A Tale of Two (Partial) BDRs

[stratslingr77]

After going 'round and 'round this spring on where to go for the big summer Moto trip, Monte and I settled on the northern sections of the NorCal BDR en route to the Idaho BDR. And this year, my buddy Michael would be riding down from Olympia to join us! You may remember Michael from my escapades on the White Rim Trail two years ago.

(Here we are waiting out the 115⁰ heat on White Rim that day)


The plan was to meet Michael in Downieville and catch the NorCal BDR northbound from there. Topping off fuel before leaving home, I planned to refuel in Downieville before hitting the trail, and I rolled into town with my fuel light on. It was after linking up with Michael and having lunch when I realized there was no gas in Downieville. To add insult to injury, I had left my ignition on during lunch and now my bike wouldn't start.

I connected my jump pack to my SAE plug and promptly blew the fuse, but we finally got it started after jumping the SAE plug. It was time for this travelling shit show to get his act together. We found gas in Bassetts before anyone had to push their bikes and picked up the trail to Sierra Buttes.

Michael, riding his big 'ole GSA, elected to skip the trail up to the lookout, but Monte and I were on our 701s so we just pressed the easy button and continued up the hill.





The view from Sierra Buttes lookout was spectacular!


Heading back down, we continued to Mills Peak lookout. The ride up to this lookout was significantly easier than the "road" up to Sierra Buttes!


We closed out the day with dinner in Graegle before backtracking to Gold Lake to camp for the night. The day ended on a better note than it began...

 

[SFMCjohn]

wonderful pics!

I'm heading up to Mills Peak, tomorrow, to try to camp for the night. gonna maybe see if I can find my way to Sierra Buttes over the next few dayz.

 

[stratslingr77]

Have a good ride and steer clear of the Gold Fire that's burning near Graegle!

Gold Complex | CAL FIRE

www.fire.ca.gov

 

[SFMCjohn]

that's a pretty cool website!

that fire may mess me up a bit next week while I'm making my way over to Weaverville.

little anxious about trying to get a KLR up Sierra Buttes. Hopefully the gate will be locked, and I can retreat with honor.

 

[stratslingr77]

On day 2, we woke up bright and early to tackle section 6 of the BDR into Chester.


After breakfast in Graegle, we got the trail. A few rocky climbs here, a few burned out sections of forest there...


...and before long, we found ourselves at the Argentine Rock lookout.



We were having a great time! Coming down from Argentine Rock and heading towards Mt. Hough, I started to think about the ride and the scenery...then my mind wandered to other things...OH SHIT, a left turn!!!! I hit the brakes and my rear kicked out to the right, tossing my high side over the bars.

I got up after a moment, feeling rattled. My right ankle was tender, as was my right elbow. I had broken the peak off on the right side of my helmet and it was now flopping around, a long with my visor.

Assessing my bike, my bars were bent to the right and the carbon fiber portion of my rally tower was cracked at the bolts where it mounts to the neck of my bike, causing my tower and headlights to bounce around.




I got myself and my bike put back together and we continued on to Mt. Hough, but didn't stay long enough for pictures since it was getting hot. I'd been there before, anyway. And then we dropped down into Taylorsville for lunch.



Doing some thinking over lunch, I realized it wasn't a good idea to ride my 701 all the way to Idaho with my tower hanging on by a thread. But there's a perfectly good Africa Twin in my garage and it's only 4 hours away! I told the guys my plan and we all agreed it was the right call. They would slab to Chester and continue on to Bieber; I would ride home, load up my Africa Twin, and meet them the next day in Alturas.

 

[Cabrito]

Well, I guess when life give lemons you go make some lemonade!

Great pics, and sorry about the biff, but looking forward to more.

 

[stratslingr77]

On Day 3, I got an early start. I had slabbed home from Taylorsville on my wounded 701 yesterday and got home around dinner time. My Africa Twin is always ready to roll (it IS a Honda, after all!) so I just had to transfer my gear over. Hitting the slab for the long grind up to Alturas, I was reminded just how smooth the AT is, especially when wearing a non-adventure helmet. I made short work of I-5 before it got too hot and caught 299 into Alturas, rejoining the guys in time for lunch!
After lunch, we tackled section 9 of the NorCal BDR (the guys did 7 and 8 yesterday while I rode home).


We stopped at the Sugar Hill lookout


And then continued on to the Oregon border. Section 9 was fun!


By now, it was getting well into the afternoon and we wanted to close the gap between us and Idaho, so we continued north on 395...

...and pulled into Burns after dark for a hotel, a shower, and a steak dinner.

Post script: this turned out to be a 665 mile day for me: Bay Area to Alturas, then Section 9 of the NorCal BDR, then slab to Burns, OR. I was exhausted!

 

[stratslingr77]

Well, I guess when life give lemons you go make some lemonade!

Great pics, and sorry about the biff, but looking forward to more.

Yeah, glad I wasn't hurt, and glad I had another bike to continue the trip!

 

[stratslingr77]

We woke up to smoke, and lots of it. There's a bunch of fires burning in Oregon, not far from Burns, and all the smoke was rolling through town. Our time for this trip is finite and the ID BDR is 1200 miles, so we opted to skip sections 1 and 2, entering the BDR at Lowman after a sweet 30 mile canyon blast along Banks-Lowman Rd.

Section 3 of the ID BDR climbs up a Ridgeline through burned out forest.



At 93 miles to Yellow Pine, this was one of the shorter BDR sections and the run into Yellow Pine was especially scenic, following a river. By the time we got to Yellow Pine, I was feeling like a sugar cookie.


We drank beer in front of the general store, gassed up, and got the gouge on a nearby camp spot along the confluence of two rivers.



Once we got to camp, we all took an invigorating dip in the river.

We closed out the day with more beer, cigars, and stories.

 

[stratslingr77]

Day 5: Yellow Pine to Elk City. This section is 205 miles. It would be a long day. I was the first to rise and enjoyed my coffee in peace along the river.

Soon enough, we packed up and hit the road. The mountains in Idaho seemingly go on forever. We climbed long grades...and descended long grades...followed by more long climbs and descents. The scenery was gorgeous but smoky.


We reached Warren, an old mining town, around lunchtime and stopped in for some hand-cut chicken fingers and steak fingers.


Back to the grind after lunch. The entire morning comprised of long climbs and descents, with no fast sections to cover some miles. The road out of Warren was loose gravel followed by another series of climbs and descents. We got gas in Secash and kept plugging away. We stopped at the abandoned bus for our obligatory ID BDR bus picture.

The miles ticked by slowly. Then, a long, winding descent down French Creek Grade in 105⁰ heat. Monte and Michael were up ahead and spotted two mountain lions, but by the time I caught up, they were gone.

We followed a very short stretch of pavement along the Salmon River, which was a relief. We were all getting tired. Then more dirt. And more long climbs. And more descents.



Soon, we found ourselves in a more challenging two-track with ruts and rocks. We were having fun, but the long, hot day was taking it's toll.

At about mile 140 and 6 pm, the two track emptied into a paved forest service road. Our maps showed the remainder of the route into Elk City was paved. Hallelujah! But wait, there's more...it was at precisely that time when I got a flat on the rear tire. And the Africa Twin has tubed tires.



Several choices words and an hour later, we were on our way. I had picked up a nail approximately 6 inches long.



The dusk run into Elk City was twisty, flowy, fantastic pavement following the South Fork of the Clearwater River.

Burgers and cold beer for dinner, and we treated ourselves to a hotel that night.

 

[ThinkFast]

Wow. What a ride report. Damn. What a ride. Great job, guys.

 

[stratslingr77]

Day 6: Elk City to Lolo, MT

We fueled up in town and had breakfast at the VFW hall in Elk City before hitting the road.
Today, we'd ride the Magruder Corridor. Like yesterday, it was a series of long climbs and long descents through beautiful mountains with epic views hampered only by the persistent wildfire smoke blowing in from Oregon.

One of our objectives for today was to ride to the Burnt Knob lookout, a 1.5 mile detour from the main route. We reached the turnoff and the road quickly became rocky, loose, and rutted. There was a semi-rideable line at the right edge of the trail and I immediately went deep into the yellow. I was leading the charge and behind me, I heard the sounds of grunting, huffing, and puffing in my Cardo. Michael had dropped his GSA and was struggling to get going again. About a half mile up the trail, the line I jad been following gave way to large rocks, whoops, and loose shale. I started to pick my way through, but having already been in deep yellow, I quickly went into the red zone. I stopped, completely winded. A fully loaded Africa Twin is no joke!


Pictures never do these things justice, but rest assured it was gnarly. Discretion is the better part of valor, and I had no interest in damaging my bike or myself on these rocks. I told the guys I was turning around; they didn't want to go any further either.

We got back on the (much calmer) main route and had to dodge two speeding side-by-sides coming down the hill before taking a break at the next summit.


We crossed into Montana awhile later at Nez Perce Pass, a fun section of paved forest service road.


From here, it was a hot slog through the Bitterroot Valley into Lolo. We found a local brewery in town to eat dinner and take a break from the heat. Over dinner, we opted to camp in Lolo Pass, along the Lochsa River. We cooled off in the river and stayed up til midnight solving the world's problems.

 

[budman]

Fantastic stuff!!!

Another great ride report to add to the list.. you have quite a few!

 

[massio]

That was an enjoyable report. And hats off for all the extra effort you put forth to make it happen. Well done!

I remember the trail up to Burnt Knob. It's no joke on a fully loaded big bike and just gets rockier as you go up!

 

[stratslingr77]

Day 7: Today, we're riding the Lolo Motorway and we picked up the trail almost immediately after departing camp. We were riding some of the stickiest dirt we'd seen since arriving in Idaho.



We all agreed this was our favorite segment of the ID BDR so far. Great views, beautiful forest, fun roads, and a few rocky climbs, but nothing crazy like yesterday's road to Burnt Knob.



We stopped at the Hemlock Butte lookout and chatted with a father/son duo who were up there on dirt bikes.


From here, it wasn't far into Pierce. The temperature rose as we descended from the mountains.

 

[Cabrito]

One of our objectives for today was to ride to the Burnt Knob lookout, a 1.5 mile detour from the main route. We reached the turnoff and the road quickly became rocky, loose, and rutted. There was a semi-rideable line at the right edge of the trail and I immediately went deep into the yellow. I was leading the charge and behind me, I heard the sounds of grunting, huffing, and puffing in my Cardo. Michael had dropped his GSA and was struggling to get going again. About a half mile up the trail, the line I jad been following gave way to large rocks, whoops, and loose shale. I started to pick my way through, but having already been in deep yellow, I quickly went into the red zone. I stopped, completely winded. A fully loaded Africa Twin is no joke!
View attachment 563860

Pictures never do these things justice, but rest assured it was gnarly. Discretion is the better part of valor, and I had no interest in damaging my bike or myself on these rocks. I told the guys I was turning around; they didn't want to go any further either.

This section has been on my mind as I try to decide between my KTM 1090 and my CRF300 Rally for future NorCal BDR. I'm sure you would have just derped right up on the 701, but it gives pause when you're on the big bikes.

 

[stratslingr77]

This section has been on my mind as I try to decide between my KTM 1090 and my CRF300 Rally for future NorCal BDR. I'm sure you would have just derped right up on the 701, but it gives pause when you're on the big bikes.

For NorCal BDR, I'd take the 300 Rally if I were in your position. If you were doing Idaho, I think the big KTM would be a great choice. Burnt Knob was the only place I found my AT lacking on that route. I rode my AT up Verdi Peak the weekend prior to this trip, but it wasn't much fun, honestly. The 701 would've made short work of that. And Sierra Buttes would've been a hard NO on the AT.

 

[wilit]

Awesome write up, thanks. Can't wait to start hitting the BDRs with my 690.

 

[stratslingr77]

Day 7, Part 2: You can have anything you want as long as it's a smash burger.

We pulled into Pierce around lunchtime and stopped at a place recommended by the dirt bike dad at the fire lookout earlier. They were on a limited menu: burgers, burgers, or burgers. Granted, they were pretty good burgers, but I was starting to crave a salad, not having a lot of culinary options in rural Idaho.

After lunch, we continued onto section 7 of the BDR, which is 127 miles and ends in Wallace. After a stretch of pavement, the route turned onto a loose gravel logging road winding through a clear-cut area, and continued like this for approximately 30 miles. It was hot and ugly, and the loose gravel made me tense. This was a total letdown after the amazing morning on Lolo Motorway.

After awhile, we started climbing again and returned to the forest. The road got rockier and more interesting. Then, we got to the blue cabin.


I was too hot, tired, and annoyed to bother posing the bikes for a better picture. There's a stream behind the cabin with ice cold water that was a welcome respite.

The route from the blue cabin into Avery was flowy and fun--the highlight of the afternoon.

We pulled into Avery around 6pm.


It's another 30 miles to Wallace, but we were all cumulatively exhausted. Monte announced that he was done riding for the day. Michael and I wanted to check out the old train tunnels just outside of town; Monte got a table for us at the local restaurant while we did that.



Getting back to the restaurant, it was hot, the restaurant was crowded and noisy, the band playing out back was loud, and service was slow. I reached my limit and went for a walk to the edge of town for some quiet.

When we finally did get ready to leave, it was dusk and we didn't have a plan for the night. St. Marie's was a half hour ride, so we went there, hoping to get a hotel. All three hotels were a bust and we were running out of options. It was now 11pm and there was a state park 15 miles away. We were all pretty cranky at this point so we headed in that direction, not knowing what else to do. On the way out of town, we passed the fairgrounds which had a sign for camping!

We pitched our tents under our headlights without a word spoken and passed out.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Loving the report so far, Idaho has been on my mind for a bit, just need to make it work when it's not hot or on fire.