P500 Another short Idaho ride...

[PNWGuy]

Girlfriend wanted to take a day trip to Elk River, Idaho, about 60 miles away, to check out the lake and get some famous huckleberry shakes.

Convinced her we should take the Pioneer and do a ride in the mountains up to a lookout tower I had seen while moose hunting there a few years ago but never got a close look at.

Drove to Elk River, then went another few miles out of town and parked near one of the thousands of logging roads in the area...

This part of Idaho is almost as wild as it gets. You can head East and not run into another paved road or town for 75 miles and into Montana...

I think it's a challenge for people from other parts of the country to appreciate just how vast the wilderness is out here.

Weather was nearly perfect at 74 degrees, light breeze, and sunny weather.

Spotted the tower within a half-mile of riding and then came upon a sign with handy reference map for the area and found the best route to the tower...

Road to the tower was good and only met a couple of other ATVers on the way up. Everyone we met smiled and waved.

Once at the tower, discovered that it was converted from a manned lookout tower to a cellular signal tower. There was an old log cabin on site that was built by hand using an axe. Amazing just how much physical labor went into building such a small and simple structure back then..

 

[Admin]

 

[PNWGuy]

Views from the tower site were breathtaking...

Made it back down the mountain and found the old moose hunting camp spot from a few years earlier, had a lunch of beef jerky and wine, and explored some more challenging ATV trails.

Hula girl endured it all like a champ...

Got back to the rig and loaded up and headed back into Elk River for dinner at one of the local bars. This is ATV country and they are everywhere.

Overall it was a nice and relaxing ride with only another 18 miles put on the odo.

 

[Cuoutdoors]

That's awesome I love riding in areas like that.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Backwoods]

That's nice liked your pics, we have nothing like that here. I would be wearing mine out in a place like that.

 

[gullyjumper]

You should listen to your girlfriend more often !

 

[PNWGuy]

That's nice liked your pics, we have nothing like that here. I would be wearing mine out in a place like that.

You could ride for hundreds of miles without ever seeing pavement or a house.

My girlfriend and I were stopped for lunch and I was pointing out the snow covered mountain peaks in the distance and told her that was Montana...

It then occurred to me that while I had a survival pack in the cargo box with the normal supplies like fire starter, first aid kit, extra jacket, etc, etc, that I didn't have an emergency shelter. I can buy a 2-man tent at WalMart that will fit in the box for under $20.

When you are that far out in the boonies, a higher level of preparedness is needed.

 

[Plumber32]

You could ride for hundreds of miles without ever seeing pavement or a house.

My girlfriend and I were stopped for lunch and I was pointing out the snow covered mountain peaks in the distance and told her that was Montana...

It then occurred to me that while I had a survival pack in the cargo box with the normal supplies like fire starter, first aid kit, extra jacket, etc, etc, that I didn't have an emergency shelter. I can buy a 2-man tent at WalMart that will fit in the box for under $20.

When you are that far out in the boonies, a higher level of preparedness is needed.

Is that all 50" trails?

 

[PNWGuy]

Not in this area. Most seem to be snowmobile trails and logging roads. Not too many narrow spots.

 

[papermaker]

Elk River had a ATV pocket run last May, I would guess that there was about 200 machines there. The run was mostly one way so you could go at your pace. I hope We can make it again this year.

 

[PNWGuy]

Elk River had a ATV pocket run last May, I would guess that there was about 200 machines there. The run was mostly one way so you could go at your pace. I hope We can make it again this year.

Friends of mine went on that last year in a brand new Razr. It ended up having to be towed back to the trailhead, lol.

I'll probably do that run this year, if for nothing more than the entertainment value of watching Lewiston people do stupid stuff to their machines and themselves, lol.

 

[papermaker]

One part of the trail had foliage right up to the side of the trail, we had to lean in to keep from getting hit by the branches. I would love to have watched some of the wide machines go through that part.

 

[1border4manu]

Thanks for sharing, would love to ride out west sometime.