Today was entirely a back roads day. Before leaving McCall at 7:30, I considered two routes: one aggressive in terms of distance, and one less so. Both were destination rides; going where the best motorcycle rides in the area were. The weather made my decision for me. It was rainy and overcast and I decided that a longer ride was not going to be fun in the rain (and the direction of that ride was the same direction as the bad weather). So I opted to go with the shorter ride in the direction of the better weather. It was a good choice (total today was 256 miles or 412 kms).
The rain soon stopped and the first part of the morning took me through the Payette National Forest. There I had a close encounter with a deer who decided to leap across the road moments before I was about to cross his path. It could have been very messy (for both of us), but I was able to brake in time due to the extraordinarily good ABS braking system on my new bike. Both the deer and I avoided certain calamity (and I expect that our respective hearts were pounding a little harder after that interaction). I have often heard that the first deer you see is simply a warning, therefore I was doubly careful from then on (especially when passing through areas with heavy growth on both sides of the road). But, alas, no further wildlife was encountered, at least not that would have made a mess of my motorcycle. I was swooped at by an eagle who must have thought I was some fast moving prey. This caused me to duck, as he swerved away. I am sure he realized, somewhat belatedly, that my helmet was unlikely to serve as much of a meal.
Generally, the day can be described as a series of "twisties" (stretches of tight turns requiring fairly precise leaning into the curve, pushing the handlebars towards the road surface, but in the opposite direction of the corner - you have to ride a motorcycle to understand that this actually works and that the opposite would be disastrous). These were separated by short straight stretches (necessary to give me a break).
There were 5 extraordinary twisty portions of the ride today. The first took me from an Idaho town called Cambridge through to and then clinging to the banks alongside the Snake River (which is a very large, fast flowing body of water as it forms the border between Idaho and Oregon). The roads were virtually deserted, with none of the usual road work crews to impede progress. The 2nd magnificent ride portion was through the Hell's Canyon National Park in Oregon (considerably different than the Hell's Canyon in British Columbia). Again, the roads were not busy, although they were very narrow and in some places prone to potholes, pieces of wood, rocks, and some accumulated water from the recent rain. As there was no center yellow line it was necessary to keep one's eye on the road ahead, just in case. At one point I took a slight detour onto a gravel road (looking for a place to take some pictures of the Canyon). It proved to be more than a little rocky and not the type of terrain where one would usually take a Gold Wing. However, I managed to turn around after a mile or so (and did get a reasonably good picture or 2). After a very pleasant meal in a town called Joseph (on asking a local where the best food in town was, she promptly introduced herself, asked me my name and told me hers, after which she escorted me to a rugged little restaurant with tables set up on the veranda and in the yard under that large elm tree, and going on with her walking her dog, she wished me a continued good ride. Everyone seemed to be friendly, including the gas station attendant who actually pumped gas for me and was quick to tell me that she and the young fellow who worked at the garage were getting married next Saturday in a small park in the center of town, and that I was invited to come if I were still in the area. Now that is friendly!
The 3rd portion of the ride that was particularly exciting was the road leading down into and up out of the Grande Ronde River valley, just outside Oregon and across the Washington border. This is affectionately known as the Rattlesnake Grade (both for its shape and the fact that the Northern Summit is called the Rattlesnake Summit). This portion of road was a return visit for me as we had thoroughly enjoyed it last year on our way back from our cross Canada trip. It is an 18 mile stretch of road in total comprised of nonstop 35 mile an hour or less corners, switchbacks and hairpin curves carved out of the steep hillside with nothing between a slip of the throttle and a 500 to 1000 foot drop with an abrupt stop in a dry creek bed. Guardrails; what guardrails?
The last 2 exciting portions of the ride are located on the outskirts of Lewiston and Clarkston (Twin Cities bridging the border between Washington and Idaho along the Snake River). The portion of highway leading down off the plateau above the towns is a newly paved section of well banked curves. With the vista of the valley comprising the 2 towns forming something of a carpet below, it is a dramatic re-entry to civilization. The final exciting ride was actually one I took after checking into the motel. There is a little known (except for local folks) strip of road called the Spiral Highway, also named the Lewiston Highway), which was originally a wagon road leading from the Lewiston/Clarkston settlements in the valley 2000 vertical feet up the steep incline to the plateau above the north side of the towns. It is 7.2 miles in length and has approximately 40 curves, many of which are hairpins that are supposed to be taken at 15 miles an hour. However, the road is so perfectly engineered that the corners can be taken at much faster speeds (of course I stuck to the speed limit... okay maybe a little faster).
While pictures do none of these roads adequate justice, at least there is some attempt in those attached.
Crossing over into Pacific Time, I have come to the realization that within a few days this epic journey will be complete. My current mileage is just shy of 27,000 km (16,750 miles) and I expect another 1000 km/650 miles. At this point it feels like when you are reading a good book and you are almost finished. Something draws you along to the ending, while a contradictory feeling is resistant to the conclusion only because the journey through the pages of that book have been so enjoyable. I will resist the temptation to write the ending now, and will save my closing comments for another time. Meanwhile there is more riding to be done.