One Day, Three Peaks

I joined one of the famous Idaho Adventure Motorcycle Club^¹ rides. It was to be “One Day, Three Peaks” organized by rockhopjohn.^² Per tradition, perhaps divine fiat, we met up for breakfast at Rockies.^³

1. Idaho Adventure Motorcycle Club: http://motoidaho.com/
2. Adventure Rider profile: http://advrider.com/…/member.php
3. Facebook, “Rockies Diner”: https://facebook.com/…/188884235978

After getting our fill of animal proteins, we admired penny mods and planned our escape route.

Our first destination was Pilot Peak northeast of Idaho City. We rode over Aldape, along Robie to New Centerville. I don’t know the roads like the others but I think it was close to New Centerville that we deviated from the main road solely for the opportunity to cross Grimes Creek.

“Who wants to get wet?” Obviously, no self-respecting rider is going to decline.

I crossed first so I could photograph the others crossing, maybe witness some drama.

It was a little deeper than I expected but the GS parted the water like Moses. Everybody crossed easily then stopped for a snack and drink. Smile everyone! This is a good place to admire my homemade oak rack. Go ahead.

From Grimes Creek it was some dust eating into Idaho City for those needing gas.

Next stop, Pilot Peak.^¹ The dirt road up from Idaho City (Bear Run, I think) was pretty sweet, my favorite part of the ride. By the club rating system,^² it was level 3 seasoned with level 4 — perfect for the GS — and great views.

John stopped by this puddle to make sure everyone was still with us. Gary here had already taken his own private route once earlier.

1. Idaho Summits, “Pilot Peak”: http://idahosummits.com/…/pilot.htm
2. IAMC trail ratings: http://motoidaho.org/…/6

This ride was so easy for Heath he was doing it with his eyes closed.

We stretched our legs a minute after the water crossing before continuing on.

Pilot Peak is something like 8,128 feet. We sat at the foot of the lookout and had lunch.

8,128 feet

The critters were after some of Heath’s delicious food. After eating, drinking, calling and texting, we mounted up for the next destination.

If you happen to look at a map you can see what would be a straight line between Pilot Peak and our next destination, Sunset Mountain. And there’s a road that will take you that way, the road most everyone else followed.

Unless you took the adventurous ATV track back down from Pilot Peak in which case you bypassed the correct turn and ended up following a much longer route. That was us with Gary. Happily, everyone else was waiting for us at the Mores Creek parking lot. Reunited (queue music), we headed up Sunset Mountain.

The road up to Sunset Mountain summit^¹ was pretty fun. Good views and a bit technical in spots. Once at the lookout (7,851 feet or so), we had a better view of smoke in the distance — a controlled burn, we learned from the lookout attendant.

At the top we met three KTM guys with the Boise Ridge Riders.^² I didn’t have the heart to tell them they weren’t on the Boise Ridge.

1. MountainZone: http://mountainzone.com/…/detail.asp
2. Boise Ridge Riders: http://boiseridgeriders.org/

I wouldn’t mind staying in one of these lookouts sometime. The attendant was looking for a fire that had been reported in the south.

After Sunset Mountain, half the group decided to call it a day. Gary and John and myself would carry the torch on to Jackson Peak. On a map it looks like it could take a while to get there from Sunset Mountain but straight, fast roads made it surprisingly quick.

Jackson Peak^¹ is similar in height to our other stops, about 8,124 feet.

1. Idaho Summits, “Jackson Peak”: http://idahosummits.com/…/jackson.htm

I was surprised to see Indian Paintbrush and Lupine still blooming.

I decided to hang back for random exploration and a leisurely pace after John and Gary departed.

The Sawtooth mountains were visible on the horizon. I watched as the descending sun turned golden and finally cut through the haze.

As I began riding down, golden gave way to gray as clouds moved in front of the sun. It meant an end to mountain photography but it was still breathtaking.

I stopped to look at a potential campsite.

Just a little farther down, I thought it would be fun to climb on some rocks along the road.

I left under the watchful eye (see the face?) of a Moai.^¹ Thanks everyone for the company and great destinations! I look forward to seeing the other riders’ pictures.

1. Wikipedia, “Moai”: http://en.wikipedia.org/…/Moai