West Yellowstone to Lima (Deadwood Gultch): Back to the start (ish)
May 30th, 2022
After leaving Yellowstone, we took a slightly different route back to Lima, stopping at Upper Lake Campground for the night. The campsite is within the Red Rock Lakes Wilderness Area which features prime habitat for an abundance of bird species as well as for moose. I saw one moose a few minutes after we arrived at the campsite and we rode past another young one the following morning.
Biking through BLM land up to Monida Pass
May 31st, 2022
Nothing much to report about the next day. It was an easy ride past cow pastures. We saw some sassy sandhill cranes. We camped on BLM land a bit short of the I15 highway.
June 1st, 2022
We passed through Lima where we picked up our next resupply, I took a bath in the rest-stop sink and Heather locked herself in one of the bathroom stalls for an hour because it was the only public place with a power outlet to charge our various devices. We spent the night back at Deadwood Gultch Campground where we joked about how our total biking distance traveled was zero.
A CDT trail angel named Cal was also camped there and he gave us potable water as well as blueberries! We sort of invited ourselves to his campfire, where we all sat and watched what Cal called the "Bunny Show", little Dwarf Cottontail bunnies popping out of the bushes to munch in the grass.
Lima to Leadore: Heading North
It feels good to be done our loop and be heading North. We had four days to cover the 170km distance to Leadore, so you could say we’ve been living the good life.
Heather and Amaya enjoying one of the few sunny days
June 2nd, 2022
Less than an hour after leaving Deadwood Gultch we stopped and went on a hike through Caboose Canyon because it was too pretty not to and we had the time. The day was sunny and hot apart from a brief torrential downpour right before we got to camp. I enjoyed the soaking after the heat except when it turned into hail whipping into my bare, shorts-wearing legs. We camped up Ayers Canyon in an idilic spot nestled in sparse trees, already set up with a fire ring and chopped wood. We harvested some of the stinging nettle in the creek bed to add to our dahl and rice dinner.
View from ridge above Caboose Canyon
June 3rd and 4th, 2022
The mood the day: I'm sitting messaging my partner Cosenti on my inreach. I look up at Heather and say, "Co is showing off" she asks me why and I respond in all earnestness, "He is eating toast". Despite having only needed to bike for under two hours covering a mere 37km that day, and by all logic, having enough food, Heather and I were feeling ravenous. All we could talk about is what we wished we were eating; chips, french fries, salad, rhubarb crumble, cookies, carrots, popcorn and yes, toast. There is no point in us getting to Leadore early. We had mail that we couldn’t pick up until Monday. In addition to our resupply, I had a new thermarest coming (so excited! I had been sleeping on my thin foam pad since my thermarest disintegrated almost a week ago) and Heather was expecting a new, actually waterproof, rain jacket since her current one has failed to keep out the torrential downpours. We decided that despite serious snack cravings, it wasn't worth spending the extra time in town. Instead, we spent two nights camped along the Clark Canyon Resevoir. The “Rose” was watching the pelicans and hawks, the “Thorn” was not being able to swim. At a distance the Clark Canyon Resevoir appears to contain crisp blue water but up close it is marshie and nutrient-saturated sludge and signs nearby warned the water could contain neurotoxic blue-green alge.
The approach down to the Clark Canyon Reservoir
June 5th, 2022
The ride from Clark Resevoir started out pleasant and fast, along paved road. Then the pavement faded into dirt and a headwind kicked up. Time for ganny gear and an audio book for entertainment. The last 15 km were downhill into Leadore. We would have really enjoyed it if we didn't know that we had to ride back up the next morning. Leadore is a rural Idaho town with a population of 105. We found much needed showers, laundry and snacks, and friendly company in the form of the Rodeo Grounds host, Mark.
Much love, Amaya
Leadore, ID to Butte, MT - the Pioneer Scenic Byway
June 6th, 2022
It turns out rural Idaho completely shuts down, not only on Sundays, but Mondays as well. After a disappointing brunch (we were so excited for waffles but that restaurant was closed), we began the grind back up and over Bannock Pass at 3pm. We decided to stop at the Shoshone Ridge Lookout area, with a view of the historically important (to the Lewis and Clark expedition and to the Nez Perce) Lemhi Pass. This day also marked the start of the Grand Pickle Debacle; the saga during which pickle brine leaked throughout one of Amaya’s panniers not once, but twice.
Airing out the food bags after cleaning off pickle juice, the first time
June 7th, 2022
Hot springs provide excellent motivation for covering ground. We did an 80km day. First stop, and lunch break, was at the ghost town of Bannack, where prospectors flocked in the 1800s.
We then began to make our way up the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway. We quickly transitioned from sage covered hills to the picturesque Grasshopper Valley and coniferous forests beyond. Dotted with idyllic farms, rolling green foothills and with stunning mountains as a backdrop, the valley seemed like literal paradise. After the start of a grinding climb we camped at the grasshopper campground and then made the 3km round trip up to the Elkhorn Hot Springs for an evening soak, a beer, and then some jalapeño poppers and milkshakes.
The ghost town of Bannack
Hot springs? Yes please.
June 8th, 2022
A slow morning followed by a day hike up Blue Creek, where the misting rain was actually warm enough to be enjoyable rather than dreary. We then ground up the remainder of the long climb on the Byway up to the Price Creek campground, where we had to search out one of the few snow-free tent sites. Despite knowing we’d have to reclimb the long-slog hill afterwards, we eagerly bombed down a backroad (really just a winter cross country ski trail) back down to the hot springs for round 2 of a soak and beer. This time, we followed it up with the most delectable pizza dinner, and of course another set of milkshakes. Riding the post-soak and pizza euphoria, the climb back up to the campground wasn’t the struggle we anticipated.
June 9th, 2022
A short day, during which we explored Crystal park, and found ourselves some tiny, pretty rocks. We also did some “creative route-finding” following a trail down a decommissioned road, which was spectacular fun and made me dearly miss my mountain bike. A creek crossing, and many downed logs and rocky sections later, we popped out onto a road near the Mono Creek campground and decided to call it a day. We painted and journaled in the sunshine, chatted up our neighbour, Dennis, and continued our daily “story time” as we listened to an audiobook together.
Creek crossing in the Pioneers
June 10th, 2022
A day for solo activities, Amaya and I parted ways after 6km. She carried on to our camp for the night (Boulder Creek) and I took a detour up to the trailhead for Bobcat Lakes, hoping to squeeze in a nice day hike. The trail climbed up a ridge, past the first glacier lilies of the season (yes, I stopped for a snack) and, very quickly, into hip deep snow. I tried to slog a little further along, hoping for improvement, but alas, my movements slowed to a halt after 4km and I reversed back down the trail, drying out in the sun as I descended. Still in good spirits, I practically flew down the Scenic Byway to camp, giggling to myself the entire way.
A little snowier of a day hike than anticipated
June 11th, 2022
Look ma, no hands! It was one of those days where my bike and panniers were balanced just right and the terrain was mostly flat and rolling down hills. Belting out the lyrics to my current favourite playlist of songs, I think I danced more than I pedalled all the way down to Wise River. I could hear Amaya singing along to her own music as she coasted beside me the whole way.
Quick snack pit-stop in Wise River before we carried on to the Divide Bridge campground, arriving soaking wet from a warm, but torrential, downpour. More snacking and “story time”.
June 12th, 2022
The paradox of time. These kms felt both fast and slow as we rolled into Butte, with only one unintentional detour into the middle of a cow pasture. Once we navigated through Butte to our camp for the night, we eagerly did laundry and partook in the excellent shower facilities at the local KOA, though the actual tent site left something to be desired. A feast of tacos (with fresh veggies and mango!) had us sleeping like logs until a persistent Robin sang it’s little heart out directly next to our tent early the next morning.
Delicious fresh tacos
XOXO Heather