We drove 665 miles to start our tour in Challis. We call it a win because we didn’t have to box the bikes. Roll in and roll out has plenty of appeal.

Looking forward to following along on this one. Interestingly, I have biked the very start of your route (from Dubois to the 287 cutoff), and the very end of it (from Twin Bridges to Dillon) - those short sections are part of the Transam. A route I had hoped to ride last year, and will maybe get to ride this year (depends on some pesky medical stuff), includes an overnight in Whitehall. So I'll definitely enjoy following your tour.

I enjoyed reading about your trip. Thanks! The photos of the destruction are sobering. And more than a bit frightening.

I like them enough to keep using them. The best thing is that they are new and everything works properly. Narrower is better. I plan to remove the top compartment. I need to decide whether to cut off the top material only, or cut the seams and remove all the outer material. Cutting the seams would look better, but would leave hundreds of needle holes facing up. Maybe I could seal the holes with seam sealer.

I plan carefully to minimize the chance of hardship, but it still happens sometimes. I became lax about carrying an emergency supply of food. Times change, I need to change. Difficulties on the Bizz Johnson trail were typical bike touring surprises. It's not a guided tour!
My next tour will also be an A to B tour with a U Haul to get back to my car. That's the best option for a short to medium A to B tour if 1-way car rentals aren't available at both ends.

In the end, how do you like the bigger panniers?

Very interesting tour theme. I like your approach of leaving your vehicle at the start of a tour and then using a one-way rental vehicle to get back to it; I may copy that approach for a future tour. Congratulations on successfully completing the tour despite some hardship.

That’s the big problem with the fires these days: so hot the heat is penetrating the soil much deeper, and burning up seed banks along with sterilizing the soil. Aargh.

This reminds me of homes along the Gulf that were destroyed by hurricanes. The only thing remaining might be the driveway, pylon supports for the house and a set of steps going up to the front door.

They noticed but it's not a big deal to them. They see promotional apparel all the time and were probably too young to know that the jersey was only sold 20+ years ago.

Like other theme tours, I studied in advance AND learned a lot along the way. I did extensive research about the Alameda, Dixie, and Camp fires. Then I stumbled into the Goat fire on day 1. Paradise is a major dead-end mountain climb that doesn't make sense to a cyclist except to see the aftermath of the Camp fire. And ride down Honey Run!

My theory is that the theater is close to the downtown campus and heavily dependent on Chico State students. Chico probably has a suburban multiplex that stays open all the time.

Your writeup about the fire was concise and informative. I can tell you did your research.

What happened to summer being the busy season?

The college must really influence town economics.

How disappointing no one noticed your jersey!