Terrain Distance: 28.96 miles *edited 9/24/06
Climbing Distance: 52,897 feet *edited 9/24/06

The ride starts at the Lumberjack Tavern just 1.5 miles off route 12 on Grave Creek Road. Today it was raining and cold. By the time I got to route 12 to go north to Howard Creek Road, I was about to turn around. Here in Montana you wake up and see what season it is. I kept on. I reached a right hand turn onto Howard Creek Road. The sun popped out and it semed as though things would be better. I took off my fleece and gloves and started to climb. This rout follows the road for quite a while untill after some steeper climbing you come to a 5 way junction. There are no signs. I took a right and continued up the ridge. Stay on this route and climb. There are no views. It seemed as though I came to the top of a mountain but still now views.

It had started to snow and the cround started to get covered. Take the obvious downhill. Now it is raining on this side and I get covered in muddy grit.

Suddenly you begin to climb and climb. Now views start to become more obvious. Ride the entire ridge staying on the most obvious road. The views of the Bitteroots and the Selway are awesome. Then the downhill starts and dosent let up untill you reach the Grave Creek Road. The downhill is fast, dusty, lose at times but fun. Plenty of turns, berms, and some air possabilities. Continue back to the tavern which is only a few more miles down the road. The best part was the tavern. I checked it out and the people inside were nice and talkative. We discussed the route over a Moose Drool. Plenty of fun. I would do this ride again and it is perfect for a trainging ride.