Month: June 2016

Wilderness Journeys

The Dead Horse Ridge Trail is out of Fall Creek near Swan Valley, Idaho. This trail is in the same area as our Rash Canyon article we posted previously.  Dead Horse Ridge is one of the prettier rides out of this area. Several different views encompass this ride. It is about a 16 mile loop that takes you through lush forests, fields of wildflowers, a high ridge with a beautiful 360 degree overlook, and creek crossings. When you get to the ridge there will be plenty of photo opportunities. We got a lot of great shots with the Olympus Tough Camera and even got some videos with the Go Pro.

The Dead Horse Ridge trail to South Fork Fall Creek is an easy trail to follow and is well-marked. It starts off as a two-track trail that is opened to ATV’s and dirt bikes. At about 4 miles into the trail a little gate will prevent ATV’s from entering. The trail here turns into a single track where dirt bikes are still allowed. This loop has a lot of climb which is great for getting horses in shape, but can also be tough on them if they are still coming back from their winter vacation. There are also spots as the trail winds through the forest where it becomes very rutty from the dirt bikes and can also be very muddy and slick. When we did this trail it had just rained the night before so the inclines through the forest were quite slick and the horses had to really power up it and at times they would lose their footing and their feet would slip out from underneath. Be careful heading through these parts, we sometimes got off the horses because it was easier and safer to just walk up the muddy parts.

At 8.4 miles you will come to a sign on a tree to the left of the trail. The trail splits here giving you the option of going up to Red Ridge to the left, we cut down to the right staying on Dead Horse Ridge Trail, 267. You could make your ride a little longer and go up Red Ridge, it will loop around and eventually intersect back into Dead Horse Ridge, however we have heard that is not the best trail and not very well maintained. Once you make this turn onto trail number 267 the trail starts to descend into a forest of Aspen trees. It switch back down through the forest and you will be going over some bridges.

At 8.7 miles you finish the switchbacks through the forest and come to a big four-way intersection with a big sign on a tree telling you your options. We turned right onto trail #30 which is the South Fork Fall Creek Trail. You will also see the trail where Red Ridge intersects back with The Horse Ridge Trail. Once on the South Fork trail, the trail meanders through the lush green forest with wildflowers and there are now plenty of opportunities for you horses to drink as the South Fork Creek is trickling to your left. You will be crossing over some bridges at this point too.

At 11.5 miles you will be approaching another small gate where you will be entering the land where ATV’s are allowed. Shortly after this gate the trail turns from a single track back into a two-track trail. You will also come to a junction. We continued on to the right to head back to the trailhead, but the trail also goes to the left heading towards Rash Canyon which is the trail we came out on in our last article. You have about 3.5 miles left on this trail before you come to another metal gate that needs opening. Once you head through this gate before long  you will be approaching the South Fork Fall Creek Trailhead. Once you reach the trailhead continue on down the road and you will reach the main gravel road you drove in on. Turn right and you will travel along this road for about 3/4 of a mile before you reach your vehicle.

Products We Use

Maggie’s fanny pack has gotten progressively bigger and bigger over the years as she tries to cram more and more stuff into it. It started out as a place to carry just her camera but has evolved to so much more. When riding horseback it is important to keep your most prized possessions on the rider in case of emergencies. Such things like getting bucked off from your horse and then having your horse take off can result in a loss of essential items, items that can help you in case of an emergency.

Maggie currently uses a larger fanny pak by Outdoor Products. This pack was gift and Maggie joked that it was way too big and she thought she wouldn’t need one this large. WELL, it is now filled up and has  become very useful.   It has three compartments and a secure place for keys and the a hook for the GoPro.  If you are looking for a smaller pack she previously used one by  Kelty.

Items Carried in the Fanny Pack

Olympus Tough Camera

Go Pro

Gorilla Tripod: This is a necessity for us out on the trail. We just fix this to the bottom of our camera and it will either wrap around a tree, post, or stand on a rock so that we can get those important group photos and get everyone in the picture.

 Bear Spray

Riding Gloves

Truck & Trailer Keys

Cellphone

Sunglasses

Chapstick

Hair Pick

Kleenex

Sunscreen

Aloe Vera lotion

Hair Ties

Gum

Protein Bars

 

 

 

Wilderness Journeys

Rash Canyon is out of the Fall Creek area just before Swan Valley, Idaho. There are numerous trail heads out of this area and some trails are better than others. This trail which starts out at Rash Canyon and loops around into South Fork Fall Creek, isn’t one of our most favorite rides because you are basically stuck on a two-track dirt road the entire way and also stuck in a canyon so you don’t get much of that high view overlook. We did still manage to get some good photos with the Olympus Tough.

It is a good trail however for getting your horses in shape and conditioned. The whole area of Fall Creek is very populated mostly by motorized vehicles. We definitely don’t recommend coming here on a weekend, as you will run into more motorized vehicles than you wish. There is also a lot of opportunity to camp along the way. There are several spots just off the dirt road where you can pull over and camp. There are also a few spots off by some of the trailheads if you want more of a secluded camping experience. We also ran into a few camping spots along the trail so if you want to pack in and camp that is also a possibility.

Finding the Rash Canyon Trailhead

From Idaho Falls, ID:  Follow US 26 towards Swan Valley for about 30 miles. Just before you cross the bridge over the Snake River, you will see a road to the right titled NF-058 this is a paved road for about a mile and will take you past a boat ramp. This part of the road is relatively wide, but be careful as you will most likely encounter a few big rigs on this road. In a little over a mile you will come to a fork in the road, continue right onto Fall Creek road. This turns into a narrow dirt road with some turn outs along the way in case you run into a larger vehicle. Sometimes cattle semis are seen on this road. Follow this dirt road for about 5-6 miles until you come to a sign on your left that says Rash Canyon.

As you pull onto this short road be careful it is steep, rutty, and rocky. We went over the cattle guard and parked in the grassy area on the right.  If you would prefer, you can find a place to park off the road on the other side, but you will have to ride across the road and then open a gate.

Rash Canyon Trail Description

Follow the two-track dirt trail. In about 3 miles into the trail you will come to a junction with a possibility of continuing straight or going to the right or to the left. If you continue straight you will be on the road that will loop you into South Fork Fall Creek.

We decided to take a little back country way because that is the way that Amy programmed it on the Suunto Ambit 2 Watch. So we headed to the right up trail 262 even though there is a sign in a tree once you turn onto this trail pointing the way to South Fork Fall Creek. In less than a mile you will come to another junction and turn on the road to the left. Shortly you will see an unmarked trail to your right that doesn’t look very well-kept, you need to take this trail. We ended up missing this and taking a trail just down the road that had a marker on it that says no motorized vehicles. This trail is a dead-end and we advise you not to take it. If you take the correct trail, you will immediately find a little cow trail to the right.  Take this and you will intersect with the South Fork Trail. Take a right once the trail intersects. We saw deer on this trail.

Once  you are on the South Fork trail, you will hear and see the creek to your right. There were some mallard ducks resting in this creek and also some big fish swimming past.

As you continue on this trail, you will see a sign that points to Lightning Ridge. It was pretty fitting at this time as we started to hear thunder at this moment. Luckily we didn’t get rained on. Keep on the road, and soon you will come to a junction where the South Fork trail splits. Turn left and you will be on your final leg back to the truck. We crossed the creek several times here and there were many opportunities for the horses to get drinks.

When you reach the end of the South Fork trail you will come to a giant turn around parking area. You will be coming out on trail marker 30. The truck is not parked here so follow your way out on the road and turn left on the gravel road you drove in from. Follow the gravel road for about 1.5 miles until you see that sign again for Rash Canyon.  The down fall here is, this road can be busy with traffic so be careful .

Once you turn down the road to Rash Canyon you will come to that cattle guard you drove over. There is very tight barbed wire gate around the fence corner to the right, but we decided to just go grab the truck and drive it over the cattle guard and unsaddled there. It was a lot easier than messing with that gate.

Trail Map

**Reminder: If you have the Suunto Ambit watch you can import all of the maps we provide of our journeys onto the watch and have your own personal guide telling you where to head on the trail 🙂

Wilderness Journeys

Let the fun begin! This was our first ride of our 2016 summer! We started this ride with every intention of doing a loop. However, things didn’t go exactly according to plan and we ended up exploring the area instead. Sometimes it is just fun to roam around  and see what’s out there.


As we continued back toward the trailhead, we decided to ride up the trail that we had actually planned to take before we got a bit distracted. We didn’t go very far on this trail because it was getting late. We will come back and make the original loop we had planned another time.  We came across some timber on this trail that we helped make horse safe with our little hand saw.   When we got back to the trailhead we looked at the map located on the sign and found that this trail did loop back into S. Fork Rainy Creek Trail.  So until next time!

Getting to the Trailhead

From Swan Valley, Idaho: Follow HWY 26 into Swan Valley Idaho. Once in Swan Valley, turn left onto Rainy Creek Road. Follow this road until you come to a T in the road. Turn left to continue onto Rainy Creek Road. Follow that dirt road all the way to the end, where you will come to a large turn around. The dirt road in was a good road, pretty wide and smooth so it is easy to get a bigger rig to the trailhead. There were some beautiful longhorn cattle in a pasture to the right as we headed up the road.


Trail Map: Created using the Suunto watch

Wilderness Journeys

One day and counting until our school year ends and we are officially out on the trail for the summer. We have a lot of fun planned for this summer and thought with it being such a beautiful day today that we would take the horses out for a ride. We went to Stinking Springs, which is a trail not far from where we live in Idaho. It is a great trail to get the horses muscled up for the long hard rides we will soon be doing. The elevation on this ride is also lower putting us at about 6,800 feet when we reach the top, which means we won’t run into any snow packs. Right now that is the one thing keeping us from those high mountain rides. The snow in the higher elevations won’t melt until mid to late June. This restricts our riding a bit, however we won’t let it stop us.

The Stinking Springs trail is located on the way to Kelly Canyon Ski Resort near Ririe, Idaho. We went on an 8 mile ride today, however the trail offers options to make this a shorter or longer ride depending on your needs. This trail is heavily populated by motorbikes and four wheelers. Since it was Memorial Day weekend there were a lot of these motorized vehicles out and about which can get in the way of riding especially when you are having to pull off the trail every so often to let them by.

The parking lot for Stinking Springs is a nice size, that makes it easy for parking a trailer. From the parking lot, cross the road where you will find a cattle guard and gate. Once through the gate there is one main trail that takes you to the top, or you can take a trail to the right. We will do a write-up on that trail on another post.   There are also several cow trails, since cattle often roam the area. Sometimes we go off and explore these trails, however today we stuck to the main one. The main trail we took this day is a two-track trail all the way. It is basically a steady incline to the top getting steeper the higher you go. Also towards the top you will find a lot of rocky switchbacks. There were also spots where the trail was rutty and washed away.  We have seen, snakes here a few times including Rattle Snakes, so if you ride this trail, just beware.

 

Once at the top  of the switch backs, you get a pretty good view of the town of Ririe Idaho, beautiful farm land and the Snake River.   You  can see quite a ways off into the distance. The weather at the top can also change fairly quickly. It was warm and tank top weather on the journey up, then once we reached the top the wind kicked in and we threw on some coats. The weather in this area in general can change in an instance. We have done this trail numerous times and have started out with perfect weather only for it to change in an instant. We have gotten caught in some pretty bad rainstorms here.

After you take the time to enjoy the view here, there is still some more climb up on a very rocky trail.

Once at the top of this trail, carry on for a moment and you will come to an intersection with basically two different options. You can either go to the left or the right. There is a trail in the middle but it joins up with the trail to the right in a short while. Here is a chance for you to have some fun and explore. You can’t go wrong either way!

We chose the trail to the right. It takes you through a forest, Aspen filled area. Eventually you will come to a barbwire gate. This gate was tight and was quite difficult to get closed. However we persevered and between the two of us got it closed. There are cattle up there and so it is very important to get those gates closed.  Once through the gate the trail splits again and we ventured to the right for a bit before turning around and making our way back down.


How to Get to Stinking Springs

From Idaho Falls, ID:  Head east on US-26 for 19 miles. Then turn left onto N 160 E. You should see signs on the highway pointing you to Kelly Canyon Ski resort. Follow this road for about 1.3 miles then turn right onto E 100 N/Heise Rd. Then take slight left onto N 5050 E and then turn right onto E. Heise Road. Continue driving on this road for about 2.3 miles. You will see a split in the road and you will want to veer to the right to continue onto E. Heise Road. Follow this for about 2 miles where you will come to a parking lot on the right with a big red ramp. This is where we park.