Phil's Shots of Life: Adventure Ride, Tuesday, July 26th: Day 4

Up and at 'em boys, we're doin' Magruder today! The deer were gone, and it was time to break camp. A quick cup o' mush and I was ready to go. I also took a quick trip to the ranger station to fill up what water bottles we had...here's a pic of the Bitteroot river that morning...

After we broke camp, up the trail we went with Fud in the lead...

Fud and his Purple Beamer

at least we all THOUGHT he was in the lead. Scott took off second followed by me and Mike. This photo says it all...where's Fud?


Where's Fud?

Yeah, you probably don't see a pretty purple BMW there, do you? Neither did I...Scott rode like the wind (as usual) and didn't catch him. So either Fud was screamin' up the road, went OFF the road, or got lost. I was going pretty slow and didn't see any weird tracks going off the road, and there's no way Scott couldn't catch up with the Fudster. So he didn't go off the road and sure didn't grow wings fast enough to outrun the Bumblebee (Scott's yellow Husky). That leaves a lost Fud. We waited about half an hour...and sure as shit... he finally shows up and we got the whole story..

Figuring out what Fud did at the Lookout

Fud went back the way we came! He went a few miles down the road and started to worry when he didn't hear our bikes anymore. Out came the GPS for the second time...and of course, it says he's on Magrudor Corridor! Now he's really confused...thank god a couple was driving around up there and saw us looking for Fud. They came up on him and pointed him in the right direction...poor guy!

The Lookout

Now regrouped, we came up with a new rule: Fud is not to Lead. Off we went again. I was a little worried when I came across this snow....but it was still passable...

Fud rounding the corner

A view of what's to come

I came scottin' around a corner....and BAM! There's two 4-wheelers! These guys were packed to ride, and it turns out they had been to Elk City and were now coming back...wahoo! We were thrilled to find out we could make it all the way. I've never seen Mike so excited...he gave the double hand-pump and a 'YES!'. He was so happy with these two geezers he had to take a pic...

Don... and ...forgot his name...

A view of Burnt Knob: the highest peak at over 8000 ft

Stopped for lunch

This lunch stop was actually a camp site...beautiful, right? Next time I go, I want to camp here...imagine the stars from here!

The lunch outlook

Continuing on, we soon made it up the rocky section to the highest part of the road where we found this dude...on an '07 KLR...by himself...on a road that was declared closed...with his gear being held on by 2 screws (the other two broke on the way UP the road). Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed...it just didn't sound like a smart thing to be doing alone. Notice the 3-foot snow drift lingering!?

'07 KLR guy

Lookout at the top

I wish I would have stopped to get the pics of the snow drifts we had to go through. They really weren't that bad as long you kept your momentum. There were really only 3 drifts, one of which had a 8" path cut out of the drift on the shoulder...THAT puckered my butt a bit! There were quite a few downed trees, most of which were small enough to ride over, but there were a few large downed trees we had to duck under. There must have been one hell of a storm this winter, because one of these trees was 3 feet in diameter! Fud almost ended up going over the edge after exiting sideways from under one of these trees and goosin' it a bit too much...but thank god he didn't. It was a long way down!

A few of the smaller 'twigs' on the road

All catastrophes averted, we finally got to the smoother part of the road...

The Fud rippin' it up!

Fud was TOTALLY ready for the hot springs in Red River. Once he saw this sign he was looking for the trail up the mountain...this is him saying 'We wanna go THAT way! It says Hot Springs, THAT WAY!'...Fud cracks me up...

Fud pointing the way...tunnel vision, baby!

We decided to ride into the metropolis of Elk City to have a much-deserved bite to eat and fill up the tanks on the hogs. The first place we saw with gas also had a diner, which we decided to try out. Good thing too, because it's the ONLY place to eat! While there, I saw some of the most colorful locals I've ever laid eyes on. I didn't take any pictures in fear of...who knows what. The BLT was great though!

Riding through the rest of town resulted in the realization that the diner had the ONLY gas in Elk City, and it was almost $4 a gallon. After filling up and visiting the local grocery store, we headed out to the hot springs...

On the way we saw a few GIANT elk...I only saw the butt of one...a very BIG butt! And here we are...Red River Hot Springs...

Red River Hot Springs Lodge

Our Palace...

Inside the palace

and yes...that's a propane light on the wood wall...

Inside the Palace

There was no power, no running water, sheets were $10 extra (per set) and a Honey Bucket was our bathroom...and it was about $60 a night. Crazy, right? Needless to say, I don't think I'll be going back. And that was OUR cabin...here's Fud's $75/night digs...