Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route

[turbodb]

Introduction

We've run two Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDRs) in the past - Oregon in 2017 and Washington in 2018. So, when it came to planning for this year, we decided that we'd run what we thought would be one of the coolest BDRs out there - Idaho.

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Little did we realize that it would mean spending most of July in the beautiful state - we had, after all, just finished exploring the southeast and then the central parts of Idaho a couple weeks before we'd planned to embark on this south-to-north traverse of the state.

Not that we were complaining - this was clearly, our year to explore Idaho!

As far as the route itself goes, at 1,250 miles the IDBDR is much longer than either Oregon or Washington - understandable given that Idaho is as tall as the other two states combined.

Over the eight stages, we'd have the chance to traverse both the historic Macgruder Corridor and the Lolo Motorway; to experience highs and lows - the route rising and falling from 1500' to over 8600' above sea level; to see and experience much that the state has to offer - from dry desert to temperate rain forest.

Of course, through it all, we knew we'd encounter some obstacles - we just didn't know what they'd be. Like Oregon had been, we'd be going solo; unlike Oregon, we and the truck were significantly more prepared and capable.

We'd allotted up to 11 days to complete the trip - unsure whether the roads would be fast (like Washington) or slow (like Oregon) - hoping that we could cover a section each day, with a couple days travel to-and-from home.

We'd start in the historic town of Jarbidge, NV as we made our way north - mostly on dirt roads - towards Canada and the Rykerts crossing. We'd surely pass countless fire lookouts and hot springs. If we were lucky, we'd see a wide array of wildlife - deer, elk, moose, perhaps even a bear or mountain lion.

And so it was, that on a Wednesday in the middle of the month, we packed up our passports, a few changes of clothes, and enough food for most of our trip, and headed east - a cool 717 miles standing between us and the beginning of our IDBDR adventure.

It was midnight when we finally found camp a few miles outside of Jarbidge, having just missed hitting a cow calf who wandered into the road in front of the truck. Exhausted, we climbed into the tent and were asleep within minutes, excited for what the next day had in store!

 

[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 2 - Across the Snake River Plain

Having arrived late the night before, we were not up early. We'd slept well next to the East Fork of the Jarbidge River just outside Murphy Hot Springs, and it was a little after 10:00am when we rolled into Jarbidge, NV - the official start of the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route.

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Our first order of business was to fill up with fuel. I wasn't sure that we really needed to do this (it turns out we didn't), but I wanted to make sure we at least started off on the right foot for this trip. Plus, we'd filled up recently so even at $4.98/gal, the total cost wasn't all that expensive.

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Having contributed our small fortune to the Nevada economy, we set out to look around this little gold-mining town - a town that likely now sees more BDR adventurers than folks looking for the shiny yellow stuff. It was quite the time capsule, and we soaked it in. A community park houses a bunch of cool machinery from the early 1900's including an old headframe - used to raise and lower miners inside vertical shafts, and this "one-lunger" - an old single cylinder engine, which legend has it gained 2 hrsprs when it was painted green with pink flowers.

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The last bit of memorabilia we spent a few minutes at was much newer. It was a shovel - of the short-and-stubby variety - that had been enlarged a few dozen times, for what reason we had no idea. But, the plaques on it said that a bunch of offroad and 4x4 clubs had participated in it's construction, making us wonder - where were its beaver teeth? #NotBigEnoughForInsta ?

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Our tour of the town behind us, it was time to start our trek north. Having driven the same road south just a few minutes earlier to get to Jarbidge, you might think this would be something we weren't exactly looking forward to. In our case, it was quite the contrary - knowing we were headed back, we hadn't really stopped on the way down - but we had gotten a few glimpses of the canyon, and it was super cool!

I mean, for geology goobers such as ourselves.

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Add to that a bit of graffiti we found painted along the side of the river - and subtract out the "seriously, why would someone do that?" - and it made for a quite enjoyable start to the trip.

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Soon though, we were out of the canyon carved by the Jarbidge River, and into what I can only call the flats of Idaho. It was just a few short weeks ago that we'd found ourselves in these same flats as we'd explored our way to Indian Hot Springs - and we figured that fact entitled us to make good time through this section.

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Even making good time, there was a lot of flat - enough that we got hungry somewhere in the middle of it and decided that a lone tree along the side of the road for us to sit under was probably as good an opportunity as we'd get to stuff our faces with some delicious sandwiches that @mrs.turbodb whipped up out of the back of the truck - turkey (and the fixings) for me, and some sort of roast-veggie-and-hummus concoction for herself.

Oh, and freshly picked cherries. Yes, we were off to a good start.

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Of course, we could only drag lunch out so long before it was back onto the flats, many of which we continued to recognize from our previous trip. But then - as we drove along the edge of the Air Force bombing range - a change. To the driver side (away from the range), everything was normal; to the passenger side, black and burned. Guess some of the runs got a little out of control sometime in the couple weeks we'd been gone!

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We pushed forward, our speeds on these well-graded gravel roads never really dropping below 40mph, and I found myself wondering if we'd complete the first section of the BDR early, despite our late start at the beginning of the day. Over the next couple hours, we saw a few things here and there - an pronghorn, a water tower, even Sailor Cap Butte - but we started to joke that perhaps BDR stood for "Boring, Don't Run."

But, at those speeds, we eventually found our way nearer to Hammett and Glenns Ferry, where the landscape got at least a bit more interesting - some amazing sunflowers lining the road, the green of irrigation stretching out before our eyes.

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 2 - Across the Snake River Plain​

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[Ace Brown]

I always like your writing and photos.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 3 - Stymied By Gates

The night passed uneventfully - a cool breeze blowing off the lake, a refreshing relief from the heat of the day. Now technically in Mountain time, I'd set my alarm for the absurd hour of 5:30am to catch sunrise - hoping that I'd be able to catch a bit of light despite our position relative to the horizon.

​

It wasn't long, I was a bit too late even at 5:30am, and we've surely seen more dramatic sunrises, but it was still an enjoyable few minutes of color to see splashed across the sky. Plus, it was still early enough that I knew there were at least a couple more hours of sleep to be had once I climbed back into the tent, the moon still high in the early morning sky.

​

Having enjoyed our more leisurely start the day before, we stayed in bed reading until just after 8:00am when an engine-revving, tire-spinning, ruckus outside the tent caught our attention. Contorting ourselves so we could see out one of the side windows, we looked up the trail towards the main road to see a pickup precariously perched sideways, completely stuck as it tried to turn around. Seems that he'd started down towards our camp before seeing that it was occupied. At that point, he made the poor decision to turn around on the rutted, off-camber, road and was now unable to get the purchase necessary in order to free himself. Luckily for him, another truck just happened to be passing along the main road, and with the help of a rope that seemed much too small for the task, they were able to get him pulled out and to safety - at which point he sped off without so much as a "Thanks." Strange dude.

It was enough excitement to get us up and moving - probably a good thing given what lay ahead for the day. Breakfast was a simple one for us as we got packed up - cereal with fresh blueberries from our garden, enjoyed at the lake's edge.

​

Soon, camp was packed and we were back on the road, our half-loop around Anderson Ranch Reservoir complete, our route taking us through the small town of Pine - where we stopped to fuel up - before heading north into the mountains, where we played leap-frog with a pair of motorcycles we'd shared the pumps with a few minutes before - each of us enjoying the views as we wound our way up the IDBDR.

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The game could have gone on much longer - each of us likely wanting to be out in front to avoid the dust - but @mrs.turbodb and I were soon distracted by a couple of side trips, allowing the bikes to pull far enough ahead that we wouldn't see them for the rest of the trip. The first was a short jaunt up to the Trinity Mountain warming hut - one of the nicest I've seen, sure to be a nice relief for snowmobilers out on a cold winter run!

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Unfortunately, it was locked this time of year - so after a short investigation of the perimeter, we were back on the road and headed to our next - much longer - detour, just visible on the most distant mountaintop: Trinity Mountain Fire Lookout.

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If you're running the IDBDR, this is most definitely a side trip that I'd recommend. In fact, I'd say it was one of the coolest places we ended up over the entire excursion - though now I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. First, we had to make our way up through the Trinity Lakes area - several roads to remote campgrounds and trailheads (that looked to be great getaways) leading off the side of the road. Eventually, we found ourselves at just over 8000', our path blocked by a locked gate, still two miles from the lookout.

Where was our ATV when we needed it?!

​

Undeterred, we decided that given the beauty of our surroundings, we might as well hike the two miles and 1500' to the lookout - after all, what's the point of an adventure through Idaho without actually seeing what it has to offer?

Oh, and it was immediately clear why the road was closed. I mean, with the right tools, these rocks could have been cleared, but as it was - no trucks were getting around.

​

As we steadily climbed higher, we couldn't have been happier to see our surroundings. At this elevation, it was still spring. Snow was melting into alpine lakes, everything alive under the warm summer sun.

​

Several switchbacks and 45 minutes later, we reached the top. The lookout was unstaffed but plenty accessible, and we spent a good amount of time taking in the expansive views.

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 3 - Stymied By Gates​

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[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 3 - Stymied By Gates

The night passed uneventfully - a cool breeze blowing off the lake, a refreshing relief from the heat of the day. Now technically in Mountain time, I'd set my alarm for the absurd hour of 5:30am to catch sunrise - hoping that I'd be able to catch a bit of light despite our position relative to the horizon.

​

It wasn't long, I was a bit too late even at 5:30am, and we've surely seen more dramatic sunrises, but it was still an enjoyable few minutes of color to see splashed across the sky. Plus, it was still early enough that I knew there were at least a couple more hours of sleep to be had once I climbed back into the tent, the moon still high in the early morning sky.

​

Having enjoyed our more leisurely start the day before, we stayed in bed reading until just after 8:00am when an engine-revving, tire-spinning, ruckus outside the tent caught our attention. Contorting ourselves so we could see out one of the side windows, we looked up the trail towards the main road to see a pickup precariously perched sideways, completely stuck as it tried to turn around. Seems that he'd started down towards our camp before seeing that it was occupied. At that point, he made the poor decision to turn around on the rutted, off-camber, road and was now unable to get the purchase necessary in order to free himself. Luckily for him, another truck just happened to be passing along the main road, and with the help of a rope that seemed much too small for the task, they were able to get him pulled out and to safety - at which point he sped off without so much as a "Thanks." Strange dude.

It was enough excitement to get us up and moving - probably a good thing given what lay ahead for the day. Breakfast was a simple one for us as we got packed up - cereal with fresh blueberries from our garden, enjoyed at the lake's edge.

​

Soon, camp was packed and we were back on the road, our half-loop around Anderson Ranch Reservoir complete, our route taking us through the small town of Pine - where we stopped to fuel up - before heading north into the mountains, where we played leap-frog with a pair of motorcycles we'd shared the pumps with a few minutes before - each of us enjoying the views as we wound our way up the IDBDR.

​

The game could have gone on much longer - each of us likely wanting to be out in front to avoid the dust - but @mrs.turbodb and I were soon distracted by a couple of side trips, allowing the bikes to pull far enough ahead that we wouldn't see them for the rest of the trip. The first was a short jaunt up to the Trinity Mountain warming hut - one of the nicest I've seen, sure to be a nice relief for snowmobilers out on a cold winter run!

​

Unfortunately, it was locked this time of year - so after a short investigation of the perimeter, we were back on the road and headed to our next - much longer - detour, just visible on the most distant mountaintop: Trinity Mountain Fire Lookout.

​

If you're running the IDBDR, this is most definitely a side trip that I'd recommend. In fact, I'd say it was one of the coolest places we ended up over the entire excursion - though now I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. First, we had to make our way up through the Trinity Lakes area - several roads to remote campgrounds and trailheads (that looked to be great getaways) leading off the side of the road. Eventually, we found ourselves at just over 8000', our path blocked by a locked gate, still two miles from the lookout.

Where was our ATV when we needed it?!

​

Undeterred, we decided that given the beauty of our surroundings, we might as well hike the two miles and 1500' to the lookout - after all, what's the point of an adventure through Idaho without actually seeing what it has to offer?

Oh, and it was immediately clear why the road was closed. I mean, with the right tools, these rocks could have been cleared, but as it was - no trucks were getting around.

​

As we steadily climbed higher, we couldn't have been happier to see our surroundings. At this elevation, it was still spring. Snow was melting into alpine lakes, everything alive under the warm summer sun.

​

Several switchbacks and 45 minutes later, we reached the top. The lookout was unstaffed but plenty accessible, and we spent a good amount of time taking in the expansive views.

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 3 - Stymied By Gates​

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[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 5 - (No More) Gold in Them There Hills

Camped deep in the valley next to the South Fork of the Salmon River, getting up for sunrise wasn't even an option for us. The dual-sport bikers had we'd met the night before were surely later to bed and earlier to rise than we were, but that was just fine by us - we needed our beauty rest, bad.

So it was that when the sun finally did start warming the tent that we figured we might as well continue on our route - I mean, it was either that or go back the way we'd come - we were after all, a long way from home.

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As was becoming routine, we breakfasted and broke down camp before setting off across the river - this time, with the assistance of a bridge, the water levels too high, even for a Tacoma.

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Almost immediately - yep, you guessed it - we started to climb. Up and out of the canyon, two male deer watching as we negotiated the switchbacks - something we'd been warned was extremely dangerous by one of the riders.

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Turns out, it was the same way that the water crossing the day before was dangerous - which is to say, compared to eating tacos. ?

This morning, the easy road was just fine with us - we still had a good 150+ miles to go, and not a lot of fuel, so any roads that were well-graded and easy to travel were a plus. We made our way along the ridge and were just west of China Mountain when we started noticed the beginnings of civilization - we'd reached the outskirts of Warren, Idaho.

Totally within the Taco's towing capacity.​

An old mining town, Warren's (named for James Warren who discovered gold in the area) current full-time population of 12 residents pales in comparison to the 2,000+ residents who called it home in the gold rush of 1862. Then in the Washington Territory, it is one of the oldest settlements in present-day Idaho. At the time of it's founding, the impending Civil War resulted in northerners calling the town "Washington" and southerners, "Richmond." Eventually, it was known for its Chinese population, before being dredged in the 1930's - miles and miles of dredge tailings still prominent in the valley to this day.

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Many of the buildings still intact - and a "walking tour" of Main Street available at the now-a-museum guard station to supplement what we'd read in Roadside History of Idaho - we set out to explore, a bit perplexed by some of the sights we saw initially, the town seemingly abuzz with people.

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Having passed the old Warren School, with its backwards 'N', and the holds-up-the-radio-antenna Hotel, we found ourselves at the Dance Hall and old Saloon. It was here that we finally realized why the town seemed so alive - there'd been a wedding the day before, many of the old buildings still used for the momentous occasion. Now nearly 10:00am, everyone was just waking up, to clean up after the festivities.

On our way out of town, we passed one last relic - an old excavator - surely an engineering marvel in its time, now rendered obsolete by much more capable machines.

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Unlike our trip so far - where traffic had been light - leaving Warren was a traffic jam, wedding attendees in their full-size trucks and 40' RV trailers making their way slowly out of the mountains. Luckily for us, they were reasonably attentive to their mirrors and we were able to quickly zoom by and out of their dusty wake.

Speeding along on what was effectively a gravel superhighway, it was less than 15 miles before we reached a site that was high on @mrs.turbodb's list of stops we had to make - Burgdorf Hot Springs. Not because it was historically interesting, but because it would allow us a dip in the warm goodness.

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 5 - (No More) Gold in Them There Hills​

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[reaver]

So, out of curiousity, I'm guessing there's no way to drive up to the trinity mountain lookout? If so, that's a bummer, as I'm not really in hiking shape anymore, and would love to go and see it. I suppose that would be an excuse to start excercising.....

 

[turbodb]

So, out of curiousity, I'm guessing there's no way to drive up to the trinity mountain lookout? If so, that's a bummer, as I'm not really in hiking shape anymore, and would love to go and see it. I suppose that would be an excuse to start excercising.....

Well, there was this photo in the story ... Not that I'm trying to keep you from exercising...

 

[reaver]

Lol. Yeah, I realize that. I guess I'm mostly curious if it ever opens, or it's permanently closed. Seeing as how there was very little snow, I'm guessing it's permanently closed.

 

[mep1811]

Introduction

We've run two Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDRs) in the past - Oregon in 2017 and Washington in 2018. So, when it came to planning for this year, we decided that we'd run what we thought would be one of the coolest BDRs out there - Idaho.

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Little did we realize that it would mean spending most of July in the beautiful state - we had, after all, just finished exploring the southeast and then the central parts of Idaho a couple weeks before we'd planned to embark on this south-to-north traverse of the state.

Not that we were complaining - this was clearly, our year to explore Idaho!

As far as the route itself goes, at 1,250 miles the IDBDR is much longer than either Oregon or Washington - understandable given that Idaho is as tall as the other two states combined.

Over the eight stages, we'd have the chance to traverse both the historic Macgruder Corridor and the Lolo Motorway; to experience highs and lows - the route rising and falling from 1500' to over 8600' above sea level; to see and experience much that the state has to offer - from dry desert to temperate rain forest.

Of course, through it all, we knew we'd encounter some obstacles - we just didn't know what they'd be. Like Oregon had been, we'd be going solo; unlike Oregon, we and the truck were significantly more prepared and capable.

We'd allotted up to 11 days to complete the trip - unsure whether the roads would be fast (like Washington) or slow (like Oregon) - hoping that we could cover a section each day, with a couple days travel to-and-from home.

We'd start in the historic town of Jarbidge, NV as we made our way north - mostly on dirt roads - towards Canada and the Rykerts crossing. We'd surely pass countless fire lookouts and hot springs. If we were lucky, we'd see a wide array of wildlife - deer, elk, moose, perhaps even a bear or mountain lion.

And so it was, that on a Wednesday in the middle of the month, we packed up our passports, a few changes of clothes, and enough food for most of our trip, and headed east - a cool 717 miles standing between us and the beginning of our IDBDR adventure.

It was midnight when we finally found camp a few miles outside of Jarbidge, having just missed hitting a cow calf who wandered into the road in front of the truck. Exhausted, we climbed into the tent and were asleep within minutes, excited for what the next day had in store!

Great pictures and trip . My wife and I did the Magruder this past August. WE had our off road trailer. There were some hairy times on the one track waiting for oncoming. Is the LoLo similar with lots of narrow one track road? Look forward any more trip reports.

 

[turbodb]

Lol. Yeah, I realize that. I guess I'm mostly curious if it ever opens, or it's permanently closed. Seeing as how there was very little snow, I'm guessing it's permanently closed.

Yeah, I don't think it ever opens to vehicular traffic, only for the small guys! (and just to make sure you saw it, you did see the part about bikes and ATVs, ya?)

Great pictures and trip . My wife and I did the Magruder this past August. WE had our off road trailer. There were some hairy times on the one track waiting for oncoming. Is the LoLo similar with lots of narrow one track road? Look forward any more trip reports.

Lolo is quite similar to Macgruder from a width perspective - some places are narrow, others are wide enough to pass. Lots of pics of Lolo coming if you stay tuned here for a few days...

 

[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 6 - Macgruder Corridor and Hell's Half-Acre

Wanting to get an early start to the day so we could try to get ourselves through all of the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route's Stage 4 from Elk City to Darby along the Macgruder Corridor, we were both up and out of the tent right around 7:00am - the plan to show up at the awesome Elk City General Store right as they opened at 8:00am.

Or so we thought. But now I'm getting ahead of myself. So let's back up for just a minute...

As usual, I set my alarm for o-dark-thirty to see if I could catch the orange glow before sunrise. I think it was technically 4:00am that I figured was the right time, since my phone was still on Pacific Time, and I figured 5:00am Mountain Time would be about 30 minutes before the sun crested the horizon.

I was a bit worried that the trees to our east would block the view, but it they turned out to be a great foreground for the orangey-purpley-bluey show - the best we'd had on the trip so far.

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Of course, after a few minutes I decided that - as usual - bed was a cozier place to be and I crawled back in for another couple hours - content with the knowledge that it was going to be another beautiful day. But nature's a cruel beast, and when I awoke from my pre-breakfast nap and looked to the west, I knew we needed to get a move on - because even though there was still sun streaming in under them from the horizon, those were some dark clouds!

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We were dressed, the tent was stowed, and breakfast was made in just under 15 minutes - if not a record, dang close for us doddlers. And just in time too - because as we ate breakfast, the first few rain drops started to fall. These weren't just any drops, they were enormous drops.

Not that it really matters one way or the other - they were just water, and only lasted about 5 minutes. But hey, it got us up and moving, and that was a good thing.

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We headed back into Elk City where our first stop was at the Station Cafe to refill both the tank and Jerry Cans from the last few days and couple of sections of the IDBDR. The place - as usual - was buzzing with customers in for breakfast, its menu something of a legend around these parts.

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Then, we hopped up the street to the General Store where we needed to pick up just two things for the rest of the trip - some tortillas, for breakfast burritos and some sandwich bread, for making sandwiches. As we pulled up, things looked a little off - we could see people walking around inside, but the OPEN sign was off, and the lights looked dim. A quick glance at my phone and yep - sure enough - it was 7:30am Pacific Time, so 8:30am Mountain - we should be just fine; they probably just forgot to turn on the sign.

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I pushed open the door and said good morning - a greeting that was enthusiastically returned by all three employee's. It was then followed by a, "Can we help you - we're not open yet." Obvious that they'd caught me off-guard, they immediately knew what the issue was. Turns out, this far north, Idaho is in Pacific Time - even though directly south, it's in Mountain time.

So yeah, the time zone isn't split vertically. Weird.

But, in a show of awesome, they were happy to have us come in and pick up a couple things early so we could get on our way - and five minutes later we were headed out of town - out along Red River Road to our first stop - one that I'd clearly passed the last time I was out this way, but don't remember at all. Gold Point Mine.

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Still in good shape, the mine is across the river from the road, so it doesn't get many visitors to hasten its demise. In service for only a short time - due to a lack of gold ore to process - the mess hall and mill were left intact, and are a great reflection of the 1930s boom in lode mining in Idaho County.

Unable to make our way across the Red River without getting wet, we decided that a closer investigation would have to take place on a later trip. We continued on to the start of the Macgruder Corridor, marked only by an 11"x17" printout stapled to a wooden board. Classy.

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The Macgruder - by and large - is a narrow corridor situated between the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. 115 miles long, much of the route has been burned over the years - as a result and indication of it's remoteness. That of course makes for a two-edged sword, the lack of foliage offering plenty of views; the views perhaps somewhat stark.

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Cruising along and making good time, it wasn't long before we happened on a sign advertising Green Mountain lookout. Unsure if it'd be open given our last several (failed) attempts at lookouts, we ultimately looked at each other and decided it was worth a shot - after all, we were here and who knows when we'd ever get a chance to return.

And let me tell you - we were glad we did. Green Mountain lookout is a great, old, wooden lookout. It was unstaffed, but the gate was open - as was the lookout itself... though, in the case of the lookout, it was unlikely that it had been left open purposely.

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The views - as you can imagine, and perhaps by definition at a fire lookout - were vast and magnificently dramatic under the cloudy skies.

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Lookouts - little did we know at this moment - would be the highlight of the day, helping to break up the long trail, and providing surprises that we'd never imagine. And so it was that as we kept up a reasonably good clip back to the Macgruder from this first lookout, that we ran into the dual sport riders we'd encountered in camp just a couple days before.

"Hey, we know you guys!" one of them said, a smile apparent under his helmet. "You're making great time in that truck. We thought we'd be way ahead of you!"

Smiling, we shared a joyous greeting as well, politely refrained from mentioning that this trail was perhaps the definition of perfect terrain for our Tacoma, and recommended that they absolutely make the side trip up to Green Mountain. With that, smiles, and safe trips, we parted ways once again; not for the last time.

- - - - -​

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 6 - Macgruder Corridor and Hell's Half-Acre​

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[ttora4runner]

I just completed the Macgruder Corridor a couple of months ago coming from the Darby side and it was smokey for the majority of the way. Skipped out Burnt Knob lookout because of the smoke in the area.

The Elk City gas station needs an upgrade.

 

[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 7 - The Curse of the Lolo Motorway

We couldn't have chosen a better spot to setup camp when we pulled up to Rocky Point lookout. Our view east was spectacular, and the clouds and lightning storms from the night before had cleared out, leaving just enough moisture in the air for an amazing sunrise - the orange on the horizon slowly emanating out to a pink before transitioning once again to the deep blue of the clear sky.

Unlike most mornings where a few shots of the glow™ are enough for me and I climb back into bed, this morning was something special. I grabbed my chair and went to enjoy it from the helipad, where we'd spent the evening before watching distant lightning. An already-warm breeze and my current action-thriller (In the Crosshairs) on my Kindle Paperwhite making the morning even more enjoyable.

Eventually, splitting my attention between reading and what was going on around me was more than I could stand. The woman staffing the lookout had come down to say good morning before letting me know that she was off to pick wild huckleberries, and so I made my way back up the hill to capture the scene from a different perspective.

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Lookouts it seems are always captivating, but silhouetted by sunrise makes them - for me - irresistible. As the sun worked its way closer to the horizon, I was madly hopping around to different vantage points, trying to capture the moment - always a futile effort.

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Finally, as the sun crested the horizon, I took my final shot. Well placed logo there, @Cascadia Tents.

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Excited to finally run the Lolo Motorway, I woke @mrs.turbodb (well, not wake as much as suggest she get up so we could get going). We prepped a breakfast of instant oatmeal and fresh blueberries. We'd had the oatmeal on a previous trip and felt it was too sweet, so this time we mixed in a bit of plain oatmeal with the package of Maple and Brown Sugar.

It was a bad idea. One not even rescuable by fresh blueberries.

Deciding to skip breakfast in favor of tent deconstruction, we were soon ready to go - the Lolo Motorway at our finger tips. Pulling out of our parking spot, I asked where my hat was - and that's when we realized that we'd forgotten it at Lolo Hot Springs.

Dang!

But soon, we'd realize - leaving my hat behind wasn't such a big deal. As we started down from the lookout, we noticed a squealing. Thinking it was just something caught in the driver front brake dust shield, I assured @mrs.turbodb that we'd be fine and we continued on - rounding a corner to see the our lookout host headed back up the trail. We shared "good mornings" all around, and marveled at the berries she'd found on the hillside. We thanked her for her hospitality, and graciously thanked her again for her offer to "come back any time," even though our plans would take us hundreds of miles away by nightfall.

And with that, we were off - our plan to back-track a little bit on the Lolo to the point that Mike @Digiratus and I had entered the previous year, and then head west - along a route that many had traveled before us. Except that within a few hundred feet, it was clear that this section of the FS-500 road hadn't been driven in many years. In fact, to suggest that it was a road was giving it a lot more credit than it deserved!

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Later, we'd discover that last year's route - which I never ended up running - actually parallels the official Lolo Motorway for several miles before joining up with it in the same place we'd entered it the night before. So, we got turned around and continued on our way...to the sound of a squeaking front driver brake.

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Wanting to make sure that everything was going to be OK, it was at this point that I decided it would be good to check things out a little bit. I mean, we'd had no trouble at all leading up to this point, but I cycled the truck into forward/reverse a couple times and pumped the brakes to try and clear up any bit of debris that may have gotten lodged in there and started to squeak.

To no avail - the squeaking continued.

Then, I figured I should check the temps of the brakes - you know, just to see if there was any extra friction. And boy, was there ever. A bit of water sprayed on the passenger side rotor just spilled off onto the ground, while on the driver side - it immediately boiled upon hitting the hot metal. This was clearly not good.

I found a spot to pull over and into the shade and proceeded to jack up the front of the truck, the @relentless Fab bumper having - unnoticed to me before this incident - strategically placed cutouts for the Hi-Lift. ?

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It was quite clear after removing the wheel and tire that my driver side brake caliper had seized. The outer pad was significantly worn, and I was unable to compress one of the pistons into an open position at all. Houston, we have a problem.

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Knowing that we couldn't continue with things as they were, we ultimately decided to descend from the Lolo back down to Highway 12 and to the Lochsa Lodge, where we hoped to use their phone to call Napa in Missoula in order to get a new caliper. So I pried the caliper as far open as I could, reinstalled the wheel, and used only engine braking to make our way back.

Upon arriving at the lodge, they were extremely accommodating - allowing us to use both their land line phone and WiFi to coordinate the parts. I gave Napa a call, and was assured that - while they no longer carried the Eclipse brand 13WL calipers that I'd installed when I'd done the Tundra brake upgrade, they did carry 13WL calipers from a new vendor, and they had one in stock.

Knowing that it would be less-than-ideal and possibly disastrous to drive the 55 miles to Napa with my caliper seized, a quick text-exchange with Zane @Speedytech7 confirmed my plan to zip tie the caliper into the wheel well and drive back using engine braking and the e-brake was the right plan (to avoid cooking things like my wheel bearing). So - once again, this time in the Lochsa parking lot - I pulled out the Hi-Lift and got to work.

Fashioning a spacer with a piece of one of my 2x6 levelers, and with what seemed like several billion zip ties, I got the caliper secured well enough that I felt safe driving.

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Safe enough was of course relative, and it assumed that...

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 7 - The Curse of the Lolo Motorway​

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[turbodb]

IDBDR Pt. 8 - Driving the Lolo Motorway

Rocky Point proved once again to be one of the best camp sites of our trip and we slept well through the night. Wanting to capture sunrise, I was up early with a new idea - video - which also allowed me to catch another 90 minutes of sleep and yet still not miss anything!


Let me tell you, it was quite pleasant to wake up with the sun streaming in through the door at our feet, it's orange morning light illuminating the lookout visible through opposite side of the tent.

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Even with the extra sleep, sunrise was still early enough - and we knew we had a lot of ground to make up - that we were out of the tent and eating a granola bar breakfast by 7:00am. We chatted for another half hour with our gracious host, each wishing each other a safe journey and summer, thankful for the time we'd spent together. And then, we set off again - hopeful that this time we would finally complete the Lolo Motorway.

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The Lolo Motorway is a special road in American history. A route used for hundreds of years by Native American Indians, it was also the route that Lewis and Clark took on their travels west - and every few miles, there is an informative sign explaining their trials and tribulations on the trail. Later, it became a destination for early automobiles, a motorway through the woods. If there'd been Instagram, they'd have been #Overlanders. ?

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Moving right along, this eastern end of the Motorway was in great shape - the road reasonably graded and while not a completely smooth ride, one that still allowed us to travel at a reasonable 20mph or so - this guy hopping out of our way as we passed by.

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The new brake caliper - and brakes in general - seemingly working just as designed, we put a good 30 miles behind us before coming upon our first exploratory stop of the day - a sacred place known as Indian Post Office.

...This trail so old it used from time of creation by Nez Perce people to go to Montana to hunt Buffalo and some other time to war with other tribes of Indians, when Red Bear come to Indians Post Office on this trail, he tell Lewis - Clark and all, stop here, this is very place Indians come to send message - and to get Indian spirit medicine and do Indian worship in Indian custom - Here is where the Monster - the Big Coyote come to make powerful medicine for Indian,...

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Obviously a special place for the Nez Perce, it was clear that this area had been used for several hundred years - and is likely still in use today - it's grand views overlooking the Clearwater National Forest. As we explored, we found several large rock piles - their ritual use unknown to us, but a perfect castle to call home for a little chipmunk.

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We set off again, making our way through the Clearwater National Forest. Traffic on the road - as had been the case for nearly the entirety of our trip was non-existent, allowing us the opportunity to stop here and there for photos without giving a second thought to holding anyone else up.

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Armed with the absolutely beautiful book Backcountry Roads--Idaho, by Lynna Howard, we had a few extra waypoints along the Lolo - in addition to the couple provided by the BDR creators - that we decided to check out. They were of course slight detours off of the route, but even a day behind schedule, we were happy to take the time to experience the area fully.

Our first of these stops was a dramatic fire lookout - the Castle Butte Lookout Tower - perched atop a pile of granite on the top of Castle Butte.

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Quite clearly still in operation, there were apparently two people staffing this lookout (judging from the number of sleeping bags) but they were out exploring for the day when we made our way up to check things out. Like all lookouts, they commanded quite the view of their surroundings.

Sad to have missed a chance to hand out a few more chocolates - and hear the story of the lookout occupants - we wondered if we'd see them on the trail as we continued our trek west along the ridgeline, our elevation now varying between 5600' and 7000'. At these elevations, it was still spring, and boy were we in for a show. Some of the brightest green grass we'd seen so far, wildflowers lighting up the hillsides. Add to that the fact that - for really the first time - the forest was mostly unburned, and it was one of the most beautiful sections of the route so far!

Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos that don't fit here (due to max post size). Hopefully that can change in the future, but until then...

Keep reading the rest here
IDBDR Pt. 8 - Driving the Lolo Motorway​

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