Log Jam on the Fat Little Duffer

The Yamaha TW200 (a.k.a. the Fat Little Duffer) has been feeling a bit neglected this year, so I loaded it up on the back of the 4Runner and headed for the St. Joe river area to get two challenge sites and a couple more near Riggins on the way home. It was a long two days. Avery is a long drive from Kuna.

I left Kuna at 4am, and I first stopped near Council to check out the conditions of Buck Park Cabin. Some friends and I are camping there next month, so I wanted to put by eyeballs on it before then. Then I continued up to Avery, scoping out a camp spot, before unloading the Fat Little Duffer. It was already 4pm and I hade about 90 miles from camp to snatch up the 2 challenge sites nearby and get back to camp. I’ve never been to the Avery area. It is beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed strolling up the wide gravel road toward Blue Heaven Cabin. The trail got a little narrower as I went. Then came the fallen trees. For several miles, the trees were all cut up and pushed aside from the trail. That was reassuring. But as I went, they were still cut enough to let a full-size rig through, but less and less was pushed off the trail. Soon, came the boondocking to get around the bits of uncut trees. Progress was steady, so I was encouraged. However, I was still a few miles away from the cabin, and the tree carnage did not clear up. Soon I was met with uncut trees. I wrestled the Fat Little Duffer over and under exactly 6 fallen logs before I gave up. After those 6, I marched ahead a bit, and I found it wasn’t relenting. More logs. It was 35 slow miles back to Avery, I was alone, and the sun was no longer high in the sky. I didn’t see an alternate route that wasn’t too far for the Duffer’s small gas tank and the amount of Sun still in the sky. I called it and headed back. Snapping a picture with the Duffer straddling one of the downed trees, I was very tired and sad to have made it so close to the cabin. I was given a rare treat on the way back down. After all the downed trees, I came around one corner and there was a cow moose in the road. I’ve never been so close, and we both seemed to have startled each other. She turned down the trail and started trotting, appearing to look for a break in the thick brush to get off the trail. I putted along behind her at a greater distance than when we first met. I wasn’t about to try passing her. I followed her for about ¼ mile before she finally found an escape route. Once back in Avery, I made the quick trip up to Tunnel 36, before heading east, back to my campsite. Done for the day at 8pm. Perhaps the was a better way to get to the cabin than from Avery. I’m not sure.

Day two, was more of the same, just down near Riggins and a little less adventurous. I left camp at 5am and made my way back south. I staged at the Allison Creek Picnic Area along the Salmon River, first headed up to Florence and the cemetery, then back down for lunch. Amazing views from that trail. Next, I headed east along the river and up the grade on NF-246 to the bus. Wow, that was a treat both going up and back down. All that was left was to load up the Fat Little Duffer and get home, rolling into Kuna around 7:30pm for dinner and bed.