Day Twenty Four - Hells Canyon, Idaho Border, Snake River, and more

Wow - what a day! We saw temperatures from 58 to 104 degrees, incredible twisty roads, incredibly poor surface roads,  lots of white water and rafts, kayaks, etc and critters, but I get ahead of myself :-)

The day started with us waking at 5:45 AM local time. The hotel served no breakfast so our plan was to get something down the road. We left at 6:41 AM. Headed down Hwy 82 aka the Joseph Highway and we got to Joseph OR in just a short 6 miles, but the scenery on the way wasn't bad. The temp was 58, but we had an extra layer on so that was just fine.

View from 82

More view from 82 

There we found the Cheyenne Cafe. Like the banner sign inside "We don't serve fast food, just good food as fast as we can make it". It turned out to be a great place. One table was  full of local ranchers chatting away and some other locals came and went. The wood on the walls has real branding iron marks burned in with the ranch name and the owners of the ranch written below them. Another sign said "We don't like Dope - or Hillary either". The food was good and coffee better.

Day 24 track

 We didn't have time to waste though so we didn't dally. We were back on the road by 7:20 AM. It was here that we turned eastward onto OR-350 for a short way before turning onto Wallowa Mountain Road. This would take us up over Wallowa Mountain, and then down the other side and into Hells Canyon. The first third of this route was pretty poor pavement with lots of potholes, cracks and other defects making it slower going than possible had it been better. The second third was actually pretty decent pavement and we ran it pretty good - as allowed by the narrow road and ever watchful for forest critters. The final third was back to poorer pavement again. Some spots were under repair, some not but you had to be ever watchful and mindful of your lines. We did take a detour of 3 miles each way up to the Hells Canyon Overlook. The ride up to the overlook was very twisty, but since we were stuck behind a trio of Harleys followed by their chase vehicle it didn't matter too much. We did spot a pair of deer cross the road out in front of the Harleys on the way up. The overlook was a bit of a disappointment for me. It was scenic alright, but you really couldn't see down through Hells Canyon...

Hells Canyon Overlook View

Hells Canyon Overlook View

Hells Canyon Overlook View

Once we left the overlook we were again headed south, still on Wallowa Mountain Road which took us down to the entrance of Hells Canyon on NF-39. There was a gate at the road with signage indicating road construction with one hour delays possible. We had heard that might be the case, but the alternative was a detour on NF-3990 which would mean 30 miles of all gravel roads! Since it was Sunday, we hoped the construction would not be running so we took NF-39. We ended up being right about the Sunday break, so no actual delays. However the road was in poor shape in places, some stretches of loose gravel and  some OK stretches. There was almost NO other traffic though and it still beat the alternative. I was unable to take photos while riding though as the road conditions demanded too much of my attention. We did come up on the Harley trio though and they were running slow enough that we decided to stop at a pull out and shed a layer of gear as the temps were now up into the low 80's.

It was about 60 miles over the Wallowa Mountain and NF-39 roads to the end of Hells Canyon. From there we took a short hop on Hwy 86 northeasterly to Oxbow where we would turn south again on Hwy 71 and now run along the west side of the Snake River.

Riding along the Snake River on the Oregon side

After about ten miles we would cross the river on a bridge just below a dam and there we would snag the Idaho State border for our I've Been Everywhere tour. It was also here that we lost an hour due to the change of time zones.

I've Been Everywhere - Idaho

From here we would continue on 71 and for the next five miles we would be following the Snake River and it was super twisty and nice pavement and no other traffic so we really enjoyed that stretch. The the road veered southeasterly, through the Payette National Forest. We came up behind that trio of Harleys and their chase vehicle. We tried to lay back, but they would slow down so much in the turns that after a while we decided we'd have to pass them. The chase vehicle gave it up easily and we both got by. Then as we came up on the third rider we got nervous about pushing him as he was using every bit of the road and occasionally off the road... We waited until there was a clear easy pass and we took him. The second rider hung on for a bit, but when Larry got by him, he backed off and waved me by. The lead rider wasn't going to make it easy. He was running right at the speed limit on the straights (which there weren't too many of) and giving no indication of letting us by. We stayed close and when a suitable straight came up Larry started the pass, but the #1 Harley rider gassed it as well, so Larry and I both had to kick in the overdrive to get by him, but we finally did. Within 30 seconds they were no longer even in our mirrors and we never saw them again after that.

Now we could enjoy the road to the fullest extent. We did that all the way to Cambridge ID where 71 ended and we picked up US-95. 95 swung east for about 15 miles before turning northerly at Mesa where we would now be running along the edge of the Payette National Forest. It was coming up on 11:00 AM and the town ahead were getting sparse so we decided to stop for lunch in Council ID. We found a cafe right on our route named Seven Devils Cafe. There were three 12+ point buck head mounts hanging on the walls. Yup, we're in Idaho. Lunch was OK, a bit pricey for what we got but that happens out in the boonies. We finished up lunch and when we got out the the bikes it was now into the 90's so we soaked our shirts before heading out.

After lunch we continue northerly on US-95 all the way up to New Meadows ID where 95 goes north but we take Hwy 55 east southeast. This isn't a remarkable stretch of road. There are some nice spots of scenery along the way but the road is pretty straight and mundane and the traffic is beginning to build. We get into Cascade ID and its time for fuel. The place is absolutely abuzz with traffic. Boats, campers, trailers, people. There is a big lake name Lake Cascade and this town is one of its key access points and clearly a big tourist destination. After we get our gas its tough going on 55 with all the slow moving vehicles and so many together not many opportunities to pass. Then, as we work further south the road runs along the north fork of the Payette River. It is very scenic and the river is running very full. Lots of rafts and kayaks, but the road is also much twistier and with so much slow moving traffic is is difficult to really enjoy. It continues along this way for quite a while. Then 55 continues south but we turn east on Banks Lowman Highway and now running along the south fork of the Payette River. Still spectacular scenery as we pass through the Boise National Forest and nice road but Sunday traffic is really dragging it down. Finally we join onto Hwy 21 at Lowman. The traffic has lessened considerably, but the road is still very twisty and it only takes one vehicle to hold things up. We end up behind a pair and for many miles we are just stuck (we  might have been able to pass illegally but we didn't try. Eventually we would finally get a long enough straightaway with no oncoming traffic and we got by the dallying duo.

Free and clear at last on the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Highway

We finally get to our hotel in Stanley Id. Here's the view from our room.

View of the Sawtooth Mountains from our room in Stanley

Today's Stats: 337.3 miles in 8:53 elapsed time, 6:58 saddle time

Man, what a ride!