last fall ride

[tuning_fork56]

[align=left]Today was a glorious sunny day and i thought that there aren't too many left before the snow flies. I gassed up my newly acquired honda xl350 and headed up Marsden rd to see the back country Baldface lodge. it is 23 kms up and I mean up. the lodge is just below the ridge and has about 6 inches of snow. the road was mostly clear though I was pooping through some ice puddles. Iv'e got to get some hand guards. I had to stop twice to warm my hands on the engine cases.Some amazing views looking back down onto the backside of elephant mountain which I hadn't seen before. This is why iIgot this bike; to see the backcountry. Sorry no pictures, I brought the camera but the batteries were dead. I am a newbie to dual sport and I can't wait until next year.:hb:
tuning fork56
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[250ccforme]

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Hi, Baldface sure is quite the up. There a few other rides lower down. I was up Clearwater FSR to Huckleberry Pass on Tuesday. A couple of inches of snow up there, 4900'. I have 909 hand/bashguards, strong andlots of wind protection. Planning to get out a few more times. Giveout-Kenville Mines-Midslope Rover.

 

[tuning_fork56]

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Hi, I did the Giveout creek Kenville mines ride twice recently, reversing the direction each time. It can be a little confusing as there are lots of unmarked intersections. Are there some good maps around that give better detail of the various roads? I find the Backroad and Outdoor Recreation Mapbook a little vague. On the Clearwater creek fsr, is Huckleberry pass the way over to Wildhorse and Ymir? speaking of Wildhorse cr fsr, there is some wonderful areas 20 km up. Iv'e done some mtn biking up there and the scenery is stunning. The only problem is the Darkwood gates.
Happy riding

 

[koots_roots]

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hey guys, good to know some other avid riders in the area are on this forum. :clap:

i have a DRZ400, basing myself out of salmo now and its all about the backcountry scenic rides or approaches to alpine for me so give me a holler if your looking for riding buddies in the areas mentioned. no time to ride anymore this season but first thing in the spring ill be breaking trail and hopefully have a posse of regular riders and rides happening.

ive been up to baldface and its really nice riding up there this time of year...well maybe a bit earlier...its def. chillin out there these days.

yes, huckleberry pass is clearwater FSR to Wildhorse or vice versa. id be keen to check out the mtn biking up wildhorse too....so let me know.

re: maps, check out http://www.sgrc.selkirk.ca/imf5_16/imf.jsp?site=ksdp and zoom in to get 1:20,000 base mapping from BC. Also, many 1m orthophotos available in the imagery folder. let me know if you have questions, comments, i put the site together.

:hb:chris

 

[250ccforme]

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Thanks Koots_Roots for the link to the maps. At first they don't seem very detailed then when zoomed in there is lots of detail. Tuning_fork56, there were no gates on the Clearwater-Ymir ride. I guess those gates are further up Wildhorse. I have a GPS track (Garmin) if that's any help. Used to mountain bike over to Ymir a couple of times a year starting in 1989. We had talked about going back that way but never did it. Always returned on the road and later the railgrade. Having done the "to Clearwater" motorized I realize that to pedal it it's better to stick to doing it North toSouth. With a throttle to twist it's a blast to do from Ymir up. Just be aware that there are ATVs etc using the track. I agree with your opinion of the BC Backroads book, have spotted errors. I'll refer to topos and check with locals when heading into unknown territory. Nice to know there are others to ride with. Safety in numbers and all that.

 

[sector]

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I'm based out of Rossland part of the year. I just got an XT225 and did a few rides there a couple of weeks ago. Here are apic riding up Granite Mtn. Thanks for the tips on more places to go. I look forward to getting in a lot more rides next summer! And I hope I'll get to ride with you folks!

 

[sector]

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At the top of Granite. My bike is on the left. It's soooo fun!!

 

[tuning_fork56]

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Hi guys Thanks for the map tips and the pictures. I rode my mountain bike on the 7 Summits trail this year. What a beautiful epic ride. Were those pictures taken on part of that trail or were you on a different trail-road? I definitely would enjoy getting together next year. Thus far I have ridden alone as I don't have any dualsport riding friends. I must admit that I do wonder about getting stranded way up a mountain without anyone around to help but hell, I've got to ride anyway. A couple of weeks ago, I was riding up Giveout Creek fsr and followed some off shoot trail and eventually came to a steep V shape creek crossing where if you made it up the other side you had to do a sharp left turn. On my mountain bike , I would have walked it. I decided to play it safe and turn around. some how I lost my balance and dropped the bike while letting out the clutch from fully stopped and the bars fully turned. No harm to me or the bike but couldn't get it to kick over. Old bike, no starter. I pushed it uphill to do a bump start in 4th gear and the rear tire just slid. Tried that twice and thought I was going to walk home. I decided to try it one last time ,only this time in 6th gear. I said a prayer to God saying that this would be a good time to let me know that he-she or it really existed. It worked. I said to myself that from now on if I was riding alone that I would stick to the main road.
:hb:
John

 

[sector]

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No, this is not 7 summits trail. The pics are from riding up the south side road of Granite. If you get off the ski lift at the top you can take this trail over past paradise lodge, and down around the south side of granite to the bottom. I have hiked part of the 7 summits trail before it was made into a bike route. I would love to ride it sometime on my mtn bike.

Yes, I much prefer riding with others for the reasons you have said. I've been grinding on my brother and his wife to get dual sport bikes for a year now. They just got these a couple weeks ago, the Honda xr650 in the front of the first pic, and the other Yamaha xt225. So, now I finally have riding buddies when I'm in Rossland!

 

[koots_roots]

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congrats on the new bike suzanne. i guess you still have the GS650 too.

didnt get out with you this year after all that talk but we will have to make it happen next year. nice to know you have a few others to join ya from rossland. i wanted to get up granite too this year but never got around to it. next year for sure. i did go over the cascade to rossland and up sheep creek to esling ck. it links up to bonanza FSR off of the paulson but decided to turn around as it was getting pretty rough and dark and riding solo.

i know all too well about riding solo and it aint much fun when things get technical as those "what if..." thoughts start to creep up on ya. dumped my bike earlier this year and had to walk 10km in my motorcross boots in terential rains. i felt that i got lucky on that one too as it had the potential to be much worse!

also was 20+ km up the duncan FSR (at howser ck) last month when my bike decided it didnt want to start. i changed the plug but still no go. good thing my bro was with me and doubled me back to my truck. i now have added rope to the emerg kit for tow-out situations. anyone here good with bike electronics? i think its just a faulty circuit (kill switch) but im pretty useless when it comes to this stuff. guess i better learn esp. if i dont have a kicker.

cheers.

 

[250ccforme]

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Anyone up for a ridetomorrow (28th). Early afternoon. Forecast looks OK. Got in a Giveout - Rover loop this afternoon.Got a bit chilled whencloud cover moved in but still was nice to be out. My insurance runs out onThursday so I'm trying to ride all I can. Must admit that my mountain biking has suffered since getting the throttle twister.

 

[tuning_fork56]

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Dang, I wish I had seen this earlier. It is now Sunday, 5pm. I just got back from a road bicycle ride over in Krestova area. I too have been neglecting my pedal bikes since acquiring my throttle twister 6 weeks ago. I like that term Throttle twister. Cool map. What are you using? Is that the same source that koots_roots posted?
:hb:

 

[sector]

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Chris, yes I still have th F650 GS. The 2 bikes complement each other well. This summer, it seems, I was in Rossland when the passes were still snowed in (and the kayaking was still too good). Next year, I hope to be there a little later in the summer in order to maximize the mountain riding opportunities! Oh, and yeah, the little bikie, just opened new doors of riding opportunities - yippeee!! In the meantime, I'll be back in Rossland this winter for ski season.

250ccforme, thanks for posting the map. I love it when people do that! I love maps, period. Would have loved to have joined you, but alas, I'm far away at the moment... Post some pics, will ya? If you forgot your camera this time... well don't do it again!! I want to live vicariously though the lenses of others who are riding cool places where I want to go!!

Suzanne

 

[250ccforme]

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tuning_fork56, I have the Garmin eTrex Legend GPS. I think koots_roots also has a Garmin. Not sure I can recommend the Legend. I'm on #4. The first threewere faulty.I'll try and use this one more while it's still in the time frame where I can exchange it rather than having to deal with warranty. I bought it at WM as a bundle with the mapping software (Mapsource)for $175. The software by itself $180, Legend by itself $150. They offered my money back but I'd rather have a GPS that works. Sector, I had a camera along Saturday but I was a bit underdressed so I just kept moving. The one shot I almost took it would have been too hard to park the bike. Steep part of May-Jenny road was an orange carpet of larch needles. I didn't get out yesterday. The sun never made it to being more than a brighter spot in the cloud.Forecast high 11, it never made it past 8.