Day 2
I'm an early riser I guess, so I made a cup of Starbucks instant coffee to last till we get to Baker City. I love the smell of fresh cut sweet grass drying out in the fields.
warming up the bikes in the morning sun
heading towards Haines on the way to Baker City
north end of Elk Horn range, we came from way right picture area
the first In & Out Hamburgers in Oregon
After some fuel for the bikes and a spot of breakfast for us in Baker City, we roll out of town on Hwy 86 towards Richland and Halfway.
This part of Oregon is a kind of high desert without water.
the town of Richland
heading down the grade towards Halfway, the town itself is bypassed by the highway and we don't enter it, but it is the last one before we turn off 86 to start the climb up and over the Wallowa Mts.
Halfway is over there
here is the turn off 86 onto forest road #39 to enter the Hells Canyon Natl. Rec. Area (high mountain side part) and then the Wallowa-Whitman Natl. Forest and get to the town of Enterprise
along this road we see many H-D riders going the other way, and find out later that they just had a ride called the Bronze Run
up and up we go, if you take this road be careful about your position on the road, it seems that everyone wants to have more than there share of it, maybe because of no guard rails and edges that drop way down
towards the end we are back into ranch land and open range area
looking at this picture you see in the center Chief Joseph Mtn, and just at the base of it would be Wallowa Lake but the accumulation of glacier debris that formed it are blocking the view
looking south just outside of the town of Joseph
another nice looking farmstead
the main street of Joseph looking back south with Joseph Mtn. in the background
We took off out of Enterprise heading north on Hwy 3 then stopped at a overlook viewpoint to put on the cooling vests and get a drink. Some of the Bronze Ride people were there also getting some other kind of drinks and enjoying the views.
This part of Hwy 3 is right before we enter the state of Washington.
Here we go, Washington
A little place to eat at the bottom of the canyon on the Grande Ronde river.
Looking back from were we came from.
The Snake River on the right with Clarkston and Lewiston around the corner.
Over the blue bridge into Lewiston, and the state of Idaho, then jump on Hwy 95 toward Grangeville.
On the way to Grangeville there are a few sets of bridge works being done, with one lane traffic, so we wait our turn.
Downtown Grangeville.
On Mt. Idaho Grade Rd. I find a well hidden small drive-in at Grangeville still working.
Just at the edge of east Grangeville is the Mt. Idaho Grade Rd. that we took for a short cut over to Hwy 14 towards Elk City, some smoke still in the air.
I kept waiting for the air to cool down while on this part of the road, but no deal, still very warm.
If you have enough gas to get to Darby take the right road, it will bypass Elk City on pavement. We got gas in Grangeville, 50 miles back, so we had plenty.
Most of Elk City was closed on the east end, there seemed to be only one place to eat or get gas on the west side. This was one of the store fronts on the uptown side.