Michael here to pick me up to help load the Subaru:
His early 80s GS1100, ready for the trek to Idaho (note the rear wheelgap on the wagon) :
Camp ahoy!
Our location just east of Kooskia:
http://tinyurl.com/jck6y
Once camp has been set up, it's time to chill those beers:
We actually arrived quite late on Wednesday night, the beer picture was from Thursday evening.
Moving on to the next morning, life in the Pacific Northwest is tough. French-pressed Starbucks:
Your standard river road:
http://tinyurl.com/eshfg
We broke for lunch before the summit:
Mmm, crushed sandwiches! 1.5 inches of ham and provolone goodness:
Lolo Summit, at a hair over 5,200 feet, is above the snowline:
My riding buddy ponders the wisdom of a snowball fight:
We make our way to Lolo city in Montana. Home of cheap gas and obviously miscalibrated temperature readings:
Reverse direction, ludicrious speed! Fire, cookies and beer:
Next day: Off to the south to Riggins, ID to try for Heaven's Gate, at over 8,000 feet in elevation.
On the way there:
Lunch break on the river:
Stopped in Riggins at an information center to regroup and plan our route to Heaven's Gate.
Get informed by a local the snow level is still at 5,000 feet (duh) so we modify our plans.
Said local told us the road to Pittsburg Landing provides a great road, with switchbacks and corners. So we take it.
Of course, it turns to gravel about a mile from the highway. But we press on, since being scared of gravel is for squids:
We stop at the summit due to time concerns. Another four miles continuing into Hell's Canyon
National Recreational Area would have provided some more fun, but we were fairly tired and daylight was running short.
It was a bit dusty on the way down:
Michael putting his Fine Arts degree to work:
On the way back, we took a stop to take in the scenery on the way to Riggins:
Michael packs the meat into this backpack/tailbag. We're having STEAKS tonight (again)!
Our buddy hosing his steaks with steak seasoning. You honestly could barely see the meat through the seasoning:
In the above picture is our new friend, Reverend William Haslam. He approached me as I was getting rid of our campsite's garbage.
He claimed I looked like an old acquitance of his. We shot the "poo poo" a bit, then I invited him to share our campfire if he felt so inclined.
Thirty minutes later he decided our drunken revelery was better than his book, so we enjoyed his company for that evening.
Next morning it was rather windy, so Michael puts his two college degrees to work as the official Wind Blocker of Campsite number four:
Our (my) morning ritual:
Shush, I know WD-40 can be bad for chains.
High-tech visor-drying system:
Bug population control:
We hit up the other road on the Highway 13 fork to head to Elk City, ID:
http://tinyurl.com/qmsqk
It's the road that heads south, then loops back to the east. I think.
Usual scenery on the road:
We were following a couple guys on Harleys with no gear. At least three deer sightings, one of which was an extremely close call.
On the way out, without the Harley guys, no deer sightings at all. Michael claims he's going to bring a Harley Davidson keychain with him on his next hunting trip.
Lunch break outside Elk City:
Tasty:
Last night, time for a big fire!
Somebody snuck in an empty wine bottle. This was what was left in the morning:
Load 'em up, head 'em out!
We missed the stop for the "Heart of the Monster" stop the night we rolled in, we rectified the situation this time:
The Nez Perce creation story involves the Coyote fighting the Monster to save the creatures of the world.
The Coyote won and tore the body of the Monster apart. Where the various organs fell, tribes emerged.
The Nez Perce were supposedly born of the heart, pictured above.
My friends think it's more likely the nipple of the Monster.
With little adventure but a bit of cramped knees, we're back at home, sweet home:
Unloaded my friend's bike and returned the trailer to my friend. He wasn't home and his back yard's gate was locked.
We planned on unbolting his fence to return the trailer but I found the gate could be lifted on the hinges, so we did that.
Total milage for the trip wasn't a whole lot: 850 miles or so. Still had some great times without having to stay in the saddle for hours on end to get to some twisty roads
