Monday, September 2, 2013
Monday morning dawned just as beautiful as the day before. The night before Dave had heard about a pancake feed going on at the local Lion's Club and picked up a flier for it. So since everyone was invited we decided we were too and skipped making our own breakfast. It was a nice huckleberry pancake feed with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. It was a great breakfast. After that it was time to hit the road again.
We took off about 10 till 9am heading east on 86 again. We stayed on that until we go to the turn off to the Wallawa Mountain Loop road (NF-39). This was twisty road that winds through the Eagle Cap Wilderness and ends up in Joseph. While it was nice and twisty, the road isn't maintained year round so there was some rough spots and gravel here and there. So we took our time going through it. I loved it though because it was so scenic. Lots of people camped here and there either fishing or bowhunting.
In fact, when leaving the Old West Scenic Bikeway the day before we saw a really nice looking bull elk in the back of a guy's pickup. Anyways, about halfway through, we came upon a turn off for an overlook for Hell's Canyon that Dan had remembered. We took that and boy are we glad we did. What a view! We walked around taking pictures and then stopped at a picnic table right on the edge and had a little bit of a devotional time led by Tim. What a great location to sit and discuss God's character among the glory of His creation.
Forty minutes later we got back on the road again entering Joseph and then I decided that everyone should see Wallowa Lake while we were here. Tim was sort of wondering where the heck I was headed, but it's just down the road a few miles and well worth the ride. On the way back we stopped in Joseph for lunch. (I've been to Joseph and Wallawa Lake before - check out the Memorial Day 2012 page.) After lunch Dan split off from us to head home. By the time we left around 1pm we could see that clouds were starting to gather. I was hoping that it'd hold off until we pass through Rattlesnake gorge, but well before we got there it started up.
We already had our rain gear on and it wasn't cold, but we just had to take it slower in the corners. But just as I discovered in Wyoming earlier in the summer, the Michelin Road Pilot 3 tires grip absurdly well. As we got into Asotin, Tim split off to visit his daughter leaving Bill, Dave, and I to continue on home. As normal we headed home through Moscow and the small farm towns to avoid 195. Dave split off at Oakesdale to hit 27 which takes him more directly into Spokane Valley. Bill and I continued on connecting on to 195 at Spangle and continued north until he dropped off at the turnoff for his house and I continued on to my house in the usual way.
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
