Tom's GAG (Great Annual Gifford) Ride Page

10/5/07: It's showtime! Okay, here's the status yesterday from Ranger Tom: "The snow was only about 1" and wet at about 3500'-4000'. It stopped snowing in the afternoon. The lower trails and the Boundary trail should be okay.  Maybe even Juniper. Langille is tough in good conditions." What this means to me is that we still have sweet trail to cruise, but we missed Langille by one week - doh! I plan on sliding out of work and having my Skank Trailer loaded and me pulling it around 3-4pm today, since I want to get to the campground before dark thirty. I will probably head up via Lake Merwyn route, and we confirmed that Road #90 is in fact paved. Call my cell if you have any questions, and first ones there, stake out a good area for everyone to be together! Again, don't forget the following:

• Bring firewood! Matches might help too!
• Do maintenance on your bike before the ride.
• Dress for worst case of rain/snow, and expect the best - Murphy's Law.
• Be aware of the USFS legality rules.
• Plan on having fun no matter what!

Also, at this point, we probably will not use Hood River as a back up - it's full speed ahead with Gifford Pinchot! I'll update more today if there's anything new - see ya there!

10/4/07: Okay, it's almost showtime! The weather Gods are not participating well and I hope to get an update from USFS today, of which I'll post tonight. Stay tuned!

10/2/07: Just got some updates from our USFS connection, Tom. Both loops at Lower Falls Campground are open. There is well pump water near the start of the first loop. There are also group sites on the upper loop, at $35 per night. Group site 21 is near the well. Group site 27 closer to the water. Maybe 3 vehicles per group site. I think $15 single site , $25 double site. Extra car $5. Maybe pick a couple of doubles. I think the campground will be about empty. It's a big campground with 42 sites. I plan on leaving work a bit early on Friday afternoon and heading straight up. First people there should get a spot that's central for everyone. Everyone must BRING FIREWOOD! Plan on chilly weather. Do bike maintenance NOW! IF you are concerned about street legality while up there, here are the minimal requirements (from USFS site): Motorcyclists using Forest Service roads must be "street legal" "Dual Sport" bikes, which means you must have a current state license and operator's license, must wear a helmet, and the motorcycle must have a headlight, tail light, brake light, horn, and left and right side mirrors. I also suggest bringing a well-stocked bar and refrigerator. I'll bring my laptop with good mo-mo movies. 
 

9/28/07: More info for you all: the campground has plenty of room for RV's, trailers, etc. It also has bathrooms, but no water/electricity - primitive, so bring some. The Saturday, long loop (Langille-Juniper) is about 55~60 miles. There will be about 8~9 miles of road though, so there is a high risk of tickets for those unlicensed - be aware. Sunday's ride looks to be only about 30+ miles.

9/27/07: Location, location, location - CLICK HERE for map1 (in relation to Trout Lake, WA), and CLICK HERE for map2 to see where the heck Lower Falls Campground is. For you fellow Garmin GPS geeks, RIGHT-CLICK HERE, select Save As, (make sure and rename the extension to .GDB if needed! On my PC it wants to rename the extension to .HTM for some reason) to download the waypoint to the campground staging area.

9/24/07: Yes, it's that time of year again - Tom's GAG (Great Annual Gifford) Ride! This is invitational only, as these trails are very extreme and we don't want newbies or rat bikes showing and pulling down the rest of the group. Sorry if you feel you're part of that, but some of these trails can be described as 'fatal' [truly] and/or work on your bike more, so you're not stopping every five miles to work on it. Below is the official 2007 invite: