Day 93 — Doing stupid

We did a stupid.  A stupid ride, that is.

Tired and feeling the effects of nearly 3000 miles of backcountry bikepacking?  Not the best time to go kill ourselves on a huge day ride.

But we did it anyway.  And it was fun.

We ended up with nearly 90 miles, and over 12 hours of moving time.  Oof.

It started with a big breakfast at the Crossing. 7am open time.  We were on the bikes and rolling by 8.

21 miles of dirt took us back to Big Hole Pass, complete with two cramping calves on me (umm.. is this a good idea?). We saw a hiker’s head walk across the trail.  Good timing!

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The trail from Big Hole is mostly old ATV style, trying to be reclaimed to singletrack.  It’s mostly steep, often unrideable.  Even unloaded as we were.

We quickly caught Unbreakable and NoTrace, who we had not met yet.  They were very cool to talk to, quickly grasping what we were up to.  I swear the older folks on the trail are the quicket and the most impressive.  I hope I am doing things half as epic as they are when I’m there age.  Inspiring.

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We continued roller-coastering along the divide, happy to not have camping gear along.  Small moursels of great trail (singletrack!) kept the mojo alive.  Then we’d slide down 400′ drops of highly eroded trail, only to push bikes 400′ back up.  Ah, the CDT along the ID/MT border.

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Then we got to ride a section of the PCT that’s open to bikes!  In Montana!  To whoever put that PCT sticker on that sign — well played!  It’s in a place where most hikers need a good laugh.  And a wistful rememberance of a trail that is so much easier than the CDT.  The PCT blaze is right in the middle of a rather laborious and steep climb, on a trail that barely exists.

A boy can dream of a better future where people are more accepting of quiet and human-powered ways to travel the backcountry.  Bikepacking is just beginning, and still widely misunderstood.  Things will change, though.  (100% of the PCT is closed to bikes currently, but there is a movement afoot to reevaluate that short sighted policy).

We caught another inspirational older couple on the dirt road after Anderson Mountain.  It’s Marmot and Trail Dog!  We first met them in Pie Town.  They leap frogged and still have some hiking to do in Colorado, but it was great to see them still in the game and in great spirits — despite having walked in the rain (and sleet/snow) for the past 4 days.  Tougher than us…

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Memento followed shortly after.  Then Data and Abandoner, hitching at the pass.  Glad we haven’t had to do that yet.

After the pass we rolled onto some XC ski trails that made for very nice travel and were in great shape.  Some jumps.  Some nice benchcut descending.  What a treat to ride it unloaded.

At Gibbons we made our truly stupid move… continuing on the CDT even though any reasonable person would have bailed out and headed back to town.  It was 5 pm.  11 miles more trail of unknown quality.

Well, we had heard it was a local favorite, and that there ‘might be a few trees down.’  The first 2 miles were all clear, even though the trail went through a massively burned area.  It suckered us in.

By the time we hit tree after tree across the trail, it was pretty much too late.  We’d already climbed 500 feet and descended a few hundred.  It was already looking very unlikely we would make it back to town in time for dinner — 9pm.

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Oh well, we continued on.  There’s great trail underfoot.  Easy CDT traveling.  Brief sections untouched by the fire were pure dream riding.  Then we’d be off the bikes in rapid fire succession, hopping over trees.  Dinner?  No way.

The clouds unleashed enough rain to get us pretty well soaked, despite the sun continuing to shine.  Just enough to ensure we would freeze on the descent off Schutlz Saddle. Gah.

Freeze we did as we blasted downhill through endless burn.  Luckily has a 400 foot climb that would have otherwise been frustrating, but served to warm us back up.  Darkness fell completely upon us as we dropped down the highway — still 13 miles from Wisdom.  I liked where the Big Hole road dropped us out better — 3 miles from town.  This section was definitely out of the way for us (especially since we were already in Wisdom!).

What the heck though — why not make it the third time we’ve ridden into Wisdom?  As we were dropping we both had the same thought at the same time, with Eszter vocalizing it first, “thanks for doing stupid stuff with me.”

It was, by all accounts, a truly silly exercise.  But we got to meet some friends, old and new.  We got to enjoy riding unloaded, getting more for our pedal stroke than we are used to.  We got to ride some of the PCT.  We got some great trail.  We saw the sun and felt its warmth.  And we completed what we set out to do, even though it seemed unlikely it would happen as we watched the rain fall and fall in Wisdom over the weekend.  An epic backcountry loop during a long distance bikepack.  Why not? 

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