Making Up, Thunderbolt Mtn, & Beached Jet Ski's

All in all it was a very productive weekend up here in Big Sky land.  Saturday was filled with errands, errands, errands, and errands.  I even managed to squeeze in a trip to Bozeman to pick up the floor for the Airstream.  We ended up going with vinyl planks that look like bamboo.  There are a few to-do's to get through on the Airstream this week so we can take it up to Missoula on Friday to get worked on (fridge, etc). 

Saturday morning started with getting on the trainer and doing a spin while watching the Tour Day France (Bob Roll impersonation - where is he this year on the Tour?)  The Bob-ski always used to provide some great insight and entertainment.

It feels as though there are several balls in the air of life right now.  The challenge is to keep juggling without dropping any of them. 

The bike and I are back on speaking terms and we made up in fine fashion yesterday.  I had been wanting to go up to Thunderbolt Mtn and do some exploring for a while.  Yesterday seemed like the prime window to get out and recon the area.  I had mentally prepped for a 2 hour ride...a nice easy pace, exploring new territory.  It turned into a 5 hour epic with some excitement thrown in the mix.

It started off innocently enough...got in the car headed up I-15 to the Bernice exit and the adventure began.  I searched on-line, through our guidebooks, etc and was not able to come up with where the trail-head started.  I figured it could not be that difficult right??  I ended up parking the car off one of the pull-outs on the dirt road.  I passed a few camp-sites and then saw a pull-out where a few trucks were parked that had trailers hitched with four-wheelers & dirt bikes.  In my mind it was a good indication that there were trails around.

I parked and then started the journey...in the spirit of true exploration (or ignorance) I saw a few dirt roads/4 wheeler trails shoot of the main road and decided to take those...I got turned around pretty quickly when I realized that could not possible be said Thunderbolt Trail...so back to the road and on to the next spur...repeat...  Whilst on the road I came upon a Caddy Escalade parked in the middle of the road...as I got closer I realized it had a trailer behind it with a jet-ski on it...but the trailer was not attached and the jet ski was on terra firma...I REALLY wanted to take a pic but the owner was in the car and it would have been a weee bit rude.  I stopped to ask if she needed help and she responded that her hubby was on the way...it was pretty funny to see the apparatus on dry ground - reminded me of a turtle on its back with its little legs walking on air trying to right itself...so onwards (although I have no idea how any through traffic got by given how her beached jet ski was smack dab in the middle of the road).

 I finally came to a larger camp-site and took what was a dirt road from there.  By sheer luck it put me at the Thunderbolt Trailhead...woohoo! 

The trail started off with a cool little bridge across the first creek crossing.  Everything was really green and lush.  The trail had a couple of spots where the ground was still soft from moisture but all in all it was in great shape.  About a mile or so in I came to an area where all the trees died...it was a little strange to see all those trees down like that...maybe some sort of down-draft or something?  I continued pedaling through some tekkie sections which smoothed out after about the first mile.  Another 3 miles in and you came upon Cottonwood Lake. 

Another mile or so in is where the options started to open themselves up.  There is a junction and it gives you an option to either take the CDT north or south.  I ended up taking the option that would take you up to Thunderbolt Mtn.  At this point, all the stars were aligned and everything still made sense....

After about another 4 miles of pedaling on what was now trail # 329, you came up on another junction...you could stay on 329 which would take you further north or divert off on 328 which would take you up to the junction with 330 which would take you to Thunderbolt Mtn peak area....but I digress....when taking the 328 trail, it dropped you about 1,000 ft back into the meadows and then the lonnnnnnnnnnng grind up would start....It was roughly a 2,000 ft climb from the bottom of 328 to the top of 330.  At this point I was out of water and calories and the heat was taking its toll. 

I passed a pack of 4 who were on mules and packed in a picnic...I asked them how much further to the 'top'...they responded that it was still a ways and asked me where I was going...they also volunteered that where I was going was a loooooong way away.  This was not what my feeble body and mind needed to hear as I was pretty much out of water and calories...it would be time to take the cautious approach.

At the junction to Thunderbolt, the sign said it was 4 miles to the peak...I rode 4 miles and still the trail continued to climb up up up...after about 5 miles I started to wonder if I was on the right trail.  At some point the Forest Service must have decided to change the signs on trail # 330 and to call it the CDT....hmmm

After much groveling, grumbling & whining I finally peaked Thunderbolt Mtn at about 8,400 ft.  At this point I thought my troubles were behind me and that it would be all downhill on the way back.  Little did I know that the map that I had and the numbering/naming on the signage would not match up!  DOH....DOUBLE DOH!  At this point I was pretty fried and was just looking to make it back to the car.  I was about 3 1/2 hours into the ride and the body was telling me it was not very happy.

I pointed downhill and came up on a junction that did not map to anything that I had on my map.  Apparently either the map was wrong, or they decided to change the numbers on the trails.  I took a chance and took the turn that 'felt' right to me.  After about 4 miles of dirt road descent it put me out on another junction that was also NOT marked on the map.  I stayed on what looked like the main road and eventually saw a road number that did match to my map.  At this point I had zero confidence that the map was right but had nada to lose.  Fortunately it turned out to be the right choice as it meandered downhill for another 1.000 ft of elevation loss and spit me back out on the main road where the adventure began...it was then a quick spin back to the car and all was well again.

When I got back home I weighed myself out of curiosity (knowing I had probably shed some serious water weight) and was a little shocked to see that the ride shed about 7 pounds of water weight!!! no wonder the body was telling me it was not happy.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to re-hydrate and wallow in my self-induced pain.

It ended up being a 5 hour ride, 36 miles, and about 6,000ft of elevation gain. 

The upside is that I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what is out there and there is a ton more to explore - although I would feel better exploring with someone else in the event anything happened as I can't help but think that no one would find you for months if anything were to happen...