Day 2

Stats: 164 Miles; 9:05 moving time; 30,299 vert ft climbing

I packed up at Baumgartner knowing I had some medium difficulty trail right off the bat, which I had ridden years ago.  This led me to the infamous Snowline trail which ends by crossing the Middle Fork of the Boise River.  Leading into this trip I had studied the crossing in videos, it being late in the season I knew I could cross it.  Snowline was a great trail that kept me wondering how I would possibly descend the elevation to get down to the river I could see below.  

Once I reached its banks I surveyed the crossing options and walked across with my bag & electronics to place on the far side.  As I started to ride across I realized how slippery it was, and with a solid current I decided to play it safe and walk across with the bike running while I was on the downstream side of the bike.  Once across I set my boots on some rocks toes up to dry out while I had a snack.

The canyon road from here had classic gorgeous Idaho views.  Hopping on singletrack the trail immediately became a bit of a carwash, lined with brush and bushes, starting a bit of a theme for the rest of the trip.  The trail ended into a remote area where I was surprised to see a few large groups of campers and a handful of cabins.  Hungarian Ridge trail started extremely steep with tons of short steep loose and rocky chutes along the way, a great first real test for my bike loaded down with extra gear.  The trail ended abruptly at the Sunset Mountain lookout, ending the zone I was familiar with as I had ridden here with my friend Russ years ago.  I saw the 3rd and final rider on singletrack for my trip, he had a gun case on his race ready KTM.

I hung out at the firetower for a few minutes sorting out my options for my brake line, which was still working great but had me nervous.  It was now Sunday evening but there was two shops in McCall, a short detour off trail the next day, which were surprisingly open on Monday.  I also found I could overnight one from Rocky Mountain ATV but realistically I would want to order it far enough ahead to not wait for it if needed. I decided I'd call the two shops the next morning from Yellowpine and make my decision, though if the brake was still working by then it should last the trip.

Having done a poor job studying my days route I was surprised to find my route to my next gas stop and lunch was mostly asphalt and county roads, I saw tons of big adventure bikes along the way.  The Sourdough Lodge provided me everything I needed, fuel, food, electricity, & a cold beer!  I tried to be efficient with my time as there was plenty of trail ahead. I had an unrealistic dream of making it to a hotspring near Warm Lake to camp.

A few quick miles of roads led to the Warm Springs trail in a narrow and gorgeous canyon.  After a high point this quickly turned into a trail through burnt forest, swamps, and rugged terrain.  These trails lead to a dreamy graded dirt road that cut through huge meadows and followed/crossed a river with tons of campgrounds and a large NF cabin.  I knew the daylight was limited so I had leftovers from lunch and got out my helmet light.  I started up the advanced Bitter Creek trail.  The first few minutes it was very unassuming but it quickly escalated into borderline hard enduro moves but at a very manageable and hero size.  Suddenly the landscaped changed and the rocks and massive ledges at the top of the mountain were all a bright white color.  I wanted this trail to never end!  Soon the trail turned to dirt and I could tell I was at the summit.  There was actually a perfect camp spot at the summit I saw in the fading light.  I decided this was a great spot to camp.  I setup my tent and put together my food in my bear bag to hang. Another epic day in the Idaho mountains.