Last ride of the season?

End of September . . . and temps in the high 80's?  Amazing.  So, why not pencil in one last 4-wheeler ride of the season?  Maybe catch the last of the changing fall colors in the high country.  Leane said, "Yes!!"  She was ready to roll.  And Jane said, "Yes, I've got nothing else planned."  So, we made last-minute plans for Saturday's (yesterday's) road trip, a fairly easy trail.

On a side note, some friends and I had planned this same trip last year for the same weekend, and we got snowed out!  This time, it looked like the weather would hold.

We left my house about 9:00 a.m. with a "fancy coffee" that Jane brought us out from town, so we hit the road with sunshine, blue skies with some clouds (not predicted in the weather report!) and good coffee.  We cruised west to Dubois and then on up to Union Pass Road.  Just past the Line Shack, we unloaded the four-wheelers and were soon ready to roll.  My parting words were, "If you want to stop for a picture or something, just stop.  I'll be watching, and if I don't see you behind me, I'll stop and turn around." 

I hadn't even traveled a mile down the road, and looking back, I see Leane behind me...but not Jane.  Hmmm.  We stopped.  She didn't come.  I turned around and told Leane she could just wait, and I would see what was going on. 

Backtracking, I saw Jane on the side of the road.  She said the temperature light went on, and then the 4-wheeler just stopped running.  Wow.  What in the world? 

We tried to start it; no success.   OK.  How about this overheating issue?  Maybe we should look into that.  Hmmm.  Wonder where the radiator fluid reservoir is located.  I'm NO mechanic. I don't know where everything is located.   But then, I've watched my friends work on their machines or help me fix mine, so I'm not a complete dummy.  Let me unlatch the seat and see if it's under there. 

 Both Jane and I were looking under the seat, and we saw the battery, a little tool kit, but nothing that looked like a place to put in Prestone, or in our case, water.  So, where do you suppose that's located?  We started looking for every available place that would expose what we're looking for.  Finally, we decided these side panels pop right off, so as I'm taking off on my side, Jane asks, "What is this knob for?" Uh-oh... that's to turn the gas on, and I hadn't turned it when I unloaded it; that's why we couldn't start the machine.  I turned it on; that will take care of that!

 Once I got the side panel snapped off, I saw a plastic reservoir, with practically no fluid in it.  "So....is this for the radiator . . . or is this for brake fluid??"  I stuck my finger down the opening to feel some residue of the fluid, smell it, and wondered if I should pour the water in or get another opinion.  Just then  a car is came down the road.  I indicated that I wanted them to stop, and they did.  It was an older couple, and when I asked if they had any knowledge of working on 4-wheelers, the gentleman said, "You're asking the wrong people."  The woman just looked at me like I was a foreigner.  I may have looked back at them with an expression that says, "What are you doing up here in the mountains?"

About this time Leane decided we had been gone too long, so she turned around and joined us.  Jane and I decided to go ahead and put water in what we thought MUST be for the radiator, and when I did, the water turned green; that was a good sign.  I was feeling assured that I did the right thing.  OK, let's see if this 4-wheeler will start and if the engine light goes out.  It did.  I felt confident we fixed the problem, so it was time to get these side panels back on and snap the seat back into place.

As I was snapping the side panel back on, the edge of it must have caught this long tube, which then fell off on to the ground.  Oh great.  I wonder where that was supposed to be attached.  We girls looked at the options, and the solution did not appear obvious.  Just then a young couple with two little kids rode up on a side-by-side ATV, and they stopped.  I told the guy that this hose had fallen off when I was replacing the side panel, and I wondered if he had an idea of where it should be attached.  He kindly took a look and said he thought it was just an overflow tube and that it was not crucial to get it back on.  That idea had actually occurred to me too, so I trusted his judgement.  I just stuffed the tube in a compartment under the seat, and once everything was back together, I started the 4-wheeler, and all looked and sounded good.

NOW, I think we've completed our mechanic-ing for the morning, and we should be ready to roll.

The rest of the trip went splendidly.  We stopped at a campground at the beginning of the Seven Lakes Trail and ate lunch.  The area was sheltered from the wind and offered a great view to the west. 

Next, we went down the road another 9 miles or so, where we turned off to ride east up Pinion Ridge.  This is a regular ATV trail, narrower and rougher.  The gals did great, although their thumbs were getting achy, and they were wondering if we were EVER going to get there.

 It was another 8 miles to get to the end of the ridge, where we climbed up an exposed hill, which offers a great panoramic view.  From here one can see the canyon and Green River Lake to the east, the Pinnacles to the north, the Grand Tetons to the West, and mountain ranges to the south.

Green River Lake

I got out the camera and snapped a few shots...although the wind was making it a bit difficult to hold the camera completely still.  The peaks still had a dusting of new snow (from last week).  The light was bright and overhead, so it really wasn't ideal for photographs.  Oh well. 

Grand Tetons in the distance, just right of center.

Off to the west the Grand Tetons were visible, and it's always a treat to seem them.  This picture doesn't do them justice.  We could see the peaks much more distinctly than what shows up in this photo.

We made it to our destination.  Now it was time to start back - and to ride out a little faster.  At one point I knew I had been going a bit faster and wondered if they were keeping up; I turned to look, and there they were - right on my tail.  Smiles.  A bit farther down the trail, I stopped to check on the gals, and they were feeling much more comfortable with the speed, having already ridden up the trail, now knowing what was ahead. I asked Leane how she was doing, and she said, "Riding 'em like we stole 'em!"  Big chuckle.  Yes, we were!

Once we got back on Union Pass Road, our pace was at a pretty good clip.  I stopped at a spot that had a pretty view, wanting to take one more set of photos.

We were soon back to the vehicle and trailers.  We had completed a 52 mile journey!  Now, that's a pretty full day on a 4-wheeler.  It didn't take long, and we were ready to pull our trailers off the mountain... and add a final touch to the day -- a great dinner at The Cowboy Cafe in Dubois. 

Relax, review the day, laugh, and enjoy a tasty burger!

Sinks Canyon Road

Jane, Leane, and I planned a 4-wheeler ride for rookies, just the gals...LOL...an easy ride.  I thought that riding the Sinks Canyon Road might just be the ticket.  Jane road my extra machine, and Leane rode her new Kawasaki.  You should see the trailer that her husband fixed up for her; it's a beauty!!  This was her first run. 

As we drove up on South Pass, it became evident that the Fall colors were in full swing at higher elevations...and only the 2nd weekend in September???  Yeah, no kidding...glad I've got the pictures to prove it. 

A selfie... Leane, me, Jane.

We stayed on the Sinks Canyon Road except for a short, two mile ride up the 4-wheeler trail which goes over Limestone Mountain.  It gave the gals some experience riding over rocks and straddling gullies, and they did very well.  From the point where we stopped, we could see Continental Peak and Oregon Buttes off to the east.  Then we made our way back to the main road and drove to Louis Lake for lunch. 

I don't believe I've ever seen so many campers up here...more folks than on other weekends, for sure.  Perhaps it was because the weather was perfect this weekend...in the 80's, no wind, clear skies. And this may be the last weekend of the season for this kind of activity.  We saw several folks just taking a ride to see the fall colors, stopping periodically for photos.

The weather was warm, skies were clear, and only an occasional breeze.  What a perfect day to be in the mountains, riding through the pine.  The fragrance was refreshing!

Labor Day weekend continues...

Following a day of getting the trailer tires replaced, we went forward with our plans to ride up Indian Ridge for our outing on Sunday.  Because it rained the day before, and because a little cool front came through, moving warm air (clouds and smoke) to the northeast, we had the most beautiful blue skies and clear, clean air.  Spectacular!  

We could clearly see Gannett Peak (tallest peak in WY) poking its head above the foothills and rocky ridges that surround it.   It was the clearest view (the peak in the middle of the picture) I'd ever seen from this vantage point.

I've posted many pictures of this ride, and I never get tired of the panoramic views from this ridge.

Here's my bro and me.  Allen was taking a little nap after lunch...funny that he got in the picture.

What a day...

My brother Dennis, Cory, and Allen came up for Labor Day Weekend to do some 4-wheeling.  We planned to ride both Saturday and Sunday.

After a tasty bacon-n-eggs breakfast, we loaded up and headed toward Dubois.  It was a sunny, beautiful morning drive.  However, I did warn everyone that rain was in the forecast, and sure enough, clouds were hanging over Union Pass, which was our destination.  Oh well.  We decided to go on up the mountain anyway...just to see if we could squeak in a ride. Guess what? The colors are already starting to change.  The scenery was enjoyable.  Cory and I were in the lead, pulling a trailer with two 4-wheelers, and Dennis and Allen were following, pulling a trailer with two mountain motorbikes.  Cory and I kept an eye on the guys and got a little concerned when we couldn't see them following.  We stopped and waited, discovering that they were fine...just wanted to stay out of our dust.  OK.  So, I didn't watch the rear view mirrors for them quite so diligently.

As we were bouncing our way up to the top of Union Pass, maybe only a couple miles from where we would unload, I checked my mirror and saw Dennis flashing his lights and waving his arms frantically.  What?  I came a stop immediately.  He and Allen had seen me lose a tire on the trailer, and they were trying to get me stopped.  Never did hear their honking horn...and I dragged that trailer on the wheel for probably a good mile.   This is what it looked like:

Checking the other tire, we discovered it was nearly flat...but it was still intact!! Well...time to problem-solve.  Unload the 4-wheelers and see what we could do. 

The lug nuts were rusted on...and the rim was sitting on the ground, so there wasn't much room to work with. Dennis pulled out all his tools (an impressive collection).  I had to read my owner's manual to find where my jack and tools were located.  Allen stopped a pickup and asked the driver if he might have some WD-40 we could use to help get the nuts off.  He did and was happy to pull off and help us.  Eventually, the guys got the spare back on the side with no tire.  But, the other tire needed air desperately, and it was possibly punctured.  I had Fix-a-Flat with me, so one of the guys squirted that goo into the tire, and then we used two different small air compressors to get enough air in the tire to make it usable.  My air compressor had a broken end (the one you put in the cigarette lighter), but Allen knew that he could just cut off that piece, separate and bare the wires, and hold them directly on the battery.  It worked!

Now it was starting to rain.  The best plan was to have Cory and I ride the 4-wheelers down to Crooked Creek (restaurant and cabins) where they also had a shop with air compressor.  Dennis and Allen pulled ahead to find a place to turn the pick-ups and trailers around, and they were soon behind us.  Stopping at Crooked Creek, we were able to eat our lunches while we waited for the gal (waitressing in the restaurant) to get a break to come out and get the air hose for us. A young couple on 4-wheelers stopped to see if they could help and suggested we contact Bull's Conoco in Dubois (10 miles down the road) to see if they might have a wheel and tires.  They even got a phone book for us, and we made the call.  Yes, they had a wheel and tires!  Yahoo.  We assured them we would be there ASAP.

I thought we could load the lighter 4-wheeler on my trailer, and load the bigger machine into Dennis' pickup bed.  It all worked...and we slowly made our way down to Dubois, with rain and some hail hitting us on and off the whole time. 

We all agreed that we probably wouldn't have been able to make the ride out on Pinion Ridge after all.

When we got to Dubois, the mechanic discovered he had only one wheel and one tire.  Well, OK.  That would at least get us back to Riverton.  The mechanic suggested trying Bailey's Tire in Riverton, who he thought was open on Saturdays.  So, we called, they were open, and they had two tires the size we needed!  If this all worked out, we would be set to go for a ride tomorrow!!

Before leaving Dubois, it seemed like stopping for pie a-la-mode was the right thing to do.  Yum.  It was. 

Going straight to Bailey's was next on the list, and two new tires went on the trailer. And I had a new spare too.

This was not exactly the plan we had hoped for.  But if the tires needed replacing, I'm so glad this was the scenario.  Plenty of help and expertise was at the ready.  Between the two garages, I got new wheels and tires. 

Sooo... we were now ready for tomorrow's ride.

A favorite trail

Saturday, six of us took our annual 4-wheeler ride.  This year we headed toward Dubois, and going up East Fork, we unloaded near the base of Indian Ridge.  I could probably say that riding up Indian Ridge is my favorite.  Dave and Linda had not been on this trail, so it was new to them, and it had been several years since Brett, Marlene, and Julie had been up here.  Somehow I've been lucky enough to take this ride at least once a year for some time.

One reason it's my favorite is because it's one of the few places one can see Gannett Peak (highest peak in Wyoming) without having to hike into the back country, wilderness area.  In the picture above you can barely see the peak (a glacier covers the left side) right in the middle of the horizon, but it's there.  It appeared, of course, much more distinct with the eye.  Thank goodness the southwest winds had blown the smoke to the north, and we had great views.  It was also a very warm day, even at this altitude, probably close to 9,000 ft.

Brett points out some familiar spots to Julie.

Once we got up high enough on the ridge, we stopped and looked at the river below, Wiggins, and the panoramic views of the peaks in the Wind Rivers and Absarokas.

Another reason this is my favorite spot is because one can see the Grand Tetons from the highest vantage points if it is a clear day.  However, clouds were hanging over the ranges to the west, and we did not get a glimpse of the peaks today.

A third reason this ride ranks as a favorite is because a nice area at the end of the trail is perfect for stopping for a lunch break.  At this spot a line shack and an outhouse make the picturesque spot just about perfect. 

In all the years we've come up here, we've never seen anybody at the cabin...but today we met Andrew.  On horseback, he and his dog had been moving cattle, but today we was going to be riding  down to Double Cabin and going into Dubois...said he was anxious to get a shower and a meal that was not out of a can.  Oh, and he was going to be happy to not share a cabin with mice tonight.  Originally from Pennsylvania, he was lured out to WY to fly-fish, and now he's become a ranch hand, watching and moving cattle in the high country for the summer.  That's him, trailing two horses in the picture above.

And then we saw a few more folks on horseback come up the draw below us.  We'd never seen so much action at the cabin!

On the way back down the ridge, I suddenly noticed that the others had stopped for some reason, so I stopped and waited to see if they would be coming, or if I needed to turn around the check out the situation.  While I was waiting, I took a picture of the trail behind, the trail ahead, and the view off to my left (northwest). 

It turns out that Marlene spotted some BigHorn Sheep.  I guess it was pretty cool; a couple rams were even butting heads.  Just as I had decided I should turn around and go back up the hill to investigate, they popped over the hill.  From there, we just kept moving down the trail at a pretty steady pace.  We had a beautiful day for a great ride.  We all remarked that we forget how beautiful this ride is, so we have to keep coming back!

Another ride near Limestone Mt.

We're making up for lost time...making last minute plans for another 4-wheeler ride, yesterday,  above Lander.  The night before, one of the guys called and said his 4-wheeler wouldn't start; it appeared to be carburetor  problems.  He had to cancel, and he was going to be our guide for the day, taking us over a new section of trail.  But Brett was going along, and he had been over that section of trail years ago, and so Julie, Brett, and I decided to continue with plans for the trip.

Wildfire smoke filled the valleys, but up where we unloaded and rode, it was quite nice; the weather was perfect.  We started out on a graded road that takes us past the Pass Creek area.  We knew there would be a river crossing coming up soon, but we felt confident that this late in the season we could cross it without any concern.  So, when we got to the river, we all crossed...and it was just fine. We all had to lift our feet a bit so they wouldn't get wet.  Brett said that the second river crossing had a bridge over it, so we would be good there.

Continuing on down the trail, we saw a lot of new timber growth where a wild fire had gone through several years ago.  It was a very pretty ride, and the views of the canyon where the Popo Agie runs through are impressive. 

We kept looking for trail #354 (into Maxim Basin), but never did see it, so we kept going on #352, assuming we'd run into it anytime.  We had some VERY DEEP rutted trails to negotiate.  Talk about having one's eye's riveted to the road! The spring rains had washed out so many sections of the trail.  The last thing we wanted was to have a tire get sucked down into one of those ruts.  The trail got rough with rocks and boulders in places, but it was not too bad.

We kept going and going... and then we came upon another river crossing.  No bridge.  Hmmm.  It was at that point we all were thinking we had somehow missed taking #354...but where?  We didn't see any signage.  Well, I guess we cross the river.  This crossing was much deeper, and the water was  swifter.  Brett took a look and decided he would give it a try.  We watched him (to see how he negotiated it), and he made it.  However, a little water must have splashed up under his seat, and his machine almost cut out...which gave him a little scare.  I went next, and just plowed through.  Although it got deep enough I felt as though the tires weren't touching bottom for a second, and the momentum was carrying me across, the tires grabbed again and I was across.  Then Julie came across; she made it just fine.  But I could tell she was glad that was over!

We road just a bit further, and Brett recognized Fossil Hill and knew just where we were.  Yes, we had really missed the trail that would have taken us into Maxim Basin.  Next, we see a rest stop (bathroom).  That was convenient, because I was ready for that facility!  Brett pointed out that we had come all the way to the top of the Sinks Canyon road (paved highway).  We got out the map to see exactly where we were.  Oh great.  Now we had a decision.  Julie's machine is street legal (to run on the road), but Brett's and my machine only have ORV stickers.  So if we got caught on the highway, we'd certainly be fined.  According to the map, we would have to ride 2 miles on the highway before it turned into a dirt road, taking a chance of not getting caught, or back-track the entire route, including the two river crossings. 

Considering the time, and considering the trail, we didn't want to back-track and decided it was worth taking a chance on the highway.  So, while we where in a good spot to stop, we pulled out our lunch and solidified our plans. 

When we were ready to go, we pulled out on the highway and moved right along; we made it to the dirt without incident.  Whew!!  From there, we road on the Sinks Canyon Road all the way to Grainier Meadows.  From there, we turned west onto the 4-wheeler trail and road it up over Limestone Mt. in about an hour.  We made good time!  All was well.  A great day.

4-wheeling the BH's continued...

So we continued on, traveling to the northern most part of the trail.  We were at the highest elevation, so the trail was going to be mostly downhill from here.  We got out of the meadow of cows, and then hit a stretch of really nasty, rocky, move-at-a-crawl kind of terrain.  I stopped when I got out of it, waited for Julie, and shared that "that was rough; I didn't care for that!"  Julie agreed.  But it was behind us...and maybe that was the worst.  Maybe not.  (I have no pictures of the rough terrain; too occupied surviving it.)

Another mile or so down the trail and we hit another stretch of very rough trail... whew...maybe that was the worst... Maybe not.

Then we hit yet another stretch that was really narrow (hence the reason for not allowing wide ATV's on the trail), full of boulders, drop-offs,  and sharp rocks, and I got pretty nervous on this one.  After I got through it, I stopped again to watch to see that Julie made it down OK.  She did, but she was shaken!  She had nearly tipped over her machine while negotiating one of the boulders, but putting all her weight to the right side of the machine got her through it.  NOT PRETTY.  She said, "We are NOT going back this way!!"  I agreed whole-heartedly, that we would continue completing the loop, no matter what!  There was no turning back at this point; we were closer to getting the end of the "yellow" trail, and continuing on was the only option.  Certainly, the worst was behind us!

We had to negotiate three water crossings and more rocks, but finally made it to a beautiful high- mountain lake.  That helped calm us...and it was a good place for lunch.  It was 1:30 pm.  Lunch was a bit overdue, but this was a good place to take a pause and relax.  The name of the lake is not possible to read on the map, as the letters are lost in the paper crease...but it's L.... Lake (north east of Battle Creek Campground).  If I Google the area, I might be able to find the name. 

We saw a couple people fishing on the other side. And before we left the lake, we saw a couple gals riding horseback (tourists from Georgia).  Then, as we started down the trail, we saw a family of hikers and 3 more guys on horseback.  I wondered if all these folks were a little perturbed that our ATV's were disturbing the quiet they were looking for on the mountain trails. Hmmm.  Sorry.

The remainder of the "yellow" trail was rough, but not as bad as we had just been through.  That anticipation of getting off the rough stuff kept us going. Then we finally made it to the "green" trail or jeep trail.  Whew....smooth sailing from here on. 

We took a pause and decided to ride up a short way to see the end of the road at Battle Creek Campground.  This campground was in an open meadow with lots of space for campers, horse-trailers, and corrals.  Very nice. 

From there, we headed  (south) down the  jeep trail, cruising back to the lodge, enjoying the scenery.  We met a couple guys on fat tire bikes, and they were having a great time. 

I couldn't have been more thankful to get back to the trailer, load up, and head out.   It had been a scenic drive, and because we made it through the rough stuff without incident, I was happy.  Julie and I both agreed that we were glad we made the trip, but we'd never do the same route again!  Once was enough; we spent all our "toughness" on that one.  Time to "refuel."

4-wheeling in the Big Horn Mountains

One of my 4-wheeling friends, Julie, and I wanted to see what trails looked like in the Big Horn Mountains, which are in northeast WY.  Since I don't have reason to travel through that area of the state, it had been many, many years since I'd been to TenSleep and roads heading east into the Big Horns. 

We had a map of the trail we wanted to take, but absolutely no idea what we might experience in terms of trail conditions and scenery.  So, it felt very much like an adventure.  Neither one of us knew of anyone who had been on that trail, so getting info was not easy. 

I must say it's a beautiful drive on the highway.  The canyon, the ancient rock formations, the lush green forest (no beetle-killed trees) were all wonderful sights.  We turned off the road at what appeared to be close to a trailhead; however, we discovered we had gone about mile too far.  So, we back-tracked to Deer Haven Lodge, parked, and unloaded.  Talking to a guy in the lodge, we were directed how to get to the road/trail we were looking for, but this guy had no other knowledge to share with us, which was a disappointment.  But, oh well.  Carry on.  We would figure it out.

The trail started out as a two lane mountain dirt road, which is very easy/smooth riding.  Eventually, as we headed farther north, the trail narrowed and became more of a 4-wheeler trail with big rocks and ruts to negotiate, but nothing too bad. 

Our goal was to ride this big loop, which would take us to a lake near Battle Creek Campground to the north, and then back down to our starting point.  The whole ride would be close to 40 miles.

As we got close to the northern most part of the ride, we were riding close to a canyon, with big mountains on the other side.  And also from here we were high enough that we could see for many, many miles in every direction.  A grand view. 

Then we entered a portion of the road that allowed only 4-wheelers that were 50 inches wide or less.  So, no side-by-side ATV's that seat 2 or 4 passengers were allowed.  And, on the map, the trail was marked as more difficult.  But, it did not look too bad...  we continued on. We drove through some meadows with a lot of grazing cows; thankfully, they moved out of the way, off the trail, as we approached.  Then, we ran into a section of rough trail, very narrow and rocky, but if this was the worst, we'd be OK...

More later.

A ride under the Ramshorn...

Another ride with 4wheeler friends took us to an area just north of Dubois.  We followed the Brent Creek Road and then the Burrough's Creek Loop.

At this stop, I asked them to line up for a photo, and this is what I got! Ha. 

Anyway, a little further up the trail is this pond under the Ramshorn. 

The next stop was at Ramshorn Lake for lunch.

Then, Rainbow Lake. Here is where we could see the results of the fire that burned through here last summer.  The new growth ( I think the name of the pink flower is Fireweed) was a beautiful bed of color, contrasted against the charcoal trees.  

We also saw Virgin Lake and Burnt Timber Lake, but I didn't stop for photos.  This turned out to be a 29 mile ride.  The road was unexpectedly rough in places because of very deep ruts formed by the heavy snows, rain, and run-off this year. It certainly was a pretty ride, and I was amazed at the amount of wildflowers still blooming this late in the summer.