Oregon...east

[pdedse]

Day 3: Well, if you have to repeat a route, I guess going through Lolo Pass area was a good section to repeat!  Not going to lie though, it was a mental task to appreciate what I was able to do and ignore what I was missing out on.  But my oh my...the riding is sublime and the weather was perfect.  By noon or 1:00 (time zones kept messing with me, so not sure) I was out of the area and didn't want to head all the way back the same way, so I headed south.



After the town of Kooskia, I headed for Grangeville.  I love the countryside; as summer hasn't fully hit yet things are still fairly green
 
It's absurd the number of country roads that make for enjoyable riding with soooo little traffic


Two years ago I rode my DR650 in this area on hiway 95, so the route was familiar to me.  And I knew of a good camp site at the base of Snake River, so I had a destination. 

It was starting to warm up, so I peeled off some of the garments.  Hiway 95 is another spectacular section that is just as fun as Lolo Pass in my view.  It follows the Salmon River and has lots of long, sweeping drops with canyons.  The elevation falls so the temperature rises quickly.  At some point I practically blurt out loud "what the heck?!...my back...actually feels pretty good".  Did I just give up too soon? Hmmmm.  

After spending most of the day prior and all morning riding in the forests...this...was a nice change


I don't know what it is about the expanses...I feel like I can breathe easy.


I'm happy as a lark with this type of riding


It's getting on 4pm and I turn off 95 and head west on 71 towards Oxbow, the only bridge to cross the Snake River in this area if one wants to avoid interstate 84...and this one does.   

The descent to Snake River is a blast.   The campground I was heading for is just above the low rising mound a little above my left mirror:


I enjoy dispersed camping just to get away from it all, but good, established campgrounds offer picnic tables, bathrooms, and showers.  And this one had all that. With my senior discount of $5, it was $16.50 for the night.  Not too bad...the hotel in Missoula was $120.  But some campgrounds charge $25-35 with an outhouse for a toilet and nothing else.  That's excessive.  

I was happy to be here.  I was pretty sure that there would be spots available as it was midweek, but the area for RVs was actually quite full.  Of the 20 spots for tent-campers, there were only 3-4 taken.  


Of all the available tents spots, only one had adequate trees from which to hang the hammock 
 
It was hot, but the sun would soon begin to sink below the ridges, and then looking out over the dam-created lake was very...tranquilo


And relieved to kick these off


I had my sleeping bag ready to use, but I started the night off with just a hooded pull-over and sweats on.  The wind was blowing hard though, and the breeze off the waters of the lake brought a slight chill to the air...but what an evening!  The wind whipping through the pine needles, the waves lapping at the rocks and the dozens of crickets happily doing their chirping made it difficult to sleep, but the stars were gorgeous and the Big Dipper looked well-named.  These moments make all the hassles of camping worthwhile.

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Day 4: ride home!  

Woke up to a fabulous morning.  There's a bridge to cross and suddenly, back in Oregon


A great way to start the day is riding a warm, 7am morning next to the western shores of the Snake River.  The only others about are fishermen trying to race to their favorite spots.  Lots of families come here to spend a week in their RVs.  Guys fish in the early hours, then take the kiddies out to do tubing or other rope-pulled activities, and then fish again in the evening.  You have to invest some serious cash in the boat and RV, but after that you have some wonderful vacation time with the family.  



I was getting nearly 50 mpg even with the bike loaded down, but you still can't ignore opportunities to fill up in eastern OR.  Thankfully, the only station had opened at 7, so I was good to go.  I was pretty sure that I could make it all the way home even though it was going to be more than 400 miles for the day.  The reward was going to be a set of three 70-100 mile sections that were just as pleasing as the two from the day before.



First, Oxbow to Baker City on hiway 86...the signs are labeled appropriately "Oregon Scenic Byway".  Where have all the forests gone?


You climb and climb some more, crest, then dip back down to a stream...climb and climb some more, repeat.  Hypnotic.





From Baker City it's hiway 7 towards John Day.  The extreme dryness of the Snake River area gives way to greener views




After John Day on hiway 26, you run into some more canyons that narrow at points and make for some great riding.  Lots of motorcycle riders enjoying the same


At Prineville, I continue on hiway 26 northwest to Madras, then over the Mt. Hood pass and back to the wet side of Oregon...where naturally, it's raining this morning.  Two different worlds: wet Oregon vs. dry Oregon.

The CB1100 is an amazing machine.  A number of folks struck up conversations at the gas pumps, what year is it, how many cc's, etc.  They all think it's a great looking bike.

1400 miles over 4 days, some 350 per day.  Yesterday was 425 and I would have preferred to limit at 300, but didn't want to stop being so close to home.

Oh...by the way.  Those home made saddle bag supports?  Turns out you can't use them to grab on to when you want to put the bike on the center stand.

Morning of Day 2


Is there anything duct tape and zip ties cannot fix? 
 
I mean...besides the obvious.