Day Five Riding - Gunsight Pass
Miles: 77 miles
In the last three days we had ridden many miles, and spent long hours in the saddle so we thought we might do something a little different for Day 5. Long past 7:00, we drove down to the Ranger Station in Pinedale with the idea to check the status of the fire and confirm that we could ride north of the Jackson area. Its sad to say but they were completely useless. We knew exactly where we wanted to ride but they really had no idea the status of the fire and quite frankly I don’t think they even knew how to read a map. The fire was two weeks old a this point and they had no idea; government agencies at their best I guess. So we took a leisurely breakfast at Hear & Soul Bakery and Cafe. The food was very good but the kitchen was a little slow. We went back to the hotel and loaded up our bikes and trailered them up north of Jackson. We had planned on riding up there, but we simply didn’t feel like riding the dual-sports the 70+ miles each way on the pavement. It ended up being a great decision. We travelled north of Jackson, and stopped on Gros Ventre Rd to unload and we were off. There was still some pavement we needed to ride but we were on gravel pretty quickly. We went immediately up to Gunsight Pass. The road up was a little challenging and had some nice views as we climbed up to the 9500 foot summit. We looked around a little and rode some of the little off-shoot trails, but before long we were back to the bottom and Slate Creek trail. The trail was mostly dirt and good riding. After about 5 miles or so, we decided it was getting late so we backtracked out to the main road. We stopped one last time for the Gros Ventre River crossing that we had picked out and seen form some you tubes videos of ATVs crossing. The only possible entry that was manageable for a two-wheeler was fairly decent hill down to the river. I decided to give it a try. I knew I would not be able to get much steam up before hitting the water. I gave it all I could but at about the half way point, the rocks became so slippery that I could go any further. I completely dismounted and turned the bike around coming back with my tail between my legs. It was a pretty poor showing. Back on the other side I started up the hill from a stand still and I must say that was the most difficult riding I did the whole trip. We made it back to the truck, loaded up and we were off to Jackson for dinner. We lucked out with a good parking spot and had a short walk to Snake River Brewing Co. This place had it all, great beer and great food. The Pakito’s Session IPA was absolutely perfect. Steve had the Trout and I had the Buffalo Burger and both were great. We left with a growler full of Pakito and two t-shirts, I’m not sure what other compliment could be given. On our way back in the total darkness we came upon the wildfire that seemed dangerously close to the road. We were worried the road might be closed but we made it through with no issues. Not much of a big ride day,but it was a good day.
