Traversing the US (and back)

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass

We passed south through what is called Goldburg on the maps but was really nothing more than a collection of six mailboxes on the main gravel road along the Pahsimeroi. It was a quaint river and quiet with a few not-crowded campsites along it. We checked some of them out but they were pay sites and surrounded by open cattle ranging land so they were still quite hot as it was early afternoon. We decided to press on up Sawmill Canyon and see if we couldn't find a site up in the hills.









The road into Sawmill Canyon was wide a newly graveled. The canyon also was much larger and wider than I was expecting. I began to imagine an easy pass over this range of mountains.



Sawmill Canyon may have continued wide, gradual and easy-going. The canyon with the only traversing road within miles would not remain so inviting.

 

[JCMatthews]

I felt like an uninvited wedding guest but, judging from the stares we received when we pulled up and stepped out of dust-encrusted Cruiser, I felt pretty confident that no one was going to mess with us.

I love that. I have had similar stares. Once on a ferry coming home from Alaska. The folks in a Mercedes next to us were so disgusted by our muddy Jeep they turned away but stared out of the corner of their eyes..

 

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass



And then we went on up the canyon.



You can tell from the pictures that this was mainly an ATV trail. It was narrow, steep and loose but lacked any particularly difficult sections other than normal loose and rutted trails and the occasional tall rocks. Our nerves were on edge though because of the condition of the trail and the fact that on googlemaps the trails at the top of the pass didn't actually connect, nor did they on the Benchmark Atlas. But the gps-devil said they connected via a round-a-bout trail at the pass saddle.



The tension built as we ascended the last sets of switch-backs and very steep trail over large loose stones.





Almost there but still hadn't gained the saddle.

 

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass



The last steep section...



and we were greeted by this cannibalized, by-gone relic.



We crossed a quick exposed hillside.



And I spent a lot of time doing recon. At the top of the pass was a smattering of trails, six to be exact. There was a solitary post at the top with no sign. The only recent tracks were from two motorcycles and I lost where they went at the pass but it was evident they drove around in circles scratching helmets just as I was walking around in circles scratching my head. Two trails went fairly directly off the pass to the east but they were very steep and faded into a scree slide. To the north were two trails that ended at another summit. We chose what I hoped was the best/right option: south.



And I snapped a quick glamour shot - of the cruiser.

 

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass

The trail to the south did not disappoint and we were granted wonderfully clear views of the two ranges that we had already crossed that day.

 

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass



We climbed up to over 10,000 feet and the trail crossed to the western side of the pass near this cool old hunting or mining cabin.



We scouted from the windy pass and tried to let the boiling gas in the tank settle down. It vented continuously for a long time, ten minutes? We were low on fuel and the heat and altitude didn't help anything. I know the charcoal canister is high-mileage item to look at when you smell fumes in the engine bay of a cruiser. I replaced mine before we left with a Delco part that's not made of gold like the Toyota OEM canister. We noted some smell in other mountains but it was bad here. I ended up driving the rest of the day with the gas cap only barely on. Not sure why I decided to that nor if it was the right or even a good decision. We still have dust marks circling the has cap from the fumes escaping and condensing with the dust underneath the fill door.





And then we started heading down another steep, loose, narrow and exposed trail. We just kept hoping that it would take us all the way down and not to a dead-end.



It was hard to believe that we could actually descend this cirque of rocky crags. Why there would be road there (and still open) made no sense but for all the evidence of mining.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Awesome report. I can remember when I used to "sample my way to lunch", that made me laugh.

 

[4x4x4doors]

I haven't mentioned it lately but wanted to again.
I am loving both your trip and the effort you are expending to share it with us here!

 

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass



We descended with ears peeled for rock fall. There was lots of evidence of recent slides and lots of large stones on the path. To my surprise there were no impassable (or even nearly impassable) obstacles.





The trail changed from very very steep to level at a small alpine meadow. At the back of the meadow, walled in on all sides, was a homestead of sorts. There was a sign that read, "For sale by the US Government." Not a bad summer place...or overlanding hostel?



Poseur pitchers.



We decided to descend a few hundred feet in hopes of a more protected campsite. I lobbied hard to stay in the middle of the meadow with that cirque of walls around us and catch the sunrise reflected off the walls in the morning. But I was met with skepticism. We did find a great and sheltered campsite but we didn't have a view of those walls.

 

[jessejman]

Day 49: Ketchum to Sheep Mountain Pass



While we were cooking dinner a storm rolled in and thunder echoed off the cliff faces. It bore sown oin us quickly but lingered was it arrived.



A little rain didn't stop the older two from playing follow-the-leader obstacle course.



The temperature dropped significantly as the day closed and the rain pulled out.



Cool shot of cooking the next morning and day 49's stats.

 

[jessejman]

Day 50: Sheep Mountain to Montana



Click here for zoomable map and route download.

Possibly our favorite section. Get ready.

 

[Foy]

Been there, seen that (well, some of it)

Well, all-righty then. One of my very favorite parts of the Lower 48, the far southwest corner of Montana. I hope you noticed the abandoned railroad grade and tunnel beneath the border: The Gilmore & Pittsburgh Railroad used to run from what's now Clark Canyon Reservoir just east of Grant, up and over (through) the pass to Leadore, ID. There were wyes on each side of the tunnel such that the train would approach the pass but not reaching within about 400' of elevation of it, drive nose-in into the wye, back through the tunnel into the wye on the opposite side, and descend engine first down the other side. The locomotives were so weak the G & P was called the "Get out and Push" RR. As many times as I've been out there and gone to Lemhi Pass, I've never made it to Bannock Pass where you went over the divide/border.

You got a terrific view of the southern tip of the Pioneers as you drove north from Grant to Bannack. The route east of Dillon looks like either Sweetwater or Blacktail--likely Sweetwater. Great views of the Pioneers and the Tobacco Roots from Sweetwater Pass. Great big talc mines up there, too. I went to geologic mapping school in Dillon back in 1978 and we mapped all around Grant, Clark Canyon Res, Bannack-Argenta, and Sweetwater Pass. Can't wait to see more pics.

Foy

 

[JCMatthews]

I love your pictures and story. I only wish I was there now. Except right now most of your route is covered in snow and below zero temperatures. Well..., I really like them anyway.

 

[jessejman]

Day 50: Sheep Mountain to Montana

Down Doublesprings Road. On the Benchmark there is a town marked near here called Hahn. I thought that just maybe we could refuel there. Don't make that mistake. It's a ghost town.





Views back up the mountain...



and views down the mountain.





Somewhere down there is a paved road that would take us fifteen miles north to our much needed gas stop in Leadore, Id.

 

[jessejman]

Day 50: Sheep Mountain to Montana



Yeah... so, no gas.





Rested, mailed a (late/oops) check to the IRS and gassed up in Leadore, Id. The gas station/general store is for sale!



And then up Bannock Pass, the top being the border of Idaho and Montana.



The grader made things fun. All the way up the pass we drove on the wrong side of the road. Only once did we meet on-coming traffic and I used some Tom Sheppard sand-driving techniques to quickly cross the impromptu median in the middle of the road. Needless to say, it was an interesting and dusty moment.