Over the last few years of riding and using the OnX map system there has been a trail that stuck out on the map that I have always wanted to ride. The name of the trail is Airline. Using OnX it shows that it starts in the town of Crouch Idaho and climbs the mountains and peaks at 8200 feet of elevation at the Scott Mountain Lookout. I would occasionally watch a few YouTube videos about the trail to see what I was getting into. OnX rates this as an intermediate trail, so my going solo wasn't an option, plus riding buddies make the ride better!
Starting with this ride was planning and gathering friends, I posted up the ride and started seeing who was interested. I knew I had a guarantee of 1 friend but a few more would be better. If you have ever ridden a single track you know that if you get a crazy amount of people the dust and time grow with the grope. The day of the ride I had five confirmed people including myself. It was July 12th 2024 and we had been seeing constant 100+ degree days. The high for the area that day was reported to be around 103 F. I wanted to get an early start so I set the ride to kick off at 7 AM @ Great Scotts Gas station in Garden Vally. Once everyone was there we made the trip up the mountain in the trucks to the parking spot that I was informed of due to private property. I was pulling a 14' flatbed trailer and was taking my time getting to the parking spot. The first dirt road wasn't bad, it was your typical forest type road that was wide engouh for two lanes of travel and smooth engouh that you could travel at 10-15mph. A few miles back we turned up Cow Creek Rd. This road looked like a easy jeep trail, single lane with trees and rocks littered along the side of it with decent waterbars crossing it. This slowed me down a lot. Moving along at 3-5 miles per hour I finial reached a spot that I called it and parked. I was able to turn the truck and trailer around and unload. I was getting worried as I really don't like backing up on the side of moutians for miles on end. Its doable but not how I like to start my rides. Hind sight is said to be 20/20 NEXT TIME PARK DOWN AT THE HIGHWAY! I will include likes to my parking area plus the one that was recommended to me at the end of this.
By the time we started riding it was already 8:30AM. It was about 55-60 F. out and I could feel that great ball of fire in the sky warming the air. The trail started out great with a moderate amount of dust and easy hillclimbs. The dirt was more sand and granit than anything so speed and power were needed to sucksessfully make the sumits. From where we started the trail it would have us pointed East for the majority of the ride. Its always inspiring seeing the sun break thought the trees as your riding up the trials. (One of my favorite things about moutians and forest) The trail would wind around on the ridges and saddles of the moutians as we assecded to the lookout. The trail at this point was smooth with flowing corners and tress to keep the sunlight off us.
Just as I would settle into the groove I would find myself in front of the next obsicle. Looking back this trail offered up so many things in such a small distance. From hill climbs that were short but technical for a rider such as myself to exposure to a cliff side with a rock outcropping. One of the hill climbs started off easy and as you went up there was a hole or dip in the upper part that I for sure thought I was going to overshoot and go into the sticks. At that point the bike was riding me in a sense as I was just along for the ride at that point. The front tire hit the other side and started climbing up then washed out causing me to drop the bike at the top. It wasn't a big deal because this is how most of us learn to be a better rider. The school of hard knocks. As we worked our way up the trail we encountered switch backs with roots that had been polished from others before us. That coupled with the dry dirt that had been loosened up from previous riders made the situations just that more technical. Using the clutch and higher gears I worked the bike to find as much traction as I could on these areas preventing the tire from spinning and digging holes in the trial. Some of the spots were a mix of loose fluffed up dirt and hard granit rock outcropping that you needed to get engoung speed to bounce up on or over the rocks but no so much that it would ricochet you off the side of the trail.
The last third of the trail is the real meat and potatoes, some of the best sights to see, exposure to cliff and hil sides, switchbacks, and areas that were littered with baseball to volleyball sixed rocks mixed with sicks to branches that had fallen. This is what I look at as a skill builder. I still consider myself a beginner to those that ride trails like this and navigate across this type of terrain in such a manner that it appears that they just float at a fast pace accose the debris. Back on topic the last third. The mid day temps had started to set in...I would guess we were in the mid 80 degF. That might sound nice on a adventure bike at speed on a forest service road or highway...but on a single track moving at 3-8 mph constantly working to get the you and the bike up the hill its hot! Near the end maybe 200-300 feet from the road my buddy Tyler had managed to find that one special rock that sent him over the edge. It wasn't a cliff but it wasn't a hill either. It was steep enough that if you stood 2 feet off the side of the trail you would be 3-4 feet below it. I had stopped a few hundred feet behind him in a shady spot cooling off and getting a drink of water. I could see his figure in the distance and thought that he had also stopped. After I cought my breath and secured my water I rode up to him to find, it was just him and no bike. His DRZ had fallen off the side of the trail. I hopped off my bike and put the kick stand down. I moved the bike around to make sure it was in as good a spot as it could be. Remember this part of the trail was steep and rocky so good spots were hard to find. I took my helmet off and placed it on the right side handle bar. I started working with Tyler to get his bike back up on the trail. As we were working it up on we heard a loud crash behind us. I turned to see that my bike had also tipped over and off the side of the trail. We assed the situation and figured we should pick it up first as it was the lighter of the bikes and then get his. We walked over to mine and found the my helmet that I had just purchased 2 rides prior had somehow fell under the bike and smashed like an egg. the cheak area had a big crack all the way up the side and the roost deflector had exploded all over. I collected my parts and stowed them in my bag. We drug the TE300 back up on the trail and leaned it over on the hill side. Leson learned from that experience. If you have ever picked up a DRZ you all know they are not the lightest of bikes especially when lifting them up a hill side. We drug his rear tire up first followed by the front. It was a struggle as we later found out the kick stand was down and stuffed into a bush, so we were ripping the bush out along with trying to pick up the DRZ. Once the bike was all back on the trail we stood it up and got things sorted. We fired up the bikes and finished out the trial to the lookout.
Due to the safety of my face with a broken helmet I informed the grope that I would be riding the service road back and around to the trailer. We talked about the trail and what fun we had had and discussed how the group was going to return. Tyler and I stayed together and took the road option while the other 3 went for the trail option. The trail would have been the preferred rout as it was all most all down hill to the truck. I opened by pack and handed them my last bottle of water as I knew the heat was setting in at that time of the day. It better to have water as a back up just incase. Tyler and I would be fine along the road as it was highly traveled, so finding water would be easy. It was around 12:30 now and we split up and went our ways. The service road were in great shape we were moving along as 25-35 mph. The last section coming down from Scott Mt Lookout is Scott Mountain Grade. Its steep and single lane. There were a few rocks on it but nothing that would slow me down. Once we hit the highway it was 10 miles of blacktop back to the dirt road that we had originally went up. About 5 miles into riding down the highway I was thinking back on the conversation we had as a group, "Lets park down by the highway" At that point I wish I would have. The seat on my bike was like sitting on a 2x4 and was past the numb stage and starting to hurt my bones. It actually started to hurt to stand up from the siting position. I was so happy to see Great Scotts, in the distance. I pulled into the parking lot and got of the bike. The way I was sitting must have pinched something because I started to get the feeling back in my upper legs. I walked into the store to cool off for a minute and pick up a Arizona Sweet tea. This was going to be my victory drink on the drive home. I packed it up and jumped back on the bike.
I talked to Tyler a second say "You remember when the other guys said we should park down here at the highway?" He looked at me and smirked. I knew what he was thinking. The same thing I was. We got back on the highway for a few hundred feet to connect to the dirt road that took us back to the trucks and trailer. 8-9 miles back were arrived at the trailer. I was wondering the whole time if the others would make it back before us. There trucks were still sitting along side the road. My truck and trailer was down the road about half a mile from the others, as there wasn't much room to park 3 trucks and a trailer. As well stripped off our sweat soaked gear, we could here the faint notes of a 450 dirtbike and a 2 stroke in the distance. We loaded up the bikes and strapped them down. With all the gear packed up and about ready to head out the rest of the group came around the corner. It was a bit of a relief to see them as I don't like splitting groups up. Everyone was accounted fore. Five bikes started and finished. What a great ride. We got in the vehicle and started our drive home. I reached into the back seat and pulled out my Arizona Sweet Tea, cracked that bad boy open and took a swig! I was in heaven! What more could you ask for, good friends to ride with, a amazing trail and a ice cold drink for the ride home!
Video Motovlog of trail
Road to parking area...I suggest to park at the highway someware and ride the bike in.
https://webmap.onxmaps.com/offroad/share/content?share_id=01J2Q3TGXRV93TG1MME4S80WKC
Parking spots near the trail
https://webmap.onxmaps.com/offroad/share/content?share_id=01J2Q3W5KQ8GJPMM83TWQYMDVP
https://webmap.onxmaps.com/offroad/share/content?share_id=01J2Q3WG37CAV3D0RRR2DNGQBW
Thanks for the report! Keep up the good riding!
Micah 6:8