Below is a ride report that I posted on ADVrider.com. I want to add a Tiger specific note to you folks. GET OUT AND PLAY IN THE DIRT! The Tiger is fantastic in the dirt. While not as fast in the technical stuff as the KTM, it sure is better than the BMW GS and VERY capable of some seriously rough terrain. Dad had the Continental knobbies on his Tiger and I am still running Tourances. Despite popular opinion, the Tourances are actually fantastic in all but mud.
Enjoy...... (I hope it posts well)
This weekend was Butch Freeman's annual Labor Day DS ride around central Idaho. He has done this trip now every year since 1968. Some of the attendees have made EVERY trip. This group goes waaaaaaaay back. The ride is always awesome. My father and I have joined him now twice. The first time 3 years ago I rode a borrowed KTM LC4 and it really wet my taste buds for dual sporting. Now, with our Tigers, we are going again.
Here we are staging at Butch's garage getting ready to leave. Butch is riding a new KTM 950 Adventure S, Dad and I on Tigers, most of the rest on various years of KLR's.
Butch and his shiny GO!!!!!! bike.
Leaving Eagle Idaho, we wandered up through Emmett, Sweet, Ola and into the hills. This trip is almost entirely on dirt roads. 75% of the roads in Idaho are not paved. Most of the ones we took were not technical, but then, the few that were......
We ran into the first "opportunity" just up on the Wieser river. It seems they decided to rebuild a bridge, and the pumper truck was blocking the road. There is no bridge at the time, but the water crossing looked easy.
Butch, being our fearless leader, went first. He was such a gracious leader, that he chose to point out the ONLY large rock in the stream. My father, and one of the construction guys helped drag the KTM out of the drink.
After helping Butch out, my father demonstrates that the Tiger is not afraid of the water.
Looking down on cascade lake. We should have not seen this, but Rocky took a wrong turn.
And a sign of things to come. Ernie demonstrates the proper method for clering the dust out of your mouth.
This is north of McCall, heading down French Creek to the main Salmon river. Many of you have heard of it. It is called the river of no return.
So what do you do after fishing for KTM's? BBQ dry your socks, of course. Here is dad drying his.
Day 2, looking off towards Elk City.
Signs of a bygone era. Old buildings in Dixie, Idaho. An old mining town that ironicly, our ride leader used to live in as a child while his father worked the mines.
The restraunt in Dixie treated us well. These massive things were called the "Beaver Burger". One of the single best burgers I have had the pleasure of eating. That is two huge patties, a SLAB of ham and two healthy (sic) slices of bacon. Yum.
After we left Dixie, we headed for the Magruder Corridor. It is a single dirt road that runs in between two wilderness areas in between Elk City, Idaho and Darby, Montana. If you ever get the chance, ride it. Here are a few random shots. Yes, it rained. Yes, it actually snowed.
Camp number 2 was on the Selway river. Where the river was not much more than a creek. Sometimes it really blows my mind that we can pack all this crap on our bikes, and still ride in the dirt.
Saturday morning dawned fairly gloomy, but not too cold. This ride had shown it's need for heated clothing pretty much since the start. Gerbing kept my father and I plenty toasty while riding.
These are on the way towards, and into Shoup, Idaho. Back down on the main Salmon river again, just alot farther upstream than night number one.
Note the antique glass fuel pumps in Shoup. Now, notice that THEY ARE STILL IN USE! I have never seen this before.
We left shoup, and traveled through Cobalt Idaho, which there is really nothing left of but some old relics.
Making the decent into Chalis, Idaho for fuel and beer (of course).
Trying to take an action shot on the road, a bee finds the lense.... icky icky icky.
After fuel we head up the Custer Road from Chalis to Custer Idaho, home of the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge. A photo of that later.
A beautiful campsite is found. But the weather does not cooperate and drops into the low 20's/high teens Saturday night. And stupid Sasquatch (yes, me) brings a "summer" rated sleeping bag. I froze my Sicilian Na-na's off.
Good friends, telling lies. It just don't get any better..
Dad trying to get the feeling back into his hands this morning.... It was COLD!
Morning breaks in the Idaho mountains. I love living here.
Custer, Idaho. Pretty much just a museum now of the mining days of yester-year. Peacfull at 8am.
Here is the Yankee Fork gold dredge. How these behomiths worked is they would anchor themselves in a creek bed and dig up all the earth around them in front, procees it all internally, keep the ore, and spit the "tailings" out the back. They would then pull themselves forward into the newly dug hole, and do it all again. Many valleys in Idaho were mined this way. The evidence of this is the whole valley filled with piles of rocks from side to side.
Gathering on a ridge top on our way towards SeaFoam. Don't ask me where that name came from. We are about 800 miles from the ocean... The scenery on this section is just stunning, so I am going to shut up now so you can enjoy the sights. I do want to comment that the road was much tougher than it looks in the photos. Why does that happen that way?
Dad (left) and I.
That is it. After decending from that mountian, dad and I split off and headed home a day early. I had been gone much of the summer and I really wanted to spend a quiet Monday home with the wife before returning to work on Tuesday.
Ride Idaho, you'll like it.
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