MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
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- montana.matt
- Just realized teal ATV clothes are lame
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- Location: Lakeside, Montana
MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
Well, we got home and unpacked a little while ago and I'm still stoked about the awesome ride we did yesterday. We met up with some friends from Washington, Idaho and Montana for what we hope will be an annual "End of Summer Ride" in Wallace, ID. Wallace has been ranked in the top 3 places in the US to ride ATV's. Wallace is an old mining town in the panhandle of Idaho. Other than mining, Wallace was probably best known for its red light district, which was officially unofficially open until the 1980's (the local law looked the other way)
Anyway, we were hoping we'd be riding over to Montana, following the old Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha Route", but it didn't happen this year. Instead, we went rode from Wallace, to the gold mining town of Murray, ID and back to Wallace. We did about 75 miles in total with maybe 10-15 miles riding on paved highways. This ride had some of the best scenery I've ever seen...... anywhere. We rode through Ponderosa Pine, Cedar groves, through creeks and shallow rivers, etc. My wife was following behind me through a creek we rode for about a mile and she said she saw a fish come flying out from under one of my rear tires Some of the forest areas we rode had huge, old growth trees. I haven't seen trees that big in diameter since I left California
And, for those of you wondering, yes, we did bring the BBQ, coolers, table and chairs But, we ended up eating lunch at a bar in Murray
I'm disappointed that I didn't get any action shots of us riding However, most everybody else on the ride did other photos, so when I get my hands on them, if they're any good, I'll post them up.
The day (Saturday) didn't get off to a good start. I woke up at 4AM to the sound of rain slamming into the roof of our RV. But, by the time we went riding, it had quit. The plus side was there wasn't any dust on the ride!
Various shots from our 1st rest stop
Our 2nd rest stop on Earl's memorial trail
Earl was a long time member of a local club in Wallace and when he passed away, they named a trail in his honor and spread his ashes on the trail. The only scenery pic I tried to get didn't turn out too great. It was just too foggy
A few hundred yards down the trail from this stop was a old mine shaft that hasn't been closed yet. We didn't go exploring since the person leading the ride said she recently saw very large bear tracks going into it! So, I didn't stop to get any pics.
Here is an old miners cabin, said to have been built in the late 1800's to early 1900's. I thought it was very cool, especially the dovetailed logs. The interior was very sparse. The only thing in there was a table and a bed frame and the remains of a box spring, with the fabric long rotted away.
Down the trail from the old cabin was the entrance to his mine. It was gated off about 10 feet from the entrance. Here's a pic of a couple friends looking into the old shaft
After we left the mining cabin, we went into the old forest I mentioned earlier. It was absolutely beautiful. After we left the old forest, we rode about 2 miles down the middle of a small, semi shallow river. My wife was riding behind me and said I ran over a fish and kicked it up in the air
We stopped in Murray, ID for lunch at the Spragpole Bar. Best lunch I've had in a long time. The had a 58oz. steak with all the fixins for $36. Nobody was brave enough to try it, though. They also had full racks of ribs that had to be served on a foil lined cookie sheet. We kicked around buying a rack for dinner, but figured they'd get nasty on the ride home.
That does it for the pics. My camera batteries died after I took the last set of pics. We rode for a couple more hours and headed back to Wallace and the RV park. Everybody came over to our RV after they got cleaned up and my buddy Maurice and his wife Peggy BBQ'd some brats, hot dogs and burgers for dinner
All in all, we had a great time and rode in some of the best country (for ATV's) around.....
Anyway, we were hoping we'd be riding over to Montana, following the old Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha Route", but it didn't happen this year. Instead, we went rode from Wallace, to the gold mining town of Murray, ID and back to Wallace. We did about 75 miles in total with maybe 10-15 miles riding on paved highways. This ride had some of the best scenery I've ever seen...... anywhere. We rode through Ponderosa Pine, Cedar groves, through creeks and shallow rivers, etc. My wife was following behind me through a creek we rode for about a mile and she said she saw a fish come flying out from under one of my rear tires Some of the forest areas we rode had huge, old growth trees. I haven't seen trees that big in diameter since I left California
And, for those of you wondering, yes, we did bring the BBQ, coolers, table and chairs But, we ended up eating lunch at a bar in Murray
I'm disappointed that I didn't get any action shots of us riding However, most everybody else on the ride did other photos, so when I get my hands on them, if they're any good, I'll post them up.
The day (Saturday) didn't get off to a good start. I woke up at 4AM to the sound of rain slamming into the roof of our RV. But, by the time we went riding, it had quit. The plus side was there wasn't any dust on the ride!
Various shots from our 1st rest stop
Our 2nd rest stop on Earl's memorial trail
Earl was a long time member of a local club in Wallace and when he passed away, they named a trail in his honor and spread his ashes on the trail. The only scenery pic I tried to get didn't turn out too great. It was just too foggy
A few hundred yards down the trail from this stop was a old mine shaft that hasn't been closed yet. We didn't go exploring since the person leading the ride said she recently saw very large bear tracks going into it! So, I didn't stop to get any pics.
Here is an old miners cabin, said to have been built in the late 1800's to early 1900's. I thought it was very cool, especially the dovetailed logs. The interior was very sparse. The only thing in there was a table and a bed frame and the remains of a box spring, with the fabric long rotted away.
Down the trail from the old cabin was the entrance to his mine. It was gated off about 10 feet from the entrance. Here's a pic of a couple friends looking into the old shaft
After we left the mining cabin, we went into the old forest I mentioned earlier. It was absolutely beautiful. After we left the old forest, we rode about 2 miles down the middle of a small, semi shallow river. My wife was riding behind me and said I ran over a fish and kicked it up in the air
We stopped in Murray, ID for lunch at the Spragpole Bar. Best lunch I've had in a long time. The had a 58oz. steak with all the fixins for $36. Nobody was brave enough to try it, though. They also had full racks of ribs that had to be served on a foil lined cookie sheet. We kicked around buying a rack for dinner, but figured they'd get nasty on the ride home.
That does it for the pics. My camera batteries died after I took the last set of pics. We rode for a couple more hours and headed back to Wallace and the RV park. Everybody came over to our RV after they got cleaned up and my buddy Maurice and his wife Peggy BBQ'd some brats, hot dogs and burgers for dinner
All in all, we had a great time and rode in some of the best country (for ATV's) around.....
Last edited by montana.matt on Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2005 Polaris Sportsman 800
Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
Nice! Looks a little chilly, but that's probably expected, right? Thanks for the pix!
Wherever I go, there I am
Paynes Creek 2016!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Paynes Creek 2016!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16 Yamaha Wolverine R-Spec EPS SE
09 Yamaha Grizzly 700 FI 4x4 EPS
Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
Very cool.
We have a lot of mines in Northern Calif. It amazes me when you see them, that people climbed into these "tombs" in the hill...and worked there. Crazy.
We have a lot of mines in Northern Calif. It amazes me when you see them, that people climbed into these "tombs" in the hill...and worked there. Crazy.
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Regards,
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http://www.rubicontrail.org/
- montana.matt
- Just realized teal ATV clothes are lame
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Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
It was in the mid 50's all day. Wasn't too bad when we were sitting somewhere, but got a little chilly when we were riding. I was wearing wool socks, insulated boots, long john bottoms, jeans, t shirt, riding shirt and a hoodie sweatshirt and I was finehemingray wrote:Nice! Looks a little chilly, but that's probably expected, right? Thanks for the pix!
2005 Polaris Sportsman 800
- montana.matt
- Just realized teal ATV clothes are lame
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:55 pm
- Location: Lakeside, Montana
Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
That's cool. I'm amazed at what people are willing to do to find gold and silver We didn't venture too far off the trails when we were stopped. You never know if you'll wander onto somebody's mining claim and it's right in the middle of bow hunting season and I really didn't want to get perforatedKen wrote:Very cool.
We have a lot of mines in Northern Calif. It amazes me when you see them, that people climbed into these "tombs" in the hill...and worked there. Crazy.
2005 Polaris Sportsman 800
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- Just realized teal ATV clothes are lame
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Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
Thanks for sharring looks like you had a great ride.
Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
nice pics! love the no dust!!!!!!!
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- GrizzlyGuy
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Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
Nice! One of these days I need to make it out to Idaho for some riding. Looks like it could be my second favorite state (behind Montana of course).
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- montana.matt
- Just realized teal ATV clothes are lame
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:55 pm
- Location: Lakeside, Montana
Re: MT/ID/WA End of Summer Ride
If you ever make it up this way, shoot me a PM! We'd be more than happy to show you around if you wantGrizzlyGuy wrote:Nice! One of these days I need to make it out to Idaho for some riding. Looks like it could be my second favorite state (behind Montana of course).
2005 Polaris Sportsman 800
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