Northern Pacific's

Homestake Pass

Tackling the Eastern Slope

by Peter Hoffman

Homestake Pass remains the ultimate railbiking challenge. 

Crossing the Continental Divide at 6329 feet elevation, the line passes

thru unique rock outcroppings with spectacular mountain and

valley views.  Large steel bridges,  tunnels  and complete isolation make this

an inspiring ride.

    The challenge, however, is riding

over some extremely heavy sagebrush which can be well over two feet high.  For the past several years the growth has limited railbiking to the west slope, which has a ample number of its own obstructions.   Young pine trees often grow between the ties and rock slides are numerous.  

    From the summit east,  riding becomes virtually impossible after four miles.    Arne and Morgan made a side trip to Homestake Pass while the rest of the Odyssey group did some sight- seeing in Idaho.  They attempted the east side, but where forced to turn back when they got to the sagebrush.  Knowing we would be riding there the following week, they had cut many of the small pines, making out ride much easier.

This natural bore tunnel is about one mile east of the summit.

Decomposing rock has continuously fallen covering the rails

about 4 feet high.

    John and I started out with the expectation that we could get farther than Arne and Morgan.

I was riding my second bike, an early Whitey independent frame design, which normally will plow

through almost anything.  John was riding his newly designed bike with its very high outrigger.

Rolling down the grade we had only to worry about pine trees slapping us in the face and an occasional rock fall.

     Another reason I had chosen to ride the Whitey bike was because of its great stability. I had been videoing much of the Odyssey adventure and

this allowed me to ride hands off to operate the camera.    The weather

was balmy and air crystal clear and I was so intent on my filming that I neglected to see a large boulder tight

to the outside of the rail.

Before I knew it I had somersaulted over the handlebars and landed on my back just beyond the

Returning to the summit on the eastern side of the pass.

The rock slide that did me in.  That's me where I landed behind the large boulder. The bike remained upright, a testament to its stability.  If I had both hands on the handlebars I'd still be on the bike.

rock slide.  Miraculously, both the camera and I came through unharmed.   I gave up video taping

at this point, which was no great loss.  After getting home and reviewing over 3 hours of tapes,

I have determined none of it was worth the trouble.  Maybe someday I will have the patience to

edit it down to about 15 minutes of short clips, just for the sake of the memories.

       When we reached the section of sage brush there was no question that I was not going any

farther.  The trunks of the sage were so thick that once I lost forward momentum I couldn't get going again.  It was a great disappointment.  About five miles ahead were two large steel trestles, one in the middle of a sweeping horseshoe curve across a deep canyon.

Unique rock formations greet us around every turn.

Sad sentinal to better days.

This was as far as I could go.  My bike is already turned and I'm waiting for John to return.

John rode just past this point to where he could see into  Pipestone Canyon. The two large steel bridges and the horseshoe curve are about three miles ahead.

    At this point John's outrigger design proved

its worth.  John wanted to ride on by himself and

we agreed he would be back in 30 minutes.  We

didn't want to separate long in case something should happen up ahead to John, as we were well away from any roads.

    About half a mile farther the sagebrush cleared out considerably.  Even knowing this I

wouldn't have wanted to carry my heavy bike over this terrain twice, and we still had the up

grade to tackle on the way back.  To get

a good feel of how high the sage was

take a close look at the photos that accompany John's design article.

    The success of John's new outrigger

prompted him to name it after Homestake Pass.  I knew then and there I would have to have one, and being the good guy that John is, he said he would help me build it.    As it turned out, he came up with an even a better design based on the original concept.  I am now one happy railbiker.

    Homestake has always been one of my favorite rides.  Now I have a bike that

will traverse the entire line. I'm determined to ride all the way from Butte

to Pipestone, probably starting at the summit and riding down both slopes, a two day undertaking.

Hop to John's article by clicking on the Northern Pacific logo.