Maah Daah Hey 2019

 I took my first trip to the Maah Daah Hey Trail back in the spring of 99'. I didn't know until last summer that was about the time it officially opened,as I glanced through memorabilia displayed at the bike shop in Medora. At that time I was naive enough to think it had been there forever.  My wife's  friend Troy told us about it and the three of us were off to ride it over memorial weekend. The three of us made another trip the following year, and on the 3rd or 4th  trip my friend Chuck and I would ride the whole thing in a day, virtually unsupported, before the MDH 100 was a thing. It's been a solid 15 years since I had been there,so going back with my BFF Vandy to bike-pack from the north end to Medora was going to be an awesome homecoming of sorts.

break time

petrified wood

typical

 The two of us set out for our three day ride on the longest day of the year, June 21st. Daylight would be on our side for our 40ish miles per day with heavy bikes on beautiful and challenging single track. For the most part the weather was good, with the exception of some mid-day bursts of rain to make things interesting. Day one was from the CCC camp at the northern end of the trail to Magpie Campground. Having to go around the closed part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park wilderness on gravel roads was a real bore, but necessary for those on bikes. Once back on the trail it was all good. A very short burst of rain came in the early afternoon and with it, wheel clogging mud. We pushed on, cleaned wheels with sticks several times and were back riding about an hour.  With the long days we arrived at camp well before dark and had time to relax, meet some other riders doing the same route and have a nice camp fire before going to sleep.

mud...this shit sticks to everything

first night

from the helm 

   Day two was much the same as day one, an incredible ride through varying degrees of topography. One minute it's rolling prairie with nary a tree in site,the next is rugged descents down crumbing cliff-like clay typical of the badlands. On comes the steep climbs with thick jungle-like vegetation and trees blocking all views accept the one just before you leading to the next open vista. This goes on for hours and never really gets old. Day two was tough, and ended with a pretty good rain storm, thankfully the last few miles into camp were on trails covered in red scoria, keeping the wheels free of mud. Rolling into Wannagan I headed straight for the rest room, the only shelter anywhere in site, to wait out the rain. It didn't last long and we were able to set up tents and eat dinner sans rain, before enjoying a nice, but chilly sunset.

just finishing Devils Pass

this part is super awesome....crossing Little Missouri river.....I going to paddle this some time  

lots of gates like this to pass through

 Day three would be finishing up in Medora. Again we would have to avoid the National Park and it's wilderness restrictions, accept this time we could continue on single track of the Buffalo Gap trail. The Maah Daah Hey actual was incredible, but for some reason the Buffalo Gap really grabbed me in a couple sections. Wide open prairie with not a sign of human disturbance accept the one ribbon of dirt you are following, a partially clouded blue sky as big as can be, with a light breeze rustling the grass is the kind of place you consciously etch into your mind to enjoy at all later dates as a bench mark for your own personal nirvana. Yeah it was that good.

Second and last crossing of Little Mo

   As I rolled the last miles toward the finish I was already reflecting back at how awesome the ride was. This didn't last long,  just as I took my selfie by the final trail marker, a massive rain cloud was about to pummel me. I rode the last few paved miles to town in sideways rain coming down in sheets. Once in town, I changed clothes, ate a massive buffalo burger with my BFF and headed home.

There are like 50 more miles of trail to do after this point but our shuttle had us end in Medora

           

D Rider .........................................................out

Osier Figure 8

This has become a bit of a back woods icon for me 

 Just before fall started settling in, Labor day weekend specifically, I put together a sub-24 bike-packing route on the north shore. I had hoped for a small group to join in, but apparently most people like to hang out with their families, grill food or get things ready for school the following week.

Typical northshore gravel... serene 

Also typical MMR...lots of puddles to keep things interesting and the the tires clean 

 ArcFlash , being my best adventuring friend, would be my companion for the outing. The ride was typical northern Minnesota,consisting of seldom visited gravel and minimum maintenance roads. The section I was most intrigued by when scouting weeks before was the railroad grade, this is also where we camped.

Early morning...don't like to get up at this time but I had to piss 

not your average campsite

Being surrounded mostly by swamp and trapped by ditches on each side full of deep water, finding fire wood was tough. water was questionable too...the non-moving water had an iridescent sheen on it's surface. Not as much a concern, it was dark as coffee due to tannin....it tasted fine and we didn't get sick 

   I called it the Osier 8 because of the route's likeness to a figure 8, made possible by the rail section. The ride went without a hitch, AF and I settled into a moderate pace and chatted the miles away, stopping for scenery, food, and piss breaks. Our route finished with 80 miles, 15 of which were pavement that could have been eliminated had we called our wives for a shuttle.

smoooooth 

back on the roads

 This was a little hefty for a loaded Moon Lander and stock Krampus but made it a bit more of an accomplishment and didn't burden our wives. I'd like to expand on the route some and utilize more of the tracks but will plan for a different weekend next time.

scouting in July...much more comfortable on a full sus fat-bike

 D Rider ....................................out
 

Wind River Range

Texas Pass...Day 3

 It's been a solid fifteen years since I've set foot in the Winds. Although I only did two trips there the first one was truly life changing and set in motion the person I have become today.  I was young, 25, in over my head, naive, but completely swept away by what life was not giving me.....wild and sometimes dangerous adventure.

First night out...quiet, peaceful....except worrying about bears coming into camp (lots of hype at the gear shop in town...I was sold on the bear spray though)  

Camp spot at Texas Lake 

 I grew up pretty much outside all the time, with lots of camping trips and relatively tame outdoor endeavors so it wasn't a complete stretch. Bikes have always been my thing and naturally turned into mountain bike racing, lots of racing. One one such MTB racing trip, my soon to be wife and three other friends met up for a 5 day trip into the Wind River Range to climb Gannett Peak. Two years after that I was back for another 4 day jaunt and ended up at the Cirque of the Towers....been trying to get back there ever since.

Going up Texas Pass 

Typical 

some snow....in August 

Pingora just over G Mans right shoulder ....I want to get to the top of this 

   Not long after that comes three kids and life changes drastically. Since the only real way to enjoy the range is to walk in to the wilderness as far as time will allow, my wife and I have had to wait until the kids were old enough to carry their own stuff. Sure, we could have taken our boys there at a much younger age, carried all their gear in a few miles and let them throw rocks in a creek or lake for several days but I wanted them to do it clean, like a real back-packer, hauling all their own shit on a demanding route.

Best lunch spot to date 

Last night camp spot 

   Alas, the path of the solar eclipse was cutting across Wyoming, why not kill to very special birds with one stone, so the dates were set and we moved on it. Apparently lots of other people had a similar idea, when we arrived at the trail-head it looked more like the parking lot of an amusement park. I'm not exaggerating...there were cars everywhere along the road and in the ditches as well as any open space that would fit a vehicle. This seemed very strange considering the trail-head was quite remote, requiring about 1.5 hours of travel on gravel roads in various degrees of up-keep.  No matter... we still greatly enjoyed a four day trek mostly keeping to ourselves.

The beginning....clean and smelling good  

rest

the little dot in the saddle is me 

did someone fart?

fish watching

                    All of day three was especially incredible with a morning accent of Texas Pass, having lunch at  Lonesome Lake back-set by the Cirque of the Towers, up and over Jack-ass Pass and finally setting camp near the shore of Big Sandy Lake. I'm really looking forward to another trip within a shorter time frame now that were all pretty much set up and capable.


D Rider..........................out