Idaho SpudFest 2000 - Warm Springs/Deer Creek

The further exploits of the NM/CO gang wherein we meet Amazon bikers from Seattle, find some unusual trail signs, fix flats, visit Buttercup, see a real Hunter's Moon, and find a dead-end trail.
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Frank, Terry, and JimB were camped in the motorhome on Warm Springs Road, about 8 miles west of Ketchum. I was staying in a motel in Ketchum with JimW, who was recovering from his "Toe Event" that occurred on Sunday's ride.

On Tuesday morning, 9/12, I drove out to the Warm Springs Road camp and got ready to ride. We planned to ride trails south of Warm Springs Road, some of which we'd ridden on our Idaho Trip in '98.

After crossing Warm Springs Creek (river?), we rode up Warfield Trail, which we had missed on our previous trip. We had been advised that the trail was rocky, and it was. It also had a few steep hills. Eventually it led us to some familiar trails, and the riding was terrific. The trails in this area are well maintained and generally easy, with only a few technical spots here and there. We eventually got over to the southeast side where we had seen bicyclists previously and once again started seeing them.

I stopped when I encountered a lady rider and told her we were from NM and CO and really enjoyed her trails. I thanked her for the work that was done to keep the trails so nice. She informed me that she enjoyed them too and that she and her friends were from Seattle. Go figure.

After 35 miles of meandering, we were finally on our way back to camp on Red Warrior Trail, a most enjoyable route, when JimB got a front tire flat. He patched the tube in the best of ISDE tradition in just under 20 minutes ;-)

At camp, JimB and I decided to scout some more, so off we went up the road. We found a trailhead that had a curious sign: No motorized 8:30-11:30 or some such. I guess this is one of those afternoon trails I'd heard about. After JimB turned back, I found another afternoon trail sign. We'd been looking forward to riding these trails the next day, but we'd wanted to start early in the morning. Oh well, we'd plan something else.

Back at camp I found out that JimB had picked up a 4" nail in the rear tire, and he was in the process of changing tire and tube. The flat was timely because the tire was wore out, and he'd brought along a new tire anyway.

After looking at the b/w map we'd gotten from the FS in Ketchum, we discovered that the trails north of Warm Springs Road are closed from Aug 30 through Nov 30 for hunting. That explained the 8/30 - 11/30 legend on the signs....

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On Wednesday morning, 9/13. I once again joined Frank, Terry, and JimB for a ride south of Warm Springs Road. We were going to visit the Buttercup Peak area for some nice hill climbs and views of the surrounding mountains. And climb we did. Although none of the hills was prohibitively steep, some were intimidating to look up at.

We stopped on a peak well short of Buttercup because the remainder of the trail was on a literal knife-edge ridge. Besides, the view was plenty fine from where we stopped.

We rode down off of the peaks on an old 2-track. Frank was in the lead and was treated to an interesting sight. We'd seen several hunters using ATVs in the area. Frank came down a hill and around a bend to find one of the hunters standing in the road mooning him. When the hunter realized Frank wasn't his hunting buddy, he retired to the modesty of a large tree and sheepishly watched Frank ride by. When the rest of us rode by, we had no clue what had happened; Frank told us later at lunch.

One of the peculiarities of the trail system is that the FS map did not exactly match the trails on the ground. Consequently, when we tried to link up a route that covered the entire system, we kept encountering difficulties. One such was a trail that led up to a hilltop and then just stopped. This was a major trail, too. It just stopped in the tall grass. Odd.

As the day waned, we started to head back for camp. Terry caught his shifter and bent it pretty bad. He had to rebend it now and then, and finally, about one mile from the road, it broke off entirely. He was in first gear, so was able to get out to the road just fine. There, we shifted his WR into fourth with vise grips, and with a push to get going, he made it back to camp just fine.

Later, I drove JimB to the Yamaha shop in Ketchum to pick up a new shifter. It only cost $54. Ouch!

This concludes the ride reports for our trip to Idaho for the 2000 SpudFest. We all had a great time. Well maybe JimW didn't think it was the best trip he'd ever been on ;-)