July 18 - Day 23

Red Rock RV park to Squirrel Elk Ranch RV park, 57 miles,  Avg speed 9.5 mph

As we know there is a resort only 10 miles up the road (Sawtelle), we decide to get up early (6.30), skip making our own breakfast and head out as soon as we get packed up. Consequently, we set a new record for packing up and being on the road – 40 minutes! It normally takes anything from an hour to two hours.

After a few miles on paved road, the route takes a twist back onto single track, which after a mile we find is closed, due to a fun run being held on it. We decide to ignore the closed locked gate and haul the bikes around. The trail has a lot of cows on it and not surprisingly, a lot of cow poop. Despite taking the utmost care to avoid the cowpats, Numb Stuff still manages to get himself splattered.

Eventually, the trail hits a road and it is a wonderful 2 mile coast down the road to the Island Park Timber Trek Family restaurant, as sniffed out by Numb Stuff. This place has the best breakfasts, well worth the 10 mile ride! Dirtbaby was so happy with hers, that she even took the leftovers for lunch. No leftovers for Numb Stuff though.

We decide, since it is a flattish ride today, we will buy a bottle of wine to liven up the dehydrated evening meal, so pop over to the Chevron grocery store to pick one up. Funny how Dirtbaby’s panniers always say yes to wine and beer but no to the four pound tool kit!

Today, most of the official route is down an old railroad trail. We know from the guide book that this trail has extremely soft volcanic sand which is difficult to cycle through, so we cut off a bit of the official route by taking the highway 20 for a few miles then rejoin the gravel road that runs right next to the official route. Even this has soft sand and washboard ruts so that it is hard to make any progress. Sherman (Dirtbaby’s bike) decides he can ski downhill – great fun!

We initially thought we would stop at Warm River campground but somehow we take the wrong turn and end up slightly past it. We do however, cross Warm River itself and stop for a few moments to refresh our feet, chat to folks from New Jersey, and marvel at the number of fat trout in the river. If only Numb Stuff had a rod in the BOB trailer!

There is an unwritten rule between Numb Stuff and Dirtbaby – we never go back (unless we’ve forgotten something or it’s an emergency) so we decide to move on another 12 miles to the Squirrel Creek Elk ranch RV park. Although the road is paved, there is a healthy old headwind working against us. Not only is this draining physically but it is also very drying, and leaves your lips and face burning.

The terrain after Warm River changes dramatically, all of a sudden we are surrounded by potatoes and wheat. We pass by a farm with a teeny Shetland pony and its foal which is just so cute we have to stop and take its photo.

Eventually we reach Squirrel Creek, where we receive a warm welcome, a shower, internet access and an evening meal for the night. Two brothers, Larry and Lynn were born and raised on this property, their parents moved here from Nebraska.

They are so interesting to talk to, about how life has changed over the last 70 years, living on a ranch in Idaho. Larry makes an ace chicken sandwich and cheeseburger!  We all sat at the dining room table and had dinner together…

PS We are currently using only one spot tracker at a time, to try and conserve lithium battery power. We are currently using Numb Stuff’s battery until that runs out, then Dirtbaby’s.