Montana - Rock Creek/Sapphire Century?

[sunset1123]

Looking to put together a 100-miler mixed surface century on what looks to be a promising route out of Missoula, up into the hills above Clifton, down Rock Creek, then across the Sapphire Mountains east to west, then returning to Missoula via either the Lolo Trail along Hwy 93, or by connecting with the network of forest roads in the Miller Peak/Miller Creek Drainage.

The idea is to have some paved road, some forest road, some trail, some hike a bike, at least one stream crossing, and a significant (~10,000 feet) amount of climbing.

So far so good, but I can't find any info on a possible crossing of the Sapphires north of Skalkaho Hwy. The satellite maps seem to show some forest roads and trails up around Troutcreek that look like they might go through the mountains and hook up in the area of Burnt Fork Rd. east of Stephensville. This would be ideal, if it was passable, and not on private property.

This mock-up http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=64043, made with veloroutes, it is just a vague idea, but shows the general idea.

Anyone with any info on this area?

[caseygreene]

Man, one of my goals last summer was to find a route from Rock Creek over the Sapphires. But, I never got around to it. Hopefully this Summer

One route i was looking at was Lolo NFS Trail 233, which sits just north of the route you've got laid out, between Cinnamon Bear Creek and Wahlquest Creek. It will dump you out at Cinnamon Bear Saddle. From there you could hop down to Ambrose Saddle and be back on your route.

Couple other thoughts:
-If you did not want to do the dirt climbing btwn Clinton and Rock Creek (not that scenic) you can take E Mullan Rd till it dead ends then hop the fence and ride the dirt tract to Rock Creek along the south side of the Clark Fork.
-Along US93 there is a bike path from Florence to Lolo.
-Riding 93 from Lolo to Missoula sucks. Heavy 4-lane traffic smallish shoulder. Although its not that far. Something like 8ish miles.
-If your going to ride into Miller Creek take this route: Eightmile Saddle to S&G Saddle to Yukon Saddle to Holloman Saddle.
-Food Services in Clinton, jct of Rock Creek Rd and Int 90, and Florence. Best breakfast around at the Stage Station Restaraunt on Rock Creek Rd
-For navigation in this area I use my gps, Lolo NF map, and The Beartooth Pub map: http://www.beartoothpublishing.com/missoula.php

Should be awesome

[sunset1123]

It should indeed be awesome. Thanks for the map link and the great info. I've been refining my route to include as little pavement as possible, including the bike path. Agreed, 93 from Lolo to Missoula is 'less than ideal.' I think the return on forest roads popping out on Miller Creek road sounds much better. Is the climb up above Clinton not worth it? Seemed like a good way to get the juices flowing and "into the mountains" at an earlier point in the ride. Good to know there is an alternative though.

Looking to do this as a light and reasonably relaxed two day, 100 mile trip, camping in the mountains, and back to Missoula in the afternoon the next day. I may try to generate some interest and make it a group ride. Thinking a weekend in late June or early July to give the snow and mud a chance to clear off the high bits.

[sunset1123]

This ought to do:




80 miles, ~10,000 feet of climbing, almost all dirt. One minor concern. I couldn't clearly make out if/where the routes above Welcome Creek cross into the Wilderness Boundary. Is this a concern? No mechanized travel? Does it count if we hike a bike?

Only other plausible alternative looks to be getting out of the mountains further south, hooking up with Eastside Hwy and riding to Florence.

[DaveC]

I'd be interested in coming along on this trip.  I'm also pretty sure you do a route from Miller over Hollowman and then over another pass into Rock Creek directly.  You could also ride out Rattlesnake, over the pass by Sheep, down Gold Creek into the Potomac Valley, and then over the hills into Clinton the back way.

The highway from Lolo isn't that bad.

[sunset1123]

Yeah... checking the maps more closely, it looks like this route goes through the Welcome Creek Wilderness... so... no bikes.

So it looks like :

1. You could go far enough south to pick up FSR 102/FST 233 to Cinnamon Bear Saddle. It doesn't look like there is a legal route north of Threemile, though. I suppose the real issue here is wanting to come back entirely in the mountains, trying to hook it up with Miller Creek, rather than on the highway. It would be easy enough to just ride out of Ambrose Saddle to Florence and come back that way.

vs.

2. Branch off of Rock Creek at Valley of the Moon Rd. following forest roads up the Gilbert Creek drainage and hook up with Miller Creek via Eightmile. That is a very straightforward route. Unfortunately, it is also much shorter and doesn't really accomplish the objective of route-finding across the Sapphires that inspired this idea.


In short, it doesn't appear that there is a legal mountain bike route running south to north along the western edge of the Welcome Creek wilderness. That is according to my maps and satellite imagery though. I would love to hear otherwise though. This is the crux of the route right here, hemmed in by wilderness on one side, and impassable topography on the other.

I do find it frustrating that there is a boundary road completely circumnavigating the wilderness that is marked as off limits. IMO, if you are the forest service and want people to respect the wilderness, you should not purposefully make it impossible to navigate around.

[sunset1123]

I was successful in plotting a course from Missoula to Rock Creek, just south of the Welcome Creek Wilderness by Cinnamon Bear, through the mountains to Ambrose Saddle, and then north to Miller Creek and back to Missoula. The route is legal and navigable on a mix of forest roads, 4wd tracks, and NF trails.

The problem is that unlike the illegal routes, which run south to north along the spine of the mountains without much elevation change, the legal route has to cross 4 very steep drainages. These 4 climbs are brutal. 1200 feet to 2000 feet of climbing in 5 miles or less... and then again, and again, and again. 16,000 vertical feet in 115 miles, with most of this in just 50% of the ride. This is not a ride I would want to do in 2 days. But here are the tracks just to post the result of this most recent obsession.


Route overview:



Detail of climbing through all the drainages:



Rough virtual gps track created with Topofusion

http://sites.google.com/site/mcovel01/track7.gpx


Some very steep terrain here. So, the alternative has the ride going out of Ambrose saddle, hooking up with Eastside Hwy and into Florence, then back to Missoula along the Hwy. This would still be a great ride.

I don't know, maybe I should wait until I see how spring training goes to get my climbing form back... but right now, a STEEP 2000 foot climb at the end of one day, followed by 6000 vertical feet of STEEP climbing the next day just doesn't seem all that appealing, and I generally like to climb. Maybe I'm just a wuss.

[caseygreene]

This looks great. I might be interested as well.

The only thing to watch out for is navigating on those Forest Service Roads. I would pack a GPS fo sure.

[mr cowboy]

Looks interesting. I grew up in and near Missoula. Depending on when you go I might be interested in riding along if you are looking for ride buddies.

[Paco]

Hey, I'm down in Hamilton and I just ran into this post.  Did you have any luck linking Rock Creek and Miller Creek?  I've been looking at some shorter routes that pop over Eight Mile, but your trip sounds interesting.  I'd love to hear about it.

[sunset1123]

I did not actually manage to do this trip last year, even though I really wanted to. Late thaw, and life getting in the way and all. We'll see how this season goes. Got to get back in cycling shape from the winter hibernation. I did some scouting around last year though and wasn't able to determine a way to avoid the Welcome Creek wilderness area. I would love to able to keep the route both legal and mostly ridable. There seems to be a shortage of clear routes heading north along the western edge of the wilderness area between Cinnabar Saddle and Eightmile Saddle around Cleveland Mountain, and some precipitous terrain as well. I'm seeing what look like dirt tracks on satellite imagery, but does anyone with any more detailed knowledge of that particular area?

[Paco]

Hey, just a thought, but on that original route that cuts through the Wilderness, you could always just pack the bike.  See this thread for some guys that strung together a trips and did the same thing: http://forums.mtbr.com/bikepacking-bike-expedition/lightweight-touring-410393.html  They just pulled the ires off, strapped the frame to thier backpack and hike 10 miles to get through the Wilderness section.  Just a thought.

[caseygreene]

I see where your coming from, but Welcome Creek is so small it seem like there should be some way to ride around it. Maybe we could get a crew to get out there as soon as the high snows leave the Sapphires.

I did talk to one of the caretakers of the ranch up Valley of the Moon and she told me her husband hikes numerous trails in the area that aren't official and not in the wilderness. Could be a northern link. Valley of the Moon is directly down drainage from 8-mile Saddle.

Although i dont really mind foot travel ether 


 

[KenSmithMT]

Hello - If you saw some earlier posts, I apologize for the confusion.  I posted some links that did not work.  - Anyway, saw what you were doing.  I've been looking for a similar loop.  I have a 50 mile loop I'll post later.  This is a link to a ~80 mile route from Missoula to the Skalkaho Highway.  It might help with your search.  It has a GPX and KML file in it.  I'll add more files as I get them converted.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ih03gkk2aeabf1e/znlnp78GnN

[KenSmithMT]

Just added the ~50 mile loop from Missoula, Up Pattee, South into the Sapphires and down into Turah.  Same link as before.

[intheways]

Sounds like a great ride!  I used to ride my KLR through a lot of those areas when I lived in Missoula.  I never got around to doing it on my bike.

Maybe next time I visit the in-laws...hmmm

[caseygreene]

Good looking route. Have you riden it? Would be stoked to hear that those trails exist and are rideable.

[KenSmithMT]

Sorry...spaced out responding.  I have not ridden all of the route.  It all does exist and is all rideable.  I've pieced it together from other riders beta, maps and google earth.  The biggest question seems to be blow down.  It can vary so much from year to year.