Sunday, September 13, 2020
We woke up Sunday morning to smoke in the hills. The fires had caught up with us. We got our breakfast together and packed everything up. The newspaper in the boots worked like a charm for Tim – his boots were dry in the morning. We got away about 9:25am. When we went through Yellow Pine again, Dave stopped to get his boots from Willy's dryer and we filled up our dromedary bags because we weren't sure where we'd be camping this night. Hopefully around Riggins.
We rode along Profile Creek and eventually through Profile Gap at around 7,500 feet. As most of the week went, it was rather cool in the mornings so we'd layer up and then shed as the day got warmer. We passed the airstrip at Big Creek and then began the uphill climb to Elk Summit which is at 8,670 feet. We stopped for a bit to shed some layers
since we were also in the sunlight a bit, that is, what sunlight that could get through the smoke. I lost one of my earplugs up there, which since they're gray and the dirt is the same color, it's not hard to do. Fortunately I had a spare. We then started the switchbacks down from the summit. The ride passed many a pretty meadow and the
road widened as well, making our progress pretty quick. We stopped at the Elk Creek Cemetary which is right on the road
coming down from Elk Summit. It's a small cemetary with only about eight graves, but the sign listing who's buried describes the hard life of living in the mountains back then. We arrived at Warren around noon and had a great lunch at the Baum Shelter where I had a burger and some tater tots, Dave had a salad, and I forget what Tim ate. Tim chatted with one of the locals and found that there are only 12 year round residents and that in the winter it's accessible only by snowmobile. They also get supplies by airplane occasionally.
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
