Night three in the books and day four ahead of us. We awake to a crisp, dry and cool morning, not quite as frigid as the last, reaffirming our decision to re-route south.
Everyone is settling into a routine. We wake up and go straight to brewing coffee along with something to eat. The guys will fish for a short time and then we all start the process of breaking down camp. The repacking process while as tedious as it is, becomes easier as the days pass by. You start to remember where each item is to be packed and the order that it needs to back into your luggage.
The 60l OBR ADV Gear Explorer has again proven to have ample room for a self-supported multi day adventure. This system, along with my OBR Dry Duffel was more than enough … in fact I probably packed items that I technically did not need due to just having the space. But either way the Explorer system rode tight and secure to the bike and was well balanced. OBR does have a smaller Rackless system called the 38l ADV and I will run that system from time to time, but for me the 60l system seems to be a good balance for 3-5+ days.
We all finish breaking down our camps and re-packing our bikes then re-grouped over at the campground entrance.
Todays plan is to ride over to Trail Creek Road and then into the town of Ketchum. If we’ve timed it right, we should be in Ketchum mid-day which will be perfect for lunch.
With the sun now fully up in the morning sky we continue along to complete the Copper Basin Loop.
This part of Idaho is wide and expansive. The road is fast and smooth which means we are going to make good time today. The variety of terrain we’ve been through so far is hard to express. Day one we were riding tighter and technical two track, day two we found ourselves on a bit more pavement, but through beautiful sections of the Ponderosa Scenic Byway, day three opened up into more flowy two track on the Custer Motorway that’s primarily through forest and today we will be enjoying a ride through vast high desert valleys under some very impressive mountain peaks.
End of Trail Creek dropping into Ketchum
We drop down off of Trail Creek and into Ketchum realizing how busy this little community has become. Even though we are riding through on a Monday the town is bustling. We pull out the Google and find a lunch spot on the other side of town that ended up being a great little spot for a burger and a beer.
We had two choices at this point … we could run down Warm Springs and over Dollarhide, or we could continue up Hwy 75, over Galena Summit and back into Stanley for our final night. If we continue North we could focus our final night at Lolo Creek Campground that sits right alongside Marsh Creek, a great little fishing creek as being the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Salmon.
North it is …. nobody can argue that the ride North of 75 isn’t a scenic and fun one. First you ride below impressive peaks and ridgelines of the Bounder Chains before you start the twisty ascent up to Galena Pass.
There are two overlooks at the summit. One looking back on the Boulders and another just past the summit overlooking of the Sawtooth Valley …
From the last overlook you are maybe only 30min out of Stanley. We will rip the final section into Stanley stopping to grab snacks and drinks for our final night in camp.
Lolo Creek Campground is about 20 miles out of Stanley along Hwy 21. I thought this would be a good potential landing spot as I’ve heard the fishing is good. Were also only about 2 hrs from home which will make tomorrows ride a bit more relaxed.
We arrive at the campground finding it mostly empty. The group next to us was a NOAA Biologist there conducting fish tagging. Needless to say, they were also fishing and gave the guys some tips on the where the hot spots were.
We all fell into our normal camp routine … selectively unpack, set up your tent, sleeping system, get changed and then relax. No time was wasted as the fishing poles came out early.
Once night fell, we assumed our spots around the campfire for a final night of storytelling. Thunder awoke me at some point with the slight pitter patter of rain. Luckily it stayed to the North of us, so we again awoke to a cool but dry Tuesday morning.
Day five, final day and ride home. We broke camp like we’ve become accustomed over the last few days. Everything again has a place and order of tear down. Each day the re-packing time becomes shorter and shorter, although I will admit that on the final day a little less attention to detail is put into practice.
On this trip I have been testing a new strapping system from OBR. This strap is a cam buckle system but with an integrated G-hook. The magic of the strap system is that you do not need to unthread the webbing from the buckle at the end of the day. All you need to do is loosen the strapping and then unclip via the G-hook … this system was solid, convenient and didn’t budge over 700 miles.
We departed camp sometime around mid-morning and pointed our headlights south on Hwy 21. About 40 minutes down the road is the Sourdough Lodge, a great stop for lunch and fuel if needed. We were well fueled up, but lunch sounded good.
No pooping on the grass!
Our final ride took us through Lowman, along the Banks/Lowman Hwy through Garden Valley and over to Hwy 55. The group split along this stretch and along Hwy 55 we encountered some construction. Once all of us passed the construction we re-grouped in Horseshoe Bend. This would be the splitting off point for me. I would be heading over the hill and back into Boise while the rest of the group would take the Emmett Hwy to pop them out closer to Toby’s place over in Nampa.
Parting Shot
Great trip with a great group of guys. Five days on the road with the right people really let’s settle in, relax and turn off the noise of the daily grind. That’s why we ride adventure motorcyles!