The Summer of Stupid: 7400+ miles of 2up - OBCDR, CDT, TAT West and more...

[LittleWan]

Day 16 continued...


It was pretty dark in there with all the trees...



We had quite the obstacle course...




Parts of the trail were a little boggy and muddy.
Someone had thoughtfully laid out a stick bridge for crossing the creek




This grassy part was so pretty!
We talked about camping here, but it was a little buggy for me.




I forgot to take a “before” pic of this...
We came across this downed tree, with a nice rock “ramp” up to it.
Some little bikes had been able to go over it, as is, but I needed to break off some stray pokey branches for matt and our wide load.
I also put down the small log on the other side. It's nice to be useful!
























We were blasting towards this bridge thing when I noticed those logs and rocks...
"Wait, what’s that? Why are all those logs piled up like...?"
BigWan didn’t even let me finish my question before we were over it.
Oh. I get it.



And then that fun little section was over and we were on our way...

[LittleWan]

Day 16 continued...


We had considered camping in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge forest, but it was 7500 feet and we thought it might get cold at night .
Plus, it was to early to stop.
The road opened up again and the sun came out...




Now we were back on the slab




They had just chip sealed a section of the road today, so we had to wait for an escort...




Matt had been keen on stopping at Elkhorn Hotspring - it sounded good.
But when we got there, it was just a regular-looking pool, full of people.
No thanks.
We kept going.

I was starting to wonder if we’d be camping out in the sage brush, when we got to Bannack state park.








The larger campground (Vigilante) was full, so we went over to Road Agent.
There was just one other guy, camping by himself.




Nice soft grass. Lots of mosquitoes, though.
We were next to a river, damn it.
Can’t get away from mozzies on this trip.




It really felt more like 196 miles!

[LittleWan]

Day 17: 7/23/10 Bannack State Park to Grassy Lake C.G., WY 214 miles


The mosquitoes were up early today.
I got 3 simultaneous bites as I put on my boots.
Here’s Matt, working on the day’s route




The groundskeeper was anxious to kick us out. He kept circling us with his mower, getting closer and closer and spraying cut grass and dirt in an ever tightening circle...



I was hoping for this, but, no luck. I spoke to our neighbor and he was pretty irked. He said he had never been run out of a campground before!



Back on the trail







This was a fun, fast road




Stopped to get gas in Dell



I was going to link to one of those, “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” commercials, but they’re even stupider in 2010...
Instead, here’s a “WTF?” clip. Nixels will like it.




Eleanor Roosevelt quote in the ladies room




And, we're back on the road...

[LittleWan]

Day 17 continued...


This day was pretty dull...




Montana + Idaho = Monida




It didn’t look high, but we were at about 6800 feet.








We ran into this friendly (!) Beemer guy from Nebraska.
He was pretty stoked to be in Montana, escaping the 98F degree heat of home.













Lots of fast gravel roads today. We really ticked off the miles...



But we sure missed yesterday’s rocks and hills.

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by LittleWan

Day 17 continued...


Montana + Idaho = Monida

iMontaho.

[LittleWan]

Originally Posted by xymotic

iMontaho.

iTanaHo?
Oh, wait. That sounds more like California.


Day 17 continued...

Went through Red Rock Lake National Wildlife Refuge




Hey, I recognize that guy (spotted knapweed)!




That was the magenta thistle-y flower we saw near Lava Mountain. I think we saw them in Oregon, too.
Turns out these horrible weeds are displacing the plants that elk feed on.
Uh oh. Now I feel bad for calling them "pretty."












Avalanche damage

[LittleWan]

Day 17 continued...




The GPS tracks took us through a gate that said “Dead End.”
Just under that sign, was a note requesting that “dirt bikes go slow,” so we kept going.
We ended up on a ATV trail. Narrow and rutted with overhanging trees.







It was fun, but short.









Here come the Tetons!

[LittleWan]

Day 17 continued...


Back on the trail.
I like seeing these gates - they usually indicate an interesting road.



Eh.




Oh right. This tunnel looks familiar.








We were getting tired of having to pass quads so we didn’t dally much.
I did make matt stop so I could go back and take this one.
























It’s starting to look like a PC screen shot!

[lostmarbles]

very cool RR

[moynistan]

First of all, you two are totally badass for running out fleecer ridge. I can't believe BigWan stopped to let you get pics!! Pictures of course do not do justice to the grade. Secondly, for riders interested in not effing around trying to find Lava Mtn/ Fleecer Ridge, check out Adventure Cycling's maps of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Section 1 covers about 525 miles from Canada south, including the stuff in this GREAT RR!!

[WOXOF]

Cannonshot has a great thread on the whole GDR.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603076

[Nixels]

LittleWan, this double standard has to stop.

That treacle you posted from those Aussie weirdos creeped me out.

And I post something of quality, class and style - and you get all wound up like a mosquito ready to bite.

Fine, I won't share my cultural gems with you anymore - as long as you promise not to subject me to such unadulturated dreck.




P.S.

[larryboy]

Oh darn, I was hoping for a picture of Trinket the dog from the store in Dell. That's it..I'm going to have to ride it again.

I like those purple thistles too.

[LittleWan]

Thanks, lostmarbles! hi, woxof.

Hey, moynistan - glad you hung in there long enough to see the video.
Thanks for the map info - I'm sure it wil be helpful for anyone who wants to ride the CDT.

BigWan and I don't like planning. Matt preps the bike so we're ready for anything, but that's about it.
We left with Norm, some tracks, and some AAA maps. I glanced at a couple CDT RRs, but mostly focused on the OBCDR and the PCQ.
There's not a lot of adventure in following these trails, so we need something to make it interesting.
For us, little to no knowledge of the route is the way to go.
We miss some things, but we find others.
That's just the way we like to travel.

I'd much rather spend hours on the trail lost and frustrated, than spend weeks at home, bored and irritated (looking at maps).

Originally Posted by Nixels

I won't share my cultural gems with you anymore - as long as you promise not to subject me to such unadulturated dreck.

No deal. At this point, the only joy I get from this RR is making you guys click on the linkies.

Originally Posted by larryboy

Oh darn, I was hoping for a picture of Trinket the dog from the store in Dell. That's it..I'm going to have to ride it again.

Sorry LB, I don't remember seeing a dog there...
OMG. ride the CDT again? (that's my emoticon for a cold day in hell)



Day 17 continued...

Still in Idaho, slabbing it towards the Tetons




BigWan doesn’t like to go back for photos, but he relented for this one...




Aww... these people love squirrels as much as I do!




We had the misfortune of hitting the Yellowstone area on a weekend.
As we were going up Ashton-Flagg Ranch Road, we ran into several huge horse trailers.
The gravel was thick and the trailers made gigantic dust clouds and whiteout conditions.
Passing them was really fun.

It was only 4:30, which is too early to stop, but Matt wanted to swim and do laundry.
Yeah, we got pretty freaking dusty going around the horse trailers...
We ended up here, at Grassy Lake Reservoir








From what we could tell, camping is free. The place was packed.
We found what looked to be a nice spot, nestled in the trees.
What you can't see are the clouds of mosquitoes that dined on us all night, even with a smoky fire and 40% DEET spray.








Private beach




Matt rolled these rocks over to the fire ring and found a sturdy piece of wood for the seat.
Voila! A nice little bench.

[larryboy]

Originally Posted by LittleWan

Aww... these people love squirrels as much as I do!

My wife and I are drinking coffee and looking at your report. I said, "Those must be the famous Rockefeller Squirrels.", I scroll down and see the Rockefeller Parkway on your map.