphs, and some KTMs. We've been a bit surprised at the lack of bikes we've seen. Maybe we are just off the beaten path now that everyone seems focused on the BDR routes We headed North out of Arco up Hwy 93 until we reached Trail Creek Road. This runs SW across the mountains to Ketchum, the Aspen of Idaho. It starts out nice and paved until it reaches the bottom of the mountains and then starts to climb. It was still pretty wide and well maintained, but there were some serious pot holes and crazy washboard as it started getting a bit steeper. Sarah was still a bit stressed about going off the pavement, but she didn't protest. I let Daniel take the lead and then I followed her, letting her set whatever pace she liked. She was nervous, but she was doing what she was supposed to be doing, and doing it well. I coached a little here and there, but mostly tried to leave her alone and let her work it all out in her head. Her confidence was coming back, but slowly. At the summit, I stopped and visited with a local that was bicycling...
He told me the Western descent was kind of steep with some exposure to edges with long drops, but it was not rough. People actually managed to drag RVs up it!! So we decided to head down. It was only 4 miles to pavement and going back meant several hours of extra riding. Again, Daniel led and I followed Sarah. She did great, even when she had to go wide around some of those exposed corners because of oncoming bicyclists and other vehicles, and it was NOT a wide road! Fortunately, the twisty stuff doesn't last too long and then just became a long mostly straight run down out of the valley until we hit pavement.Ketchum was a pricey place, much like Aspen, Colorado. It was jam packed with super expensive vehicles and people. We managed to dodge the clueless pedestrians and drivers to get to a grocery store so we could stock up before heading out of town to get to our planned campground. The grocery store was like a Whole Foods on steroids. However, we were able to get food at reasonable prices. We headed North out of town on ID 75 and it ran up over the mountains. It was a super nice ride with fantastic views. I did have to pass Sarah and chase down Daniel once to remind him to keep the pace sane. He tried telling me he wasn't going that fast but I mentioned that I knew exactly how fast he had been going because I had been right on his tail for a bit
We eventually reached the far side of the pass and turned down a dirt road that led back into the woods quite a way. It was a nice easy road and Sarah liked it.About four miles back we reached a very nice campground, Chemeketan CG. It was ALL reserved. There was a good bit of dispersed camping available in the area though. We spoke with some people in the campground and they told us to come back if we could not find a spot and they'd let us stay with them, which I thought was odd because it wasn't like they had much space for three tents?! Anyway, we found a sweet spot just outside the official campground but within easy walking distance of the nicest vault toilet I think I have ever seen in my life! Later in the evening Sarah and I went for a walk and we stopped to visit with the same people. This was when I found out that if you reserve ONE site in the campground, you are basically reserving the ENTIRE campground!? That might explain why the rate was like $125 per night... Strangest thing I have ever heard though. Basically, 3/4 of the sites were empty. I think this was why the person we talked to said we could come back, to use some of the sites they were not using. Had I realized that, we could have had really nice sites with a picnic table and very nice grills right next to the vault toilet, which was virtually odorless. Oh well, our site was still really cool, right next to a stream with a waterfall. The woman we were speaking with was from Boise, ID. She guessed we were from Texas based on our accents and the fact that Sarah said, "Yes Mam and No Mam," when addressing her. I didn't realize basic manners were a Texan thing. Daniel and Sarah eventually went exploring over near the river and apparently climbed pretty far up the side of the mountain on the far side of the river. They were gone quite a while. I sat in my chair with my beer and played around with my drone, trying to get some panoramic videos and images. I am still learning though. We also saw quite a bit of wild life later in the evening, but no bears, much to the relief of the kids
Daniel quickly got a nice fire going. There was a TON of dead wood on the ground. No wonder the forest fires out here are so bad! We thought it might rain, but then the sky cleared and we got to see a LOT of stars and satellites. Even with a half moon, we could easily see without flashlights. We enjoyed an evening just hanging out around the fire until it got real low and then we went to bed. I think it got down in the low 50s or possibly the high 40s. It was nice! At least Daniel and I thought it was nice. I was toasty. Sarah got cold, even with multiple hand warmers, and she hates being cold!Just before the dirt starts on Trail Creek Road
I just thought the stripes made by the plants was kind of cool, erosion induced I suspect. RV for scale!
Running up the valley on gravel before the climb starts
Washboards are already starting here and just get worse the higher we get
This is after the summit, just looking down the valley.
ID 75 heading North out of Ketchum
Getting close to the summit on ID 75
Our campsite
The little waterfall that lulled us to sleep
This was literally everywhere, and dry as a bone!
My tent is going behind those trees - No dead branches in the area above the tent
The fried chicken from the grocery store in Ketchum was actually quite good
Fried chicken might not have been the best choice when trying to minimize food smells in bear country. We all washed up and burned the remains.
The view from my front porch
Daniel wasted no time with getting firewood and busting out the saw
I supervised
Daniel's bike and tent
If only all the roads were this nice, Sarah would be in heaven! Daniel would be bored
By FAR the nicest vault toilet ever. Has to be brand spanking new. It is all concrete formed to look like logs and then painted/stained. Super clean inside, zero odor, and like 20 roles of TP.
Daniel wanted his Gatorade cold, and it got very cold!
Sarah's bike and tent
I got the drone out to do some aerial photos
Looking North, you can see the road down in the valley in the distance. The highway is back at the base of the mountain at the end of the valley,
Looking back to the Southeast
Our campsite
The people in the actual campground had the 4-5 sites back in the corner, the entire rest of the campground was empty yet still "reserved"
The marshy area to the left is the head waters of the Salmon River and it flows North out of the valley
Needless to say, the kids came back to camp with wet shoes after crossing this to get to the base of the mountain they climbed
There was actually another camping area about halfway back to the highway and on the river. It was full of RVs and two stroke dirt bikes.
Hard to see because of the shade, but most of the trees on the West side of the river are burned from a large fire a year or two back.
Looking South back up into the headwaters, our site is out of frame lower left. The edge of the actual campground is in those trees lower left.
It turned into a beautiful evening and eventually the cloud cover moved out, revealing tons of stars! Up in those mountains is where the two strokers were riding.
Looking North again
A dark view of the slope that the kids climbed somehow. It was loose and rocky. Daniel has a video of him sliding down the gravel on one foot.
Needless to say, we had a sweet fire all evening!
Sarah and I explored back behind our site. This road went up higher than we wanted to hike as it was actually starting to get dark even though it doesn't look like it in the pic. It was also getting progressively rougher and steeper. We were talking about lines for climbing and descending as we walked up and then down it
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Having wood toaters And fire builders sure makes camping easier .
I rode a ways along the Salmon river up north where it goes west away from 93 on Salmon River road , forest road 044 came over from Montana after passing painted rock lake in Montana it was a fun ride day . I did meet a few dirt bikes on that road that day . Just another day ride from Darby the year I spent a couple weeks up there .
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
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- Scott
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- Friday
Day fourteen, Saturday, August 26th
Ketchum to Boise, not what we had in mind...
It was a cold night, maybe upper 40s or low 50s, but I was comfy with a hand warmer tightly gripped in each hand. The rest of me was toasty warm. It was hard getting out of my sleeping bag though. I got the kids up and going because we had a longish ride planned. The sound of two strokers heading for the Mule Creek Trailhead also woke them up. We started the process of breaking camp and loading the bikes have been getting quicker about it. Sarah and Daniel were ready and waiting down near the road as I went to loop my bike around and join them. I was trying to thread a gap between a drop off and a log when I just pulled the clutch in a tiny bit too far, killing my forward momentum... Over I went on the right side... again
It was essentially a zero speed drop, so no damage to me or the bike. But, the wheels were past horizontal. I put my weight on the rear tire and the bike came back to leaning on the bags and jug. Daniel came back up the hill and we got it lifted. What a great way to start a day of riding!?
The ride back out to the highway was nice. The morning was cool and crisp, and the sun was coming over the top of the mountains. We backtracked ID 75 over the mountains to Ketchum for gas and then continued on down to US 20 where we headed West. I had originally planned to run a dirt road West out of Ketchum, but after looking at Sarah's bike when we went to adjust her rear brake lever, I decided to skip that portion of the route as it looked a good deal more technical than the rest of the route. The bracket on which the right foot peg and rear brake lever are mounted was rotated back 4-5 degrees. Also, she didn't have pressure at the lever until it was almost fully compressed, which was hard to do in dirt bike boots. I didn't find any obvious leaks and the reservoir showed as full The bracket appeared to be mounted using the swing arm pivot bolt and the lower rear engine mounting bolt, both of which may be bent 
No way a dealer would have these parts in stock, but there was a dealer in Boise, so I we made that our destination for the evening instead of trying to camp out near Idaho City. Still, for Daniel and Sarah's sake, I wanted to get in some dirt and I thought there would be a good portion of the intended route that should not be too technical.
We eventually reached Fairfield on US 20 and decided to stop for lunch when we spotted a road side burger shack with a full parking lot. That is usually a good sign. In this case, it was a good sign. The food was quite good and amazingly cheap! While waiting for the food I spoke with a couple that was sitting outside. They were semi local and knew the area. Also, the husband was talking to a buddy on the phone and he was a rider, so the husband put me on the phone with him. I mentioned our intended route and he assured me that it was easy and should not be a problem for novice riders on bikes like the 390 Adventure. So I went back inside to let the kids know what we were going to do and then enjoyed a good meal.
After lunch we headed North on Soldier Creek Rd., heading for Couch Summit. This was paved and nice until we reached the turn off for Couch Summit Road, which then became gravel and washboarded as it climbed. It was wide though and the corners weren't super tight. I led initially and then let Daniel pass me because I wanted Sarah in front of me. I then followed her up to the top. Much to her dismay, there was actually a decent amount of sand on the road. It wasn't deep, maybe an inch or two at the most in a few places, but still enough to cause some wiggles here and there. I used my calm voice and just talked with her as we rode through it, telling her that every corner is the same thing in terms of how you approach it. Her biggest struggle is keeping her eyes up and looking through the turn. When I would tell her to get them up and look through the turn, the bike would snap on line almost instantly. She stuck with it and got through it all really well even though she did not feel like she did it well. She's a bit of a perfectionist and gets annoyed and frustrated with herself if she doesn't think she is doing well. We cleared the summit and started down the other side. The road eventually took on a more gentle slope and started following the South Fork of the Boise River out of the mountains. It was wide and relatively smooth, but there was still some sand. At one point we were off the GPS track and not sure about the road. Following the GPS track led to a dead end. It was hot and Sarah was frustrated, so we just stopped in some shade and rested. I flagged down a passing truck to ask about the road. They assured me that the road where went off the track was indeed the correct one because the original road had washed out and a bypass had been made. Sarah felt better once we knew this because she was worried we'd have to backtrack one the summit.
We pressed on and Daniel was out of sight most of the time, but he did wait for us to catch up so he was not out of sight very long. Once we were rolling Sarah felt better because the wind moving through our gear felt really good. We rode for quite a while and eventually came upon a vault toilet. I suggested we stop and take a break. Daniel had already gone ahead and come back. He suggested I ride ahead to see what I thought of the road because there was a bad rocky section and the road narrowed. He was afraid we'd have to turn around. So I ran ahead a few miles while they rested. The rocky section was a short spot where a landslide had occurred. There were concrete barriers on the outside of the corner, but there were still quite a few rocks on the road. I got through it without any issues and it was only 75 feet or so. After that the road was basically dirt/gravel, but one lane. Given the number of side by sides we'd already seen hauling around, the risk of meeting one mid corner was a bit concerning. When I got back to the rest stop, we went down by the river and visited with several families that were swimming and fishing at a really cool spot. I asked about the route we were planning that would take us to Atlanta City and they suggested we not go that way as the road got quite rough. If we turned South at Featherville instead, the road was paved from there and very nice. So that is what we did. Daniel offered to ride Sarah's bike through the rock slide area for her, but by the time he got stopped and off his bike, she was already coming through and made it without any problems. The rest of the run to Featherville was a few hours but super nice as it followed the river down a spectacular narrow valley with huge pine trees. There were TONS of campgrounds crammed full of all manner of RVs. I am constantly amazed at the places people can get those things into! The road got much worse though. There were so many pot holes it was impossible to thread between them and some were pretty deep. The bike suspensions were getting a serious workout as were our knees and hips! Once we reached Featherville, we turned South on Pine Featherville Road down to the Anderson Ranch Reservoir. We picked the road that runs down the East side of the reservoir, which eventually dropped back out onto US 20. It was a super fun ride with amazing views, like so many other places in Idaho! Sarah was already admitting that the dirt section was actually fun even though it was stressful and she was really liking the pavement. Even the run on US 20 over to Mountain Home on I-84 was nice!
We stopped for gas in Mountain Home. While there we met a couple that had a really cool adventure trailer that the guy had built from scratch. It was impressive. He had a KTM 500 EXC and Honda CRF300 in the bed. I did not catch his name, but he mentioned that he worked at Moto One, a nearby KTM dealer. So it is good to know there is at least one dealer in Boise where we might be able to get Sarah's bike fixed. After visiting, we got on the interstate and headed North. The plan now was to just get another hotel in Boise. The problem was, it was Saturday. Most dealers would be closed until Tuesday and would not likely have the necessary parts on hand. Also, while heading up the interstate, Sarah noticed Daniel's back tire bouncing. I had him get in front of me so I could see what she was talking about and it was indeed bouncing several inches off the ground when he accelerated!! He said it was fine at constant speed, so that is exactly what we did all the way to the hotel. There was a ton of stuff going on in town this weekend so the hotels were all booked. We got the last room at the Best Western and it was a bit more than we'd normally want to pay. We were hot, tired, and the bikes were in bad shape. It turned out that Daniel had totally blown his rear shock, either on that nasty hill climb a few days back, the nasty pot holes today, or a combination of both. He mentioned that he had not been able to lock up his back brake on the dirt even with he ABS turned off. The oil from the shock leaked out and got all over the swing arm and rear brakes So now we have two bikes that are really not in a safe ridable condition... It looked like we would be in Boise for a while and spending way more money than we had hoped. The adventure continues...
My humble abode, a 10 year old tent that still works!
A picnic table would have been nice just to have a place to lay stuff
The view from the summit on ID 75 looking back down over the valley were we camped last night
Sweet 1971 F150 driven by what looked like a high school aged kid. He said it was a pasture find. New tires and interior and it was good to go.
A bit worn, but still soldiering on
Good food if you are in the area!
The down side of Couch Summit (West side). The dark spot on the lower road left of that tree is Daniel waiting for us.
Sarah stopped to shed some layers as it was getting pretty warm. I did the same while up top.
Typical of much of the road once at the bottom of the pass and before we stopped for the vault toilet break
Typical of the road once we got past the rock slide area
A very small part of the reservoir
The paved road heading South along the East side of the reservoir
The home built camper with a QUEEN sized bed! Can go off grid for a month at a time if near a water supply and has built in pump/filtration system.
Shock oil where it should not be
In a seating area in front of the hotel
I forgot to add that while working on the ride reports last night, a storm came rolling through. There was a ton of lightning, a good bit of hail, really high winds, and some serious rain! So perhaps it is a good thing that we did not end up camping last might instead of stopping here in Boise
Ketchum to Boise, not what we had in mind...
It was a cold night, maybe upper 40s or low 50s, but I was comfy with a hand warmer tightly gripped in each hand. The rest of me was toasty warm. It was hard getting out of my sleeping bag though. I got the kids up and going because we had a longish ride planned. The sound of two strokers heading for the Mule Creek Trailhead also woke them up. We started the process of breaking camp and loading the bikes have been getting quicker about it. Sarah and Daniel were ready and waiting down near the road as I went to loop my bike around and join them. I was trying to thread a gap between a drop off and a log when I just pulled the clutch in a tiny bit too far, killing my forward momentum... Over I went on the right side... again
It was essentially a zero speed drop, so no damage to me or the bike. But, the wheels were past horizontal. I put my weight on the rear tire and the bike came back to leaning on the bags and jug. Daniel came back up the hill and we got it lifted. What a great way to start a day of riding!? The ride back out to the highway was nice. The morning was cool and crisp, and the sun was coming over the top of the mountains. We backtracked ID 75 over the mountains to Ketchum for gas and then continued on down to US 20 where we headed West. I had originally planned to run a dirt road West out of Ketchum, but after looking at Sarah's bike when we went to adjust her rear brake lever, I decided to skip that portion of the route as it looked a good deal more technical than the rest of the route. The bracket on which the right foot peg and rear brake lever are mounted was rotated back 4-5 degrees. Also, she didn't have pressure at the lever until it was almost fully compressed, which was hard to do in dirt bike boots. I didn't find any obvious leaks and the reservoir showed as full
The bracket appeared to be mounted using the swing arm pivot bolt and the lower rear engine mounting bolt, both of which may be bent No way a dealer would have these parts in stock, but there was a dealer in Boise, so I we made that our destination for the evening instead of trying to camp out near Idaho City. Still, for Daniel and Sarah's sake, I wanted to get in some dirt and I thought there would be a good portion of the intended route that should not be too technical.We eventually reached Fairfield on US 20 and decided to stop for lunch when we spotted a road side burger shack with a full parking lot. That is usually a good sign. In this case, it was a good sign. The food was quite good and amazingly cheap! While waiting for the food I spoke with a couple that was sitting outside. They were semi local and knew the area. Also, the husband was talking to a buddy on the phone and he was a rider, so the husband put me on the phone with him. I mentioned our intended route and he assured me that it was easy and should not be a problem for novice riders on bikes like the 390 Adventure. So I went back inside to let the kids know what we were going to do and then enjoyed a good meal.
After lunch we headed North on Soldier Creek Rd., heading for Couch Summit. This was paved and nice until we reached the turn off for Couch Summit Road, which then became gravel and washboarded as it climbed. It was wide though and the corners weren't super tight. I led initially and then let Daniel pass me because I wanted Sarah in front of me. I then followed her up to the top. Much to her dismay, there was actually a decent amount of sand on the road. It wasn't deep, maybe an inch or two at the most in a few places, but still enough to cause some wiggles here and there. I used my calm voice and just talked with her as we rode through it, telling her that every corner is the same thing in terms of how you approach it. Her biggest struggle is keeping her eyes up and looking through the turn. When I would tell her to get them up and look through the turn, the bike would snap on line almost instantly. She stuck with it and got through it all really well even though she did not feel like she did it well. She's a bit of a perfectionist and gets annoyed and frustrated with herself if she doesn't think she is doing well. We cleared the summit and started down the other side. The road eventually took on a more gentle slope and started following the South Fork of the Boise River out of the mountains. It was wide and relatively smooth, but there was still some sand. At one point we were off the GPS track and not sure about the road. Following the GPS track led to a dead end. It was hot and Sarah was frustrated, so we just stopped in some shade and rested. I flagged down a passing truck to ask about the road. They assured me that the road where went off the track was indeed the correct one because the original road had washed out and a bypass had been made. Sarah felt better once we knew this because she was worried we'd have to backtrack one the summit.
We pressed on and Daniel was out of sight most of the time, but he did wait for us to catch up so he was not out of sight very long. Once we were rolling Sarah felt better because the wind moving through our gear felt really good. We rode for quite a while and eventually came upon a vault toilet. I suggested we stop and take a break. Daniel had already gone ahead and come back. He suggested I ride ahead to see what I thought of the road because there was a bad rocky section and the road narrowed. He was afraid we'd have to turn around. So I ran ahead a few miles while they rested. The rocky section was a short spot where a landslide had occurred. There were concrete barriers on the outside of the corner, but there were still quite a few rocks on the road. I got through it without any issues and it was only 75 feet or so. After that the road was basically dirt/gravel, but one lane. Given the number of side by sides we'd already seen hauling around, the risk of meeting one mid corner was a bit concerning. When I got back to the rest stop, we went down by the river and visited with several families that were swimming and fishing at a really cool spot. I asked about the route we were planning that would take us to Atlanta City and they suggested we not go that way as the road got quite rough. If we turned South at Featherville instead, the road was paved from there and very nice. So that is what we did. Daniel offered to ride Sarah's bike through the rock slide area for her, but by the time he got stopped and off his bike, she was already coming through and made it without any problems. The rest of the run to Featherville was a few hours but super nice as it followed the river down a spectacular narrow valley with huge pine trees. There were TONS of campgrounds crammed full of all manner of RVs. I am constantly amazed at the places people can get those things into! The road got much worse though. There were so many pot holes it was impossible to thread between them and some were pretty deep. The bike suspensions were getting a serious workout as were our knees and hips! Once we reached Featherville, we turned South on Pine Featherville Road down to the Anderson Ranch Reservoir. We picked the road that runs down the East side of the reservoir, which eventually dropped back out onto US 20. It was a super fun ride with amazing views, like so many other places in Idaho! Sarah was already admitting that the dirt section was actually fun even though it was stressful and she was really liking the pavement. Even the run on US 20 over to Mountain Home on I-84 was nice!
We stopped for gas in Mountain Home. While there we met a couple that had a really cool adventure trailer that the guy had built from scratch. It was impressive. He had a KTM 500 EXC and Honda CRF300 in the bed. I did not catch his name, but he mentioned that he worked at Moto One, a nearby KTM dealer. So it is good to know there is at least one dealer in Boise where we might be able to get Sarah's bike fixed. After visiting, we got on the interstate and headed North. The plan now was to just get another hotel in Boise. The problem was, it was Saturday. Most dealers would be closed until Tuesday and would not likely have the necessary parts on hand. Also, while heading up the interstate, Sarah noticed Daniel's back tire bouncing. I had him get in front of me so I could see what she was talking about and it was indeed bouncing several inches off the ground when he accelerated!! He said it was fine at constant speed, so that is exactly what we did all the way to the hotel. There was a ton of stuff going on in town this weekend so the hotels were all booked. We got the last room at the Best Western and it was a bit more than we'd normally want to pay. We were hot, tired, and the bikes were in bad shape. It turned out that Daniel had totally blown his rear shock, either on that nasty hill climb a few days back, the nasty pot holes today, or a combination of both. He mentioned that he had not been able to lock up his back brake on the dirt even with he ABS turned off. The oil from the shock leaked out and got all over the swing arm and rear brakes
So now we have two bikes that are really not in a safe ridable condition... It looked like we would be in Boise for a while and spending way more money than we had hoped. The adventure continues...My humble abode, a 10 year old tent that still works!
A picnic table would have been nice just to have a place to lay stuff
The view from the summit on ID 75 looking back down over the valley were we camped last night
Sweet 1971 F150 driven by what looked like a high school aged kid. He said it was a pasture find. New tires and interior and it was good to go.
A bit worn, but still soldiering on
Good food if you are in the area!
The down side of Couch Summit (West side). The dark spot on the lower road left of that tree is Daniel waiting for us.
Sarah stopped to shed some layers as it was getting pretty warm. I did the same while up top.
Typical of much of the road once at the bottom of the pass and before we stopped for the vault toilet break
Typical of the road once we got past the rock slide area
A very small part of the reservoir
The paved road heading South along the East side of the reservoir
The home built camper with a QUEEN sized bed! Can go off grid for a month at a time if near a water supply and has built in pump/filtration system.
Shock oil where it should not be
In a seating area in front of the hotel
I forgot to add that while working on the ride reports last night, a storm came rolling through. There was a ton of lightning, a good bit of hail, really high winds, and some serious rain! So perhaps it is a good thing that we did not end up camping last might instead of stopping here in Boise
Last edited:
Hope the shock is an easy rebuild. I ate at a killer BBQ joint in NW Boise several years back, but danged if I can remember the name.
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Day fifteen, Sunday, August 27th
We had to change rooms. When we checked in last night, all they had was a king suite. For this night, they had a double queen available and it was significantly cheaper. When I made the reservation for the new room I explained to the lady at the front desk that we really could go anywhere because of our bike issues while waiting between the normal check out time of 11:00am and the earliest check-in time of 3:00pm. She made sure to have the new room cleaned early so we could move everything over immediately rather than making us wait until the normal 3:00pm check-in time. That was nice! After getting situated in the new room, we got busy doing some mundane stuff: doing laundry, catching up on ride reports, and finding a dealer that will actually be open on Monday! We'll be getting up early to be there when they open in the morning! There was also an airshow going on and we happened to be right across the freeway from the airport. So we spent a lot of time either sitting in front of our window or watching from outside as we wandered around a shopping center across the intersection from the hotel. They had quite the variety of aircraft. They even had a Thunderbird demonstration. There was an F35 Raptor, A-10 Warthogs, and more. This went on pretty much all day long and all of the aircraft continually flew right over the hotel.
We visited a local Albertson's to get some snacks and while walking back to the hotel passed a nail salon in the same shopping center. Sarah teased me about whether or not I would be getting my nails done. Lately, I had been having really serious problems with the nails on the middle three fingers of each hand just splitting right down the middle into the pink are under the nail. They were constantly snagging on stuff and getting torn worse. I had clipped and filed them until there wasn't anything left to clip and file, yet they kept splitting and snagging! So to her surprise, I walked into the salon and found the two guys that worked there sitting in the back eating lunch. One came out and I explained what I wanted, basically a clear non-glossy hard coating that would hopefully reinforce the nails and keep them from splitting further. He said, "No problem." So I sat down and watched him do his thing. Ten minutes later, he was done. $20 including a tip. Hopefully it would work. After leaving the salon we headed back over to the gas station on the corner of the intersection between the hotel and the shopping center. We sat out front at a picnic table in the shade and watched the local traffic and the air show. We eventually ended up back over at the hotel. Daniel wanted to edit and upload videos. I needed to work on ride reports and upload videos. We decided we wanted a nice dinner, so we settled on Outback, and that meant another Uber ride. After that, Sarah wanted to visit a Wal-Mart, but it was on the other side of the freeway and a bit of a walk at night on busy roads. So... another Uber. While there she found some new sweat pants. She was hoping to find something warmer to wear under her riding pants and also while sleeping at night when camping. Daniel found a new blanket he really liked. The problem was they weren't going to have room to pack everything. So tomorrow they would have to find a UPS store or something so they could ship something home to make room. We got one last Uber and headed to the hotel for the evening.
The last excitement of the day was when Sarah went to turn out the last lamp. I wasn't really paying attention but as the light went of she kind of freaked out!? I turned to see what was going on and above the lamp on the wall in big glow in the dark letters was the word, "H E L P". She was still wigging out when Daniel and I just lost it. We were laughing so hard I could barely breathe. She didn't see the humor in the situation and was all, "I CAN"T sleep here now!" Once I was finally able to stop laughing I assured her it was just someone's idea of a joke, and a good one at that! We eventually able to calm her down and convince her to go to bed. I have no idea how long it took her to fall asleep because I was out like a light a few minutes after she finally turned off the lamp for good.
Desperate times call for desperate measures! The index. middle and ring finger nails on both hands have been splitting and breaking like crazy for some reason. With not enough nails left to trim, I decided to get a hard clear coat over them to see if that would help.
Sarah wanted something warmer. I thought these were great. Apparently, she disagreed
She got these sweat pants instead
Nothing to see here right?
Look again!
If you look just right and get the light at the right angle, you can see it with the light on, but you have to be looking for it
The contrast between the message on her new sweat pants and her reaction to the HELP on the wall was kind of funny as well
We had to change rooms. When we checked in last night, all they had was a king suite. For this night, they had a double queen available and it was significantly cheaper. When I made the reservation for the new room I explained to the lady at the front desk that we really could go anywhere because of our bike issues while waiting between the normal check out time of 11:00am and the earliest check-in time of 3:00pm. She made sure to have the new room cleaned early so we could move everything over immediately rather than making us wait until the normal 3:00pm check-in time. That was nice! After getting situated in the new room, we got busy doing some mundane stuff: doing laundry, catching up on ride reports, and finding a dealer that will actually be open on Monday! We'll be getting up early to be there when they open in the morning! There was also an airshow going on and we happened to be right across the freeway from the airport. So we spent a lot of time either sitting in front of our window or watching from outside as we wandered around a shopping center across the intersection from the hotel. They had quite the variety of aircraft. They even had a Thunderbird demonstration. There was an F35 Raptor, A-10 Warthogs, and more. This went on pretty much all day long and all of the aircraft continually flew right over the hotel.
We visited a local Albertson's to get some snacks and while walking back to the hotel passed a nail salon in the same shopping center. Sarah teased me about whether or not I would be getting my nails done. Lately, I had been having really serious problems with the nails on the middle three fingers of each hand just splitting right down the middle into the pink are under the nail. They were constantly snagging on stuff and getting torn worse. I had clipped and filed them until there wasn't anything left to clip and file, yet they kept splitting and snagging! So to her surprise, I walked into the salon and found the two guys that worked there sitting in the back eating lunch. One came out and I explained what I wanted, basically a clear non-glossy hard coating that would hopefully reinforce the nails and keep them from splitting further. He said, "No problem." So I sat down and watched him do his thing. Ten minutes later, he was done. $20 including a tip. Hopefully it would work. After leaving the salon we headed back over to the gas station on the corner of the intersection between the hotel and the shopping center. We sat out front at a picnic table in the shade and watched the local traffic and the air show. We eventually ended up back over at the hotel. Daniel wanted to edit and upload videos. I needed to work on ride reports and upload videos. We decided we wanted a nice dinner, so we settled on Outback, and that meant another Uber ride. After that, Sarah wanted to visit a Wal-Mart, but it was on the other side of the freeway and a bit of a walk at night on busy roads. So... another Uber. While there she found some new sweat pants. She was hoping to find something warmer to wear under her riding pants and also while sleeping at night when camping. Daniel found a new blanket he really liked. The problem was they weren't going to have room to pack everything. So tomorrow they would have to find a UPS store or something so they could ship something home to make room. We got one last Uber and headed to the hotel for the evening.
The last excitement of the day was when Sarah went to turn out the last lamp. I wasn't really paying attention but as the light went of she kind of freaked out!? I turned to see what was going on and above the lamp on the wall in big glow in the dark letters was the word, "H E L P". She was still wigging out when Daniel and I just lost it. We were laughing so hard I could barely breathe. She didn't see the humor in the situation and was all, "I CAN"T sleep here now!" Once I was finally able to stop laughing I assured her it was just someone's idea of a joke, and a good one at that! We eventually able to calm her down and convince her to go to bed. I have no idea how long it took her to fall asleep because I was out like a light a few minutes after she finally turned off the lamp for good.
Desperate times call for desperate measures! The index. middle and ring finger nails on both hands have been splitting and breaking like crazy for some reason. With not enough nails left to trim, I decided to get a hard clear coat over them to see if that would help.
Sarah wanted something warmer. I thought these were great. Apparently, she disagreed
She got these sweat pants instead
Nothing to see here right?
Look again!
If you look just right and get the light at the right angle, you can see it with the light on, but you have to be looking for it
The contrast between the message on her new sweat pants and her reaction to the HELP on the wall was kind of funny as well
Last edited:
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Day sixteen, Monday, August 28th
The previous evening had I found a local KTM dealer, Carl's Cycle Sales, that was open on Monday! For those that might not be riders and understand why this was exciting, it is because most bike shops are closed on Mondays. Many dealerships sponsored racing teams and races were usually held on Sunday, so they took Monday as a day off. That has been pretty consistent with every dealership I've ever dealt with in numerous states. This saved us an extra day! Anyway, we loaded up the bikes and headed that direction early, wanting to get there right as they opened. We removed all the luggage and left it at the hotel. No sooner than we got on the bikes Sarah and Daniel both started commenting about how light and nimble their bikes felt without all the weight of the luggage on them! I had to agree. It was nice not fighting all that extra weight, even on the road, but it would be especially nice when riding on the dirt! The dealership was in North Boise and we were way down South. I had the location set in my GPS so it wasn't difficult to find. We arrived right as they were opening and I went straight to the service department. I explained what had happened and they immediately got both bikes wheeled back into the shop. The service rep said they would take a look and get back to use shortly, so we just hung out and waited there at the shop.
This place was a really nice dealership! They had tons of bikes from multiple brands: KTM, Kawasaki, Honda, Gas Gas, and I think even Suzuki. We drooled on the bikes. A Salesman put heavy pressure on Daniel to buy a KTM 690 Enduro, even offering at a very good price! I watched to see if he would crack under the pressure, but he held up. I sure wasn't going to buy it for him! They also had tons of accessories and even KLIM gear in stock. The service rep eventually came back with bad news. Daniel's rear shock was broken in such a way that it was not possible to just get new parts and repair it. It was done. They could get a new shock tomorrow, but it would have to be shipped overnight, which meant expensive. Also, the rear brakes had oil on them, which explained why Daniel could not lock the brakes when riding on the dirt. So it would need new brake pads as well. He gave me the estimate for everything, including over-nighting the shock. I told him to do it. Staying an extra day or two would cost far more in hotel fees than paying for the expedited shipping on the shock. He said they would also see if they could figure out what was going on with Sarah's rear brake and why it wasn't generating pressure earlier in the stroke. If we got lucky and the new shock arrived early enough, they might have been able to have it done late Tuesday or early Wednesday and we could save on another day of hotel expense.
When we were done in the service department I ordered an Uber to get the kids back to the hotel and followed them there. We hung out and while and then decided to get an Uber downtown to eat at Chikfila and do some exploring. We did a LOT of walking! Boise State University had a pretty campus right on the river that runs thru town. We spent some time hanging out there just people watching, which was an interesting experience... There were tons of parks, bike paths, and more. It was actually a really nice town if you stayed in town where there are trees. Outside of town it got barren pretty fast! After a LOT more walking, we eventually had another Uber take us to a Cracker Barrel for an early dinner. Then it was back to the hotel for the evening. I have to say, the Uber experiences up to this point were all really good for the most part. It was neat meeting drivers from all over the place. Sometimes they were locals. Sometimes I think they had only been in the country for a very short time. Many were from the Middle East. The one we had this evening drove like he just got off the boat and was still used to the lack of traffic rules where he had come from!! He got us to the hotel FAST! It was a bit of a relief to say goodbye once we got there. It was still a nice evening so Sarah and I walked across the street to a gas station that had a nice little picnic table area under the trees where we could enjoy the shade and just watch the local traffic, another favorite activity.
We finally went back over to the hotel. Daniel was getting worried about us because we had been gone so long. He and I ended up going down to check out the hot tub. It was a nice one! We had two young girls join us. Turns out they had just graduated high school. One was going into the Marines and the other wanted to be a forest fire fighter. This was their big trip before the first shipped off for boot camp. We had a nice visit and when the heat became too much, we said good night and headed up to our room.
Nice dealership and BUSY, but they still got us in and taken care of quick!
Part of the "Greenbelt" park system that runs through town
Cool lake with HUGE fish. There were paddle boat rentals, but we decided to pass on those
Cool walking/bike bridge from park over to the BSU campus
The ducks clearly get fed often. They would follow people floating down the river on tubes.
They wanted to wade across, but the rocks were kind of slick, so they decided not to attempt it.
Growing along the bank of the river
Eighth Street in Boise is kind of like Sixth Street in Austin, but everything was closed on Monday They had cool planter boxes along the street with all these flowers.
State capitol
Awesome shade tree with picnic tables under it on the capitol lawn
Waiting for the after dinner Uber
There are SO many cool old trucks here! 1986 F-250 4WD
The previous evening had I found a local KTM dealer, Carl's Cycle Sales, that was open on Monday! For those that might not be riders and understand why this was exciting, it is because most bike shops are closed on Mondays. Many dealerships sponsored racing teams and races were usually held on Sunday, so they took Monday as a day off. That has been pretty consistent with every dealership I've ever dealt with in numerous states. This saved us an extra day! Anyway, we loaded up the bikes and headed that direction early, wanting to get there right as they opened. We removed all the luggage and left it at the hotel. No sooner than we got on the bikes Sarah and Daniel both started commenting about how light and nimble their bikes felt without all the weight of the luggage on them! I had to agree. It was nice not fighting all that extra weight, even on the road, but it would be especially nice when riding on the dirt! The dealership was in North Boise and we were way down South. I had the location set in my GPS so it wasn't difficult to find. We arrived right as they were opening and I went straight to the service department. I explained what had happened and they immediately got both bikes wheeled back into the shop. The service rep said they would take a look and get back to use shortly, so we just hung out and waited there at the shop.
This place was a really nice dealership! They had tons of bikes from multiple brands: KTM, Kawasaki, Honda, Gas Gas, and I think even Suzuki. We drooled on the bikes. A Salesman put heavy pressure on Daniel to buy a KTM 690 Enduro, even offering at a very good price! I watched to see if he would crack under the pressure, but he held up. I sure wasn't going to buy it for him! They also had tons of accessories and even KLIM gear in stock. The service rep eventually came back with bad news. Daniel's rear shock was broken in such a way that it was not possible to just get new parts and repair it. It was done. They could get a new shock tomorrow, but it would have to be shipped overnight, which meant expensive. Also, the rear brakes had oil on them, which explained why Daniel could not lock the brakes when riding on the dirt. So it would need new brake pads as well. He gave me the estimate for everything, including over-nighting the shock. I told him to do it. Staying an extra day or two would cost far more in hotel fees than paying for the expedited shipping on the shock. He said they would also see if they could figure out what was going on with Sarah's rear brake and why it wasn't generating pressure earlier in the stroke. If we got lucky and the new shock arrived early enough, they might have been able to have it done late Tuesday or early Wednesday and we could save on another day of hotel expense.
When we were done in the service department I ordered an Uber to get the kids back to the hotel and followed them there. We hung out and while and then decided to get an Uber downtown to eat at Chikfila and do some exploring. We did a LOT of walking! Boise State University had a pretty campus right on the river that runs thru town. We spent some time hanging out there just people watching, which was an interesting experience... There were tons of parks, bike paths, and more. It was actually a really nice town if you stayed in town where there are trees. Outside of town it got barren pretty fast! After a LOT more walking, we eventually had another Uber take us to a Cracker Barrel for an early dinner. Then it was back to the hotel for the evening. I have to say, the Uber experiences up to this point were all really good for the most part. It was neat meeting drivers from all over the place. Sometimes they were locals. Sometimes I think they had only been in the country for a very short time. Many were from the Middle East. The one we had this evening drove like he just got off the boat and was still used to the lack of traffic rules where he had come from!! He got us to the hotel FAST! It was a bit of a relief to say goodbye once we got there. It was still a nice evening so Sarah and I walked across the street to a gas station that had a nice little picnic table area under the trees where we could enjoy the shade and just watch the local traffic, another favorite activity.
We finally went back over to the hotel. Daniel was getting worried about us because we had been gone so long. He and I ended up going down to check out the hot tub. It was a nice one! We had two young girls join us. Turns out they had just graduated high school. One was going into the Marines and the other wanted to be a forest fire fighter. This was their big trip before the first shipped off for boot camp. We had a nice visit and when the heat became too much, we said good night and headed up to our room.
Nice dealership and BUSY, but they still got us in and taken care of quick!
Part of the "Greenbelt" park system that runs through town
Cool lake with HUGE fish. There were paddle boat rentals, but we decided to pass on those
Cool walking/bike bridge from park over to the BSU campus
The ducks clearly get fed often. They would follow people floating down the river on tubes.
They wanted to wade across, but the rocks were kind of slick, so they decided not to attempt it.
Growing along the bank of the river
Eighth Street in Boise is kind of like Sixth Street in Austin, but everything was closed on Monday
They had cool planter boxes along the street with all these flowers.State capitol
Awesome shade tree with picnic tables under it on the capitol lawn
Waiting for the after dinner Uber
There are SO many cool old trucks here! 1986 F-250 4WD
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Bummer for the bike issues, but way to go making the best of the situation. Boise is pretty.
They have those big wagons rolling around town where everyone sits on a barstool all around it and pedal powers it around while being served beer. Probably not real appropriate for the kids, but it looked like fun!
They have those big wagons rolling around town where everyone sits on a barstool all around it and pedal powers it around while being served beer. Probably not real appropriate for the kids, but it looked like fun!
The only dirty towns I see up here are rez towns , seems like people are proud of where they live in this part of the world .
moon flowers doing what they do best
moon flowers doing what they do best
Shock oil where it should not be
I guess the 790 and 890 are not the only KTMs blowing rear shocks! That sucks!
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Day seventeen, Tuesday, August 29th
With the dealership being so far from where we were staying, I decided to try to find somewhere close to stay. It turned out that hotels in Boise were expensive!! I did eventually manage to find a Red Lion Downtown in the area that was quite cheap in comparison. I checked the reviews and they seemed positive, so I called and made a reservation for tonight. We would have the same problem as yesterday though, what to do between our 11:00am checkout here and the 3:00pm check-in at the Red Lion. I called them and explained our situation. The front desk lady was very nice and said she'd be sure to have a room ready so we could get there extra early without a problem. We still had to be out of the hotel room by 11:00 am. I got my stuff together to get it back on my bike while the kids ran across the street to a UPS store to ship some stuff home they didn't think they would need. When they got back, I ordered yet another Uber to come get them and take them to the Red Lion. It was MUCH closer to all the interesting stuff, including the dealership. We were able to check in around noon.
This place had a strange vibe. It was one of those old hotels that catered to business conferences and the like. There were all manner of conference rooms, a big bar/lounge, and full blown restaurant. If you are a Doctor Who fan, you will recall the episode where the Doctor, Amy and Rory were trapped in this hotel that was like a Minataur Maze. Each person in the episode had a special room in the hotel that held their greatest fears. This place was like that hotel... Creepy. We were up on the third floor and the walk from the elevator to our room was pretty far. I moved my bike around the back of the hotel to a room that was close to stairs and actually a shorter walk. Walking back into the building I used the nearest door and used my room key to get access. As I was walking down the hall I noticed that all the doors had paper signs with people's names on them. That was strange. Then someone came through a door at the other end of the hall and saw me. She wanted to know how I had gotten in here and informed me that I should not be here! I told her I was just coming from the parking lot to my room. When I went out the door she came in, it locked behind me. I turned around and saw a sign on the door and an alarm! The sign said the alarm would sound if the door opened and for healthcare providers to call a phone number!!?? Oh Snap! What on Earth did I just walk through!? I remembered something about people being put in hotels during Covid, but I thought all that was behind us finally!? Great... just more creepy! I got up to the room and shared this with the kids and Sarah was NOT happy! The room was actually pretty nice. Once we got everything unloaded and in the room, it was time for another Uber so we could get to the local Red Robin restaurant for lunch.
Right before we ordered our food, my phone rang. It was the dealer. They were already done with the bikes!!?? I couldn't believe it. Too bad they didn't call sooner so I could have avoided another night in a hotel, but oh well... Sarah wanted to walk around a bit after lunch before going to get the bikes. We ended up walking the Greenbelt all the way back to the hotel, a walk of about 3-4 miles. The public restrooms they have along the walking/biking paths have to be the nicest and cleanest public restrooms I have ever seen! They were much appreciated The walk back was nice, but hard on me as I was not used to that much walking and trying to keep up with Daniel. He has no grasp of the art of strolling along. It is always GO GO GO! Also, I have plantar fasciitis pretty bad and my feet were killing me!
Once back at the hotel we got another Uber to get the kids to the dealership. I met them there and discussed what had been done to the bikes. Daniel got a completely new rear shock and brake pads. They fixed the issue with Sarah's rear brake not getting any pressure until it was basically at the extreme end of its travel range. The kids both took the bikes for a test ride and came back with smiles. I had previously asked Sarah if she thought we'd be able to get out the door for under $1000 and she didn't really think so. It was $991.20!! Pretty amazing considering what they had to do and how quickly they got it done! It was a pleasure doing business with them.
We didn't want to go right back to the hotel, so we rode back to the Greenbelt near the city zoo. That spot is really nice. We parked the bikes and put our gear on a picnic table right by the river. Then we scrambled down the bank to soak our feet in the VERY cold water. It felt really good!! We had Dinner at the Chickfila and then tried to ride up to something called Table Rock Scenic Overlook. It closed one hour BEFORE the sunset!? Seems strange for a location that would be PERFECT for watching sunsets! Well, it was almost sunset so we didn't get to see it. Regardless, it was a fun ride through a seriously high dollar neighborhood with some amazing homes! 
We headed back to the hotel to call it a day and get ready for tomorrow. We were all feeling the need to be on the bikes and to get back to some riding!!
I was getting shaggy. I decided to trim my beard and hair. Normally, after doing that I always take a shower and use the water pressure to get all those little cut hairs off of me so they don't stick and poke me. When I got in the shower, the water was cold. I like it hot. When I moved the water to the hot position, the pressure dropped to the point where the shower head would disengage!? I fiddled around with it, but no matter what, if I got the water even remotely hot, there just wasn't enough pressure. I was able to get the shower to stay engaged and jusssst above COLD so that I could tolerate it long enough to try to rinse off all the loose hairs. Just one more odd and annoying thing about this hotel... And then there was the swimming pool below the balcony of our room! Well... at least the bed was comfy and there were no creepy words on the walls or ceilings
I accidentally found myself on the wrong side of this door in the hotel when coming in from a different entry point in the parking lot using my room key. It was a bit creepy back in there...
The kids menu has a never ending chocolate milk optionBoth of them are chocolate milk junkies. I got the kids chicken fingers with a Dr. Pepper
Lots of cool landscaping all over the city and in the numerous parks. I don't think I have ever seen a city with so many parks!
Typical for places were roads cross the river
The kids chilling with Abe
Not familiar with this bike, but it fit Sarah really well and she liked it! It was at the dealership when we arrived to get the bikes.
Climbing down the bank to find a place to sit so we could soak our feet
Ahhhh....!
This kind of path and park landscape goes for miles
Can you find Daniel?
He came back down to a more reasonable height
This is the view from our 3rd floor balcony. The coffin shaped pool and blood red hot tub just adds too “The Shining” vibe of this hotel.
With the dealership being so far from where we were staying, I decided to try to find somewhere close to stay. It turned out that hotels in Boise were expensive!! I did eventually manage to find a Red Lion Downtown in the area that was quite cheap in comparison. I checked the reviews and they seemed positive, so I called and made a reservation for tonight. We would have the same problem as yesterday though, what to do between our 11:00am checkout here and the 3:00pm check-in at the Red Lion. I called them and explained our situation. The front desk lady was very nice and said she'd be sure to have a room ready so we could get there extra early without a problem. We still had to be out of the hotel room by 11:00 am. I got my stuff together to get it back on my bike while the kids ran across the street to a UPS store to ship some stuff home they didn't think they would need. When they got back, I ordered yet another Uber to come get them and take them to the Red Lion. It was MUCH closer to all the interesting stuff, including the dealership. We were able to check in around noon.
This place had a strange vibe. It was one of those old hotels that catered to business conferences and the like. There were all manner of conference rooms, a big bar/lounge, and full blown restaurant. If you are a Doctor Who fan, you will recall the episode where the Doctor, Amy and Rory were trapped in this hotel that was like a Minataur Maze. Each person in the episode had a special room in the hotel that held their greatest fears. This place was like that hotel... Creepy. We were up on the third floor and the walk from the elevator to our room was pretty far. I moved my bike around the back of the hotel to a room that was close to stairs and actually a shorter walk. Walking back into the building I used the nearest door and used my room key to get access. As I was walking down the hall I noticed that all the doors had paper signs with people's names on them. That was strange. Then someone came through a door at the other end of the hall and saw me. She wanted to know how I had gotten in here and informed me that I should not be here! I told her I was just coming from the parking lot to my room. When I went out the door she came in, it locked behind me. I turned around and saw a sign on the door and an alarm! The sign said the alarm would sound if the door opened and for healthcare providers to call a phone number!!?? Oh Snap! What on Earth did I just walk through!? I remembered something about people being put in hotels during Covid, but I thought all that was behind us finally!? Great... just more creepy! I got up to the room and shared this with the kids and Sarah was NOT happy!
The room was actually pretty nice. Once we got everything unloaded and in the room, it was time for another Uber so we could get to the local Red Robin restaurant for lunch.Right before we ordered our food, my phone rang. It was the dealer. They were already done with the bikes!!?? I couldn't believe it. Too bad they didn't call sooner so I could have avoided another night in a hotel, but oh well... Sarah wanted to walk around a bit after lunch before going to get the bikes. We ended up walking the Greenbelt all the way back to the hotel, a walk of about 3-4 miles. The public restrooms they have along the walking/biking paths have to be the nicest and cleanest public restrooms I have ever seen! They were much appreciated
The walk back was nice, but hard on me as I was not used to that much walking and trying to keep up with Daniel. He has no grasp of the art of strolling along. It is always GO GO GO! Also, I have plantar fasciitis pretty bad and my feet were killing me!Once back at the hotel we got another Uber to get the kids to the dealership. I met them there and discussed what had been done to the bikes. Daniel got a completely new rear shock and brake pads. They fixed the issue with Sarah's rear brake not getting any pressure until it was basically at the extreme end of its travel range. The kids both took the bikes for a test ride and came back with smiles. I had previously asked Sarah if she thought we'd be able to get out the door for under $1000 and she didn't really think so. It was $991.20!!
Pretty amazing considering what they had to do and how quickly they got it done! It was a pleasure doing business with them.We didn't want to go right back to the hotel, so we rode back to the Greenbelt near the city zoo. That spot is really nice. We parked the bikes and put our gear on a picnic table right by the river. Then we scrambled down the bank to soak our feet in the VERY cold water. It felt really good!! We had Dinner at the Chickfila and then tried to ride up to something called Table Rock Scenic Overlook. It closed one hour BEFORE the sunset!?
Seems strange for a location that would be PERFECT for watching sunsets! Well, it was almost sunset so we didn't get to see it. Regardless, it was a fun ride through a seriously high dollar neighborhood with some amazing homes! We headed back to the hotel to call it a day and get ready for tomorrow. We were all feeling the need to be on the bikes and to get back to some riding!!I was getting shaggy. I decided to trim my beard and hair. Normally, after doing that I always take a shower and use the water pressure to get all those little cut hairs off of me so they don't stick and poke me. When I got in the shower, the water was cold. I like it hot. When I moved the water to the hot position, the pressure dropped to the point where the shower head would disengage!? I fiddled around with it, but no matter what, if I got the water even remotely hot, there just wasn't enough pressure. I was able to get the shower to stay engaged and jusssst above COLD so that I could tolerate it long enough to try to rinse off all the loose hairs. Just one more odd and annoying thing about this hotel... And then there was the swimming pool below the balcony of our room! Well... at least the bed was comfy and there were no creepy words on the walls or ceilings
I accidentally found myself on the wrong side of this door in the hotel when coming in from a different entry point in the parking lot using my room key. It was a bit creepy back in there...
The kids menu has a never ending chocolate milk option
Both of them are chocolate milk junkies. I got the kids chicken fingers with a Dr. Pepper Lots of cool landscaping all over the city and in the numerous parks. I don't think I have ever seen a city with so many parks!
Typical for places were roads cross the river
The kids chilling with Abe
Not familiar with this bike, but it fit Sarah really well and she liked it! It was at the dealership when we arrived to get the bikes.
Climbing down the bank to find a place to sit so we could soak our feet
Ahhhh....!
This kind of path and park landscape goes for miles
Can you find Daniel?
He came back down to a more reasonable height
This is the view from our 3rd floor balcony. The coffin shaped pool and blood red hot tub just adds too “The Shining” vibe of this hotel.
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Wow, you are having amazing luck with dealers and repairs! They'd laugh at you around here needing that kind of promptness.
I think I hear Willie singing On the Road Again in the background.
I think I hear Willie singing On the Road Again in the background.
And that z650 is a fabulous retro nod to the original in the styling department!
One of my coworkers has a grey one. The green looks much better. She sold her car when she got it, so it's her daily driver. It's also her first bike. Doesn't see a lot of miles, but it's not had any issues. Standard Kawi 650 Twin in a retro styled naked street bike @Tourmeister.
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Only change is that my '78 KZ650 was an inline four. This one sure is nice, though.
Unfortunately they just used the 650 engine as is compared to the Z900 RS which dresses the engine up to look more retro. However, it's still a cool bike!
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Day eighteen, Wednesday, August 30th
Back on the road!!
We left Boise around 10:00am-ish and the plan was to head to Challis, ID. There was a campground there with hot springs. We headed NE out of of town on ID 21. This ran past the Lucky Peak Reservoir and got fun right away, especially after it crossed a bridge over a leg of the reservoir and started following Mores Creek into the mountains. ID 21 through Idaho City, Lowman, and to Stanley was the plan. We rolled into Idaho City, a small touristy town with a long mining history. We stopped for a break to get snacks and drinks. Then we continued on 21. We spotted and passed a "Road Closed Ahead" sign. I don't always turn around immediately when seeing these because often times I've been able to get through when on a bike once the construction people see me. I was hoping this might be the case here because any detour was bound to be VERY out of the way as there aren't many other roads out here in the mountains. We passed some gravel hauler trucks going the other way as we climbed up higher and higher. The road was really fun and quite twisty. Then we reached the Mores Creek Summit and came to a construction worker sitting in a lawn chair next to a sign, reading a thick novel of some kind. There was another road closed sign and apparently they really meant it. I pulled up to speak with the lady and asked if it was possible to get through, but she said no. She also said our timing wasn't great because they would be completely done with the repaving tomorrow and the road would be reopened... Great. I asked her if there were any ways around that could be driven with something like a typical car rather than a high clearance 4WD vehicle. She suggested a detour over the mountains to ID 55. We would have to backtrack to Idaho City and head Northish to get up to the Banks-Lowman Highway. Sarah wasn't wild about the idea of getting back on the dirt, which had become pretty much her default position before knowing anything at all about the roads in question. Daniel was ready to have at it! I suggested we take a break at the nearby overlook while I got out the drone to shoot some video and photos. I tried my hand at doing some cinematic video of the kids riding back down the mountain but I just haven't figured that out yet. After messing around for a bit I packed everything up and set off after them.
We headed out of town on Centerville Rd., which runs up into Slaughterhouse Gulch. It started out as a nice wide dirt road. It wasn't real smooth, but it wasn't real rough either. There was a good bit of traffic. This also meant a good bit of dust sometimes. Daniel got out front as he likes to do and I followed Sarah. We didn't have this route in our GPS so I made sure Daniel understood he HAD to stop at any intersections and wait for us to catch up so he didn't end up running down some dead end rabbit trails, or worse yet NOT go down a dead end and disappear to who knows where without me realizing he'd gone astray! We didn't get very far before it started getting quite twisty and a bit steep. I stayed behind Sarah and just talked with her. This seems to help her stay calm and focus on the task at hand instead of letting her mind run wild with all kinds of imagined potential disasters. After clearing a low summit we started heading back down toward a "town" called New Centerville. There wasn't much out here other than a bridge over Grimes Creek and some dirt roads going off each way on both sides of the creek. "Old" Centerville was apparently just up the creek to the Northeast. We stayed on Centerville Rd., which now followed Granite Creek through a short valley to Placerville Rd., and soon found ourselves rolling into a TINY town, Placerville. There wasn't much here, but there was a town square of sorts with some interesting buildings around it, and a forest service vault toilet. Everyone needed a stop so we pulled over in front of some buildings near the toilets. After everyone had taken care of their business, I noticed a General store nearby and thought some ice cream might be in order! It was pretty warm.
While I was over in the store, Sarah and Daniel ended up talking with a local. It turned out that he was a museum curator for the town. They were all closed but he offered to open them up and give us private tours! This turned out to be a really cool detour! The museums were full of stuff from the mid to late 1800s up through the early 1900s. There were several buildings, one of which had originally been the saloon and a public school, and the other which had been the original mercantile. This one was literally like stepping back in time. The shelves were full of stuff you would never see in a modern store, especially when it comes to packaging. The basement housed the original town jail, which was still being restored. There was no fee for any of this, but donations were accepted so we pitched in to help. I asked about how many visitors they get out here because this place is kind of out of the way, but he said they actually get quite a few in the summer months. Things were just winding down when we got there because it was the end of August. After a few unplanned hours of poking around, we decided we really needed to get moving and get back on track. We thanked the curator and headed for the bikes.
While we were at the general store the locals had mentioned that the road heading North out of town, Alder Creek Rd., was currently having work done on it. We had already seen quite a few dump trucks go through town hauling gravel. This of course worried Sarah. Just outside of town the road immediately became quite technical, having a gnarly rocky section that had us bouncing everywhere. It was large rocks that had just be dumped and roughly spread over a section of the road maybe 100 feet long and covering the entire road. By "big", I mean the rocks were 4-5 inches or more across their longest length. So it was bumpy and loose. Daniel ripped right through it and disappeared in a cloud of dust. I was ahead of Sarah and headed into it next. It was a bit hairy because the bike really bounced around and didn't stay on my intended line, but I got through okay. I was telling Sarah to just stand up, relax, keep her eyes up, and stay steady on the gas. She got real quiet, which is usually a good thing. It means she's really focused and nothing is freaking her out, at least not so bad she starts making panic noises! She made it though and IMMEDIATELY wanted to know if we were going to be doing anything else like that! As if I could know that on a road I've never ridden and knew next to nothing about!? Shortly after the rocky section we got into steep, tight, and bumpy switchbacks before the road eventually leveled out and reached the highway. Daniel was bummed. Sarah was thrilled! The road just followed Alder Creek North until it fed into the South Fork of the Payette River. We crossed the river and turned East on the Banks-Lowman Highway. They highway followed the river and was really fun, being quite twisty all the way to Lowman. We stopped in Lowman at another Mercantile store for a break, and more snacks. They had some picnic tables in a grassy area under some trees out in front of the store. There were some other riders there on Adventure bikes. Apparently, they had misplaced one of their buddies and were trying to figure out how to regroup! We visited with them a while and then they took off in search of their friend. Looking at my GPS it was apparent that we had missed the really fun side of ID 21, but if we had made it through we would have missed out on the museums in Placerville. It was another good lesson for the kids to see that sometimes a change of plans turns out to be a good thing instead of always a problem. We got back on 21 and continued along the river until the highway bent North along Canyon Creek at 4900 feet and climbed up to Banner Summit at 7000 feet in just a few miles. 21 makes a big bend back to the Southeast at a place called Cape Horn. After this is straightens out and runs along a high valley until it reaches Stanley at ID 75. There were a LOT of areas that had been burned along this stretch of road. It started getting quite cold. I was amazed Sarah hadn't said anything about stopping because even I was getting chilled. I spotted a rest/camp area with toilets on the side of the road and pulled in. She was quite relieved to stop because she was getting cold!
We rolled into Stanley and it was already getting late, maybe 6:30 or so. We didn't HAVE to make it to Challis, but I really wanted to. There didn't look to be many options for lodging or camping in Stanley. We stopped to get gas and a drink. I asked the kids if they wanted to press on. Sarah wanted to know if there was anymore dirt. There wasn't. It was all highway from here on out. So they said, "Let's keep going." So we headed Northeast out of Stanley on ID 75. This was all paved and followed the Salmon River all the way to Challis. It was incredible scenery and riding!! We stopped right at the intersection of ID 75 and US 93 at what looked like the only gas station in town. It was a nice surprise when we got inside to find out they had a full grill staffed by two friendly local ladies. We had a great dinner. I was getting worried about time though. Our detour had us running late. It was supposed to be a short easy day getting us to our campground early in the afternoon so we could soak in the hot springs. We got there at 8:30pm, just before dark. The hot springs closed at 9:00pm… It was a nice place though, right near the Salmon river. It used to be private, but the state took over ownership and management in May of this year. $75 for two tent sites!! We quickly set up our tents, trying to get it done before it got completely dark. Once that was done, we decided to wander around and head down to the river. It was a very rocky river! It didn't look deep, but the river bed was nothing but rounded off smooth rocks. The moon came up over the mountains and lit the area up so well we could see even without our flashlights. It was getting even colder so we finally headed back to our campsite and called it a night. Having things not go as planned was starting to become our regular routine. We knew for sure though that we would be going back to that gas station in the morning for breakfast!
ID 21 out of Boise at the bridge over Lucky Peak Reservoir.
There was a nice lady sitting by the road closed sign. She suggested our detour. It was a fun ride up to that point. Too bad we couldn't get through. I can't believe they totally closed down a major thoroughfare without having at least a pilot car and doing one lane at a time
My one drone shot, looking back toward Idaho City
We backtracked to Idaho City and then headed North toward Placerville, about 15 miles away and all dirt. It was an easy road. Sarah did very well even though she thinks she didn't The next two shots were near Placerville. Kind of made me wish I had a Trials bike and knew how to use it
One of three original surviving buildings from the early 1860s. Apparently, the town burned to the ground three different times! There was a tiny one room school in the back.
Not sure what the issue was with the water... Lead? Mercury? Some other nastiness related to mining?
Cool general store, the modern one
Jim is a local, retired from the Forest Service. He gave good directions
Cool old fire trucks
All these pics are from inside the saloon. The wood floor is original.
School room at the back of the Saloon
Stove for heating
Some things never change...
There were a lot of old books, but not all dated back as far as the building. A lot of the stuff was from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Old printing press
Diesel powered air compressor
Sawmill that could rip planks to different widths
More saw mill equipment. Parts still turn freely and smoothly even after sitting exposed to the weather for many many years!
Old jail under the original mercantile store
The old mercantile had stucco walls and steel door and window covers to resist fire and keep out shifty miners at night.
This place was full of so much cool old stuff. I could spend days in here...
The letters struck the underside of the roller instead of swinging on an arm like more modern typewriters.
Dictaphone recorder with some tubes
After finishing our tours and having an ice cream, it was time to get moving. Sarah was already stressing about the dirt road out of town... We had been seeing a lot of construction dump trucks going by and they were adding material to the road and grading it. So she was worried about riding on the loose stuff. She doesn't like the bike wiggling around. I keep telling her to embrace the wiggle
More pics to follow in next post.
Back on the road!!
We left Boise around 10:00am-ish and the plan was to head to Challis, ID. There was a campground there with hot springs. We headed NE out of of town on ID 21. This ran past the Lucky Peak Reservoir and got fun right away, especially after it crossed a bridge over a leg of the reservoir and started following Mores Creek into the mountains. ID 21 through Idaho City, Lowman, and to Stanley was the plan. We rolled into Idaho City, a small touristy town with a long mining history. We stopped for a break to get snacks and drinks. Then we continued on 21. We spotted and passed a "Road Closed Ahead" sign. I don't always turn around immediately when seeing these because often times I've been able to get through when on a bike once the construction people see me. I was hoping this might be the case here because any detour was bound to be VERY out of the way as there aren't many other roads out here in the mountains. We passed some gravel hauler trucks going the other way as we climbed up higher and higher. The road was really fun and quite twisty. Then we reached the Mores Creek Summit and came to a construction worker sitting in a lawn chair next to a sign, reading a thick novel of some kind. There was another road closed sign and apparently they really meant it. I pulled up to speak with the lady and asked if it was possible to get through, but she said no. She also said our timing wasn't great because they would be completely done with the repaving tomorrow and the road would be reopened... Great.
I asked her if there were any ways around that could be driven with something like a typical car rather than a high clearance 4WD vehicle. She suggested a detour over the mountains to ID 55. We would have to backtrack to Idaho City and head Northish to get up to the Banks-Lowman Highway. Sarah wasn't wild about the idea of getting back on the dirt, which had become pretty much her default position before knowing anything at all about the roads in question. Daniel was ready to have at it! I suggested we take a break at the nearby overlook while I got out the drone to shoot some video and photos. I tried my hand at doing some cinematic video of the kids riding back down the mountain but I just haven't figured that out yet. After messing around for a bit I packed everything up and set off after them.We headed out of town on Centerville Rd., which runs up into Slaughterhouse Gulch. It started out as a nice wide dirt road. It wasn't real smooth, but it wasn't real rough either. There was a good bit of traffic. This also meant a good bit of dust sometimes. Daniel got out front as he likes to do and I followed Sarah. We didn't have this route in our GPS so I made sure Daniel understood he HAD to stop at any intersections and wait for us to catch up so he didn't end up running down some dead end rabbit trails, or worse yet NOT go down a dead end and disappear to who knows where without me realizing he'd gone astray! We didn't get very far before it started getting quite twisty and a bit steep. I stayed behind Sarah and just talked with her. This seems to help her stay calm and focus on the task at hand instead of letting her mind run wild with all kinds of imagined potential disasters. After clearing a low summit we started heading back down toward a "town" called New Centerville. There wasn't much out here other than a bridge over Grimes Creek and some dirt roads going off each way on both sides of the creek. "Old" Centerville was apparently just up the creek to the Northeast. We stayed on Centerville Rd., which now followed Granite Creek through a short valley to Placerville Rd., and soon found ourselves rolling into a TINY town, Placerville. There wasn't much here, but there was a town square of sorts with some interesting buildings around it, and a forest service vault toilet. Everyone needed a stop so we pulled over in front of some buildings near the toilets. After everyone had taken care of their business, I noticed a General store nearby and thought some ice cream might be in order! It was pretty warm.
While I was over in the store, Sarah and Daniel ended up talking with a local. It turned out that he was a museum curator for the town. They were all closed but he offered to open them up and give us private tours! This turned out to be a really cool detour! The museums were full of stuff from the mid to late 1800s up through the early 1900s. There were several buildings, one of which had originally been the saloon and a public school, and the other which had been the original mercantile. This one was literally like stepping back in time. The shelves were full of stuff you would never see in a modern store, especially when it comes to packaging. The basement housed the original town jail, which was still being restored. There was no fee for any of this, but donations were accepted so we pitched in to help. I asked about how many visitors they get out here because this place is kind of out of the way, but he said they actually get quite a few in the summer months. Things were just winding down when we got there because it was the end of August. After a few unplanned hours of poking around, we decided we really needed to get moving and get back on track. We thanked the curator and headed for the bikes.
While we were at the general store the locals had mentioned that the road heading North out of town, Alder Creek Rd., was currently having work done on it. We had already seen quite a few dump trucks go through town hauling gravel. This of course worried Sarah. Just outside of town the road immediately became quite technical, having a gnarly rocky section that had us bouncing everywhere. It was large rocks that had just be dumped and roughly spread over a section of the road maybe 100 feet long and covering the entire road. By "big", I mean the rocks were 4-5 inches or more across their longest length. So it was bumpy and loose. Daniel ripped right through it and disappeared in a cloud of dust. I was ahead of Sarah and headed into it next. It was a bit hairy because the bike really bounced around and didn't stay on my intended line, but I got through okay. I was telling Sarah to just stand up, relax, keep her eyes up, and stay steady on the gas. She got real quiet, which is usually a good thing. It means she's really focused and nothing is freaking her out, at least not so bad she starts making panic noises! She made it though and IMMEDIATELY wanted to know if we were going to be doing anything else like that! As if I could know that on a road I've never ridden and knew next to nothing about!? Shortly after the rocky section we got into steep, tight, and bumpy switchbacks before the road eventually leveled out and reached the highway. Daniel was bummed. Sarah was thrilled! The road just followed Alder Creek North until it fed into the South Fork of the Payette River. We crossed the river and turned East on the Banks-Lowman Highway. They highway followed the river and was really fun, being quite twisty all the way to Lowman. We stopped in Lowman at another Mercantile store for a break, and more snacks. They had some picnic tables in a grassy area under some trees out in front of the store. There were some other riders there on Adventure bikes. Apparently, they had misplaced one of their buddies and were trying to figure out how to regroup! We visited with them a while and then they took off in search of their friend. Looking at my GPS it was apparent that we had missed the really fun side of ID 21, but if we had made it through we would have missed out on the museums in Placerville. It was another good lesson for the kids to see that sometimes a change of plans turns out to be a good thing instead of always a problem. We got back on 21 and continued along the river until the highway bent North along Canyon Creek at 4900 feet and climbed up to Banner Summit at 7000 feet in just a few miles. 21 makes a big bend back to the Southeast at a place called Cape Horn. After this is straightens out and runs along a high valley until it reaches Stanley at ID 75. There were a LOT of areas that had been burned along this stretch of road. It started getting quite cold. I was amazed Sarah hadn't said anything about stopping because even I was getting chilled. I spotted a rest/camp area with toilets on the side of the road and pulled in. She was quite relieved to stop because she was getting cold!
We rolled into Stanley and it was already getting late, maybe 6:30 or so. We didn't HAVE to make it to Challis, but I really wanted to. There didn't look to be many options for lodging or camping in Stanley. We stopped to get gas and a drink. I asked the kids if they wanted to press on. Sarah wanted to know if there was anymore dirt. There wasn't. It was all highway from here on out. So they said, "Let's keep going." So we headed Northeast out of Stanley on ID 75. This was all paved and followed the Salmon River all the way to Challis. It was incredible scenery and riding!! We stopped right at the intersection of ID 75 and US 93 at what looked like the only gas station in town. It was a nice surprise when we got inside to find out they had a full grill staffed by two friendly local ladies. We had a great dinner. I was getting worried about time though. Our detour had us running late. It was supposed to be a short easy day getting us to our campground early in the afternoon so we could soak in the hot springs. We got there at 8:30pm, just before dark. The hot springs closed at 9:00pm…
It was a nice place though, right near the Salmon river. It used to be private, but the state took over ownership and management in May of this year. $75 for two tent sites!! We quickly set up our tents, trying to get it done before it got completely dark. Once that was done, we decided to wander around and head down to the river. It was a very rocky river! It didn't look deep, but the river bed was nothing but rounded off smooth rocks. The moon came up over the mountains and lit the area up so well we could see even without our flashlights. It was getting even colder so we finally headed back to our campsite and called it a night. Having things not go as planned was starting to become our regular routine. We knew for sure though that we would be going back to that gas station in the morning for breakfast!ID 21 out of Boise at the bridge over Lucky Peak Reservoir.
There was a nice lady sitting by the road closed sign. She suggested our detour. It was a fun ride up to that point. Too bad we couldn't get through. I can't believe they totally closed down a major thoroughfare without having at least a pilot car and doing one lane at a time
My one drone shot, looking back toward Idaho City
We backtracked to Idaho City and then headed North toward Placerville, about 15 miles away and all dirt. It was an easy road. Sarah did very well even though she thinks she didn't
The next two shots were near Placerville. Kind of made me wish I had a Trials bike and knew how to use it One of three original surviving buildings from the early 1860s. Apparently, the town burned to the ground three different times! There was a tiny one room school in the back.
Not sure what the issue was with the water... Lead? Mercury? Some other nastiness related to mining?
Cool general store, the modern one
Jim is a local, retired from the Forest Service. He gave good directions
Cool old fire trucks
All these pics are from inside the saloon. The wood floor is original.
School room at the back of the Saloon
Stove for heating
Some things never change...
There were a lot of old books, but not all dated back as far as the building. A lot of the stuff was from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Old printing press
Diesel powered air compressor
Sawmill that could rip planks to different widths
More saw mill equipment. Parts still turn freely and smoothly even after sitting exposed to the weather for many many years!
Old jail under the original mercantile store
The old mercantile had stucco walls and steel door and window covers to resist fire and keep out shifty miners at night.
This place was full of so much cool old stuff. I could spend days in here...
The letters struck the underside of the roller instead of swinging on an arm like more modern typewriters.
Dictaphone recorder with some tubes
After finishing our tours and having an ice cream, it was time to get moving. Sarah was already stressing about the dirt road out of town... We had been seeing a lot of construction dump trucks going by and they were adding material to the road and grading it. So she was worried about riding on the loose stuff. She doesn't like the bike wiggling around. I keep telling her to embrace the wiggle
More pics to follow in next post.
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They used a lot of mercury in gold mining so perhaps the water was contaminated with that?
My grandmother had a pump organ just like that at her place in NJ. Probably well over 100 years old but it still played.
My grandmother had a pump organ just like that at her place in NJ. Probably well over 100 years old but it still played.
Might also be lead pipes.
The color of the wood below the spigot is enough to keep me from drinking it , no sign needed . total road closures are common on lonely mountain roads during construction , they usually will open while they are taking lunch but all my experience the detour is almost always awesome , one in California had a traffic cone on the road you needed to stay on at each intersection . Another wasn’t closed but there was a D 8 cat working on the road that we came up behind , I made sure I stopped way back till the operator saw us and motioned us through . Might mention to Sarah that for a years worth of riding on flat land she is doing an incredible job with her first mountain ride , as I’m sure you have many times already , just let her know us old geezers think so too . I would have loved to have had the opportunity to do that with my daughter . Letting her chauffeur me around the mountains in her jeep is a close second .
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