Ride #3 OR-NV-ID-MT Dams Aug 6, 2011

It was a dark and cloudy morning, typical I’d say for the Everett area at 4 AM on Aug 6, 2011.  I headed out the door, topped off the tank and zoomed over to the rest stop to meet up with my riding partner Lloyd Gardner.  I got there a few min early so I fiddled around with this and that, made sure my GPS was set for our first target – the Roza diversion dam in Yakima Canyon about 3 hours away.

            Lloyd showed up and we were off at our 4:30 departure time and whisking down I-5 to 405 then east on I-90.  We both had liners in our coats and pants and we needed them over Snoqualmie pass at those early hours of the morning and I enjoyed it as I knew later in the day we’d be on a slow simmer!  Snoqualmie pass has a fair bit of construction and we were fortunate to zip on through without being held up.

            By the time we reached Ellensburg and our cut off to Canyon road the sun was starting to rise and it was beautiful.  The colors in the canyon were perfect for taking great landscape photos but we were on a mission and had many miles to go so I just soaked in the colors and pressed on to our destination.  Upon arrival of the GPS coordinates I could hardly see the dam in the distance and there was a dirt road down to the dam.  Lloyd mentioned we could get our photo right here so we got the gear out and took a few shots then hopped on and headed up the hillside where I thought we could get a much better photo and… we stopped again and took a few more shots.

 

Now lets blast on out to the freeway and head SE towards Heppner, OR for our next victim (Willow Creek Dam).  One of our goals for this trip was to avoid the freeway as much as possible but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do so we hit Hwy 82 south to the Grandview area where we pulled off for some gas.  (There is a “Free right turn” sign at the exit which I think is so funny I need to stop and take a photo.)  We got gas at the Shell station then zipped across the street to McD’s for a wash-up and quick breakfast before scooting to the next exit or so at Prosser where we got off the freeway and up the hill onto county highway 221 which goes through farming country, rolling hills, plenty of dust on windy days and you can see for miles and miles.  When you approach the Columbia river area you drive right past the Columbia Crest Winery  (just north of Paterson WA).   East on county hwy 14 and we’re back on Hwy 82 heading south over the mighty Columbia River into Oregon.

In Oregon we continue on I-82 a few miles to I-84 east to the Hermiston Highway (207).  Along this county 2 lane road you can see windmills doting the land to the west.  If you are lucky you can see Mt Hood or Mt Adam along the route too.  This is a continuation of rolling hills and farm country.  After 33 miles we hit the small town of Lexington and then head SE towards Hepner.  The Dam “Willow Creek” is just SE of town and actually part of the town.  We meander our way through town and come upon this HUGE dam.  

 It is quite toasty by now and I take off my jacket and pants liners.  We take photos and start heading back out to the town.  Now we’re both thinking if this dam ever breaks the entire town will be wiped out completely, it is crazy that they built the dam (or town) right there but that’s the way it is.  Since we (Lloyd and I) were not completely sure which way outta town to the next set of roads we wanted to drive on I spotted a young hottie and pulled over for directions.  With her dark gray painted fingernails she motioned and gave us the directions we needed to get out to Willow Creek road.  As we zipped up the road we had this vision of Deja Vu again.  Of course another great shot of the Dam or a better shot of the dam so, we stopped again and took a few more shots. 

Ok, now back on the bikes toward Ukiah.  The road along the reservoir was nice and we twisted and turned until we were high up in the hills and after a little while the rolling hills and baron landscaped turned to some rocks here and there and pine trees.  To me it was starting to get beautiful.  Up and down we went and were making good time.  Lloyd led us right on down to the small community of Ukiah right off hwy 395.  Back in Hepner I ask Lloyd if he wanted to get gas and it was determined to head on to Ukiah.  I felt we should have done it because it would have been cheaper but… ya takes your chances.  Lloyd was getting low on fuel and we had roughly 100 miles to Baker City, He asked where the gas station was and I pointed out to a dumpster across the street and said over there.  (I think is was some guy who had a 5 gal pail of fuel to pour into Lloyds bike – ha, ha, ha).  Of course gas was about $50/gal but we filled up anyway.   As I was approaching the window of the building to pay for my fuel I see a rifle pointing out and shooting.  Well this is a small town in the middle of nowhere and this is the old west so I expect these types of things.  As I get to the window another young hottie in a spaghetti strapped top yells out that she wasn’t shootin at this guys dog but just getting close so the dog wouldn’t crap on her sign.  They were friends and it was kinda funny.  We chatted and joked as I paid and then we were off. 

Forest road (NF-052) I’d been on many times and just love it, up and down and all around.  The first time I zipped over this road was many years ago (probably 10) with my late great riding friend Jimmy Bolin and my other friend Pete Naylor.  At the time the land along the road was devastated by a fire and it was good to see that the forest was starting to come back to life with small trees all over the place.  The road was deteriorating but I kept zipping along as I was having so much fun in an area I felt quite comfortable with.  I wanted to stop at Anthony lakes as that is just a typical stop on rides through the area (When the Devlins host a ride from their place in Baker City) but I had passed the entrance to the campground before I knew it so we just headed on down to the valley below.  The temps up in the mountains was perfect for riding, upper 60’s – low 70’s but the lower we got to the valley below the higher the temps rose and it was in the mid-upper 80’s by the time we were approaching Baker City.  My friend Jim Devlin works at the John Deere dealer and I wanted to stop in and say “Hi” but the place looked deserted for a Saturday so we went into town and stopped for lunch at the local Subway.  Of course as we pull in everybody and their brother decided to pull in too but we got our food quickly and enjoyed the air conditioning. 

Back out to the heat and onto I-84 for the jaunt down to Ontario, OR.  A fellow long distance rider unfortunately passed away on a Rally earlier this year and has a son who is serving some time at a facility just outside of Ontario so we zipped over and Lloyd  (who has been communicating with Sam) could take a photo of the sign.  I wanted to stop in to say “Hi” but you just can’t do that kind of thing.  (There is a lengthy process involved, background checks, approval, all sorts of other crap that is obviously necessary because some idiot screwed things up for the average Joe to just go say Hi). 

Anyway, back out to 84 to the town of Caldwell Idaho where our next set of dams are.  This is one of the 4 bonus dams but the trick on this one is there are FOUR dams on this body of water that we needed photos of.  Lloyd had the points set into his GPS and I had photos of the different places printed out so between the two of us we got it figured out.  Seems there were two up near the top of lake Lowell and then 2 more on the SE side of it.  We got a little turned around here and there but managed. 

Next stop was Mountain Home for the night.  We wanted to take the back roads to skirt around south of Boise but Lloyd was hot and tired and said screw it, let’s just get back onto I-84 and beat feet to Mtn Home so we did.

The temps had reached 98 on my thermometer and I was more than just simmering, the meat was falling off the bone but both of us made it to Mtn Home and as usually Lloyd found us some inexpensive rooms.  The signs to the place were new, fresh, and upscale.   The outside the had a new paint job and was kinda cool retro.  The pool was very inviting crystal clear but food was first thing on the dock so we tossed our stuff into the rooms (which were next on the upgrade plan but not there yet…) and off to Taco Bell.

I just a soon would have liked to just blast down to Wild Horse dam in Nevada since it was still sunny but Lloyd wanted to chill which was probably for the better.  I had been bitten earlier on the legs from something so we stopped by Albertsons and I picked up some medication and we got some milk and a few other things for our early morning departure to Wild horse dam.

After a little bit of planning Lloyd determined that our next day would be a long one (in the 780 mile range – gack!).  We had to go 125 or so miles south, get Wild Horse dam then back then east and north to Dillon Montana for the next dam (Clark Canyon dam).  We hit the hay and got up around 3:30 or so and were on the road by 4:11 on my clock.

It was pitch black, no lights, no nuthin out there in the middle of southern Idaho.  It was peaceful and no wind (yeah).  We flew long the county road (51) for miles and miles.  When the road was straight for a long time we’d ride next to each other and put all our lights on so we could really see out into the darkness.  Sometimes I’d lead, sometimes Lloyd.  At one point Lloyd was just flying (I’m sure he wasn’t aware of his speed) but thankfully we were heading over a hill when a vehicle came over in our direction and zapped us with radar.  Fortunately we were at or just under the limit.  That would really be a drag to get a ticket in the middle of nowhere at 5 AM in total darkness because some cop felt the need to use his pen, grrr…

Anyway, we kept going and at one point we saw a hillside full of deer grazing in the lights then later around a bend everything in our lights was black.  I noticed that there were 7 or so wild horses in the middle of the road and flashed my lights, we both stopped while they just slowly walked across the road.  There were some young colts with the group and all were huge and beautiful.   One cool thing to see was the small desert mice that ripped across the road, they were fast along with the young small bunnies. The next bit of wildlife we saw was while Lloyd was leading and I didn’t see him point or anything as he zipped through a turn and I narrowly missed it myself.  I thought it was a raccoon but later he said he thought it was a porcupine.  I led for a while and almost hit a bunch of bats in the Wild Horse Canyon and by now the sun was starting to rise.  We made great time and got our photos of the dam, now time to turn around and head back towards Mountain Home.  I led heading back up the canyon and saw more birds & bats then at one point almost hit the porcupine and then we saw the wild horses again and this time there were some very large sage grouse in the middle of the road and as I tried to go around they moved and then took off, one of the females darn near took my head off as it freaked out.  I put my arm up to deflect the large bird but luckily didn’t hit it.  I did hit a small bird on a suicide mission a little later though.  

Now about the return mission to Mountain Home - the only problem was Lloyd didn’t have enough fuel to make it back and we looked at every gas station on the way down and only 1 looked like we could use a credit card otherwise we’d have to sit around till 8 or 9 or 10 on a Sunday morning for someone to show up.  (Remember it’s about 6 AM and we have about 650 miles to go for our stop in Missoula, MT for the night.)   As luck would have it that little mini-mart type store on the Duck Valley Indian reservation had a card reader and we filled up, cleaned our visors, had a quick bite and were now blasting north.  There was a bit of road construction on the way down and we lucked out on the way back as everybody was still sleeping so no stops. 

Just past the small community of Bruneau we turned right on Hwy 78.  A few miles down the road you can see the Bruneau Sand Dunes state park.  The dunes were HUGE and you could see them from quite a distance.  It was interesting that in this farm valley were some very large dunes that looked like someone had just dumped a bunch of sand right there but that’s the way it looked.  Shortly we were back on I-84 and heading east.  Remember we wanted to avoid the slab on this trip but since today was going to be a bun burner of a ride we needed to make some time so the freeway it was.  We did have sections of road construction that got us down to 1 lane but for the most part we made decent time.  I think our next stop was in Eden Idaho for gas and a pit stop.  There were some Harley types there fueling too.  A couple of older gentleman struck up a conversation with us and come to find out the guy I was talking to used to live up near Mt Vernon WA so I brought him up to speed on the changes to the roads and all since it was about 30 yrs ago that he lived up there. 

Off again heading east, we saw a ton of beautiful old cars and trucks on the road heading in the opposite direction and when we got to Pocatello Lloyd pulled off.  I was surprised as we were trying to go further before our next stop but he said he was tired and nodding off so another stop in at a Subway (I think it was about 10 AM), I wasn’t sure they would be open yet but we’d been up for half a day already and were ready for lunch.  Fortunately they were open and we got some lunch, I explained to the curious young guy making our sandwich about the Damtour and we ate then headed north on I-15 toward Montana.

Today we really lucked out as I thought we’d again be roasting in the sun but it was overcast most of the day and that kept the temps in the upper 70’s, which were quite tolerable.  I think our next gas stop was in Dubois.  Lloyd was still having nodding issues so he had a 5 hr energy boost drink as we talked to a guy on a nice Vmax coming back from the Testicle Festival http://www.testyfesty.com/  We were wondering where all these bikers were coming from as we thought they’d all be heading to Sturgis for that rally.   

Next stop was Clark Canyon Dam right off the freeway.  We took a few shots and the water was HIGH!  There was a picnic area and half the spots were under the water, you could see the roofs of the spots and the water was at least half way up to the roofs.  I saw a place at the bottom of the dam that would be a good shot and when we got to the road to it, we found it was dirt.  Lloyd decided to bag it and I decided to head down and got my shot down there.  I took off my jacket liner and headed back up the dirt road. 

It had been many years since I was up on this section of I-15 (probably when I did my BBG ride back in 2000 http://ironbutt.com/ridecerts/getdocument.cfm?DocID=3 )  I remember back then that at one point I got blasted by a gust of wind and was blown across the lanes into the other lane without even a blink of the eye so I wanted to be aware of this happening again.  Well sure enough at one point on this ride I got blasted with a force so hard that it ripped the back part of my tank bag loose.  I thought it was going to fly off so I grabbed it and swerved off onto the median and slowly recovered from the blast while getting back onto the freeway.  I had to hold the back end of the tank bag on an off to our next gas stop in Deer Lodge.  That section of freeway south of Butte is just plain dangerous, it looks fine but the winds are what is killer through there.

By the time we hit Deer Lodge I was starting to nod and Lloyd was feeling good so he led and I followed till we approached Missoula and I took over.  We got off the first exit and after going over the bridge hit some major road construction but managed to make it to Higgins street and then it was a straight shot basically to our home there.  We fueled up at the bottom of the hill and then had Management pull the car out of the garage so we could park the bikes and not have to remove anything.  We chilled out for a few minutes and got a little cleaned up before heading over to Applebee’s for dinner.  We slept like babies, as that was a long day.

Up early again for the ride home, Lloyd wanted to be to the freeway by 5 AM.   We would have made it on time, except his SPOT (http://www.findmespot.com/en/ ) wasn’t working right and it took AT LEAST ½ hour sitting by the side of the road while he figured out how to turn it on (ha, ha, ha) then we got on I-90 and blasted on west.  There was minimal traffic and the 30 miles of 1 lane construction near Superior was handled in quick order.

As we approached a small town (really a gas pump w/a couple houses) called De Borgia about 18 miles from the Montana – Idaho state line I noticed on the frontage road a huge animal loping along.  As I got parallel with it I saw it was a juvenal moose with long gangly legs just trotting along in the middle of the road, it was fun to see as I rarely see moose.  Going up the pass I was in the groove and smoking up the road and at one point got up to a truck that was flying also.  I let him lead, the signs say the curve is a 45 mph curve and we took them at 70-75 just crazy but I’ve done it in my truck to.  Still way early in the morning Lloyd wasn’t into it so he held back.  I saw 41 on my thermometer and was glad I had in all my liners.

Near Wallace Idaho I spied another moose in the water having breakfast and shortly there after a pair of elk having their breakfast too.  Soon we hit Post Falls, Idaho where we stopped for gas.  I was heading north to get Sullivan lake dam way up by Metaline Falls, WA just a few miles shy of the Canadian border and Lloyd was heading west towards home.  We said our goodbyes and off we went.

I decided to go through Post Falls instead of Spokane as I always hit tons of stop lights going through Spokane.  As I headed north on county road 41 I thought I had made a wrong decision with the slow traffic and lights.  I chilled out and slowly made it to Newport then Hwy 20 further north.  I never did see a sign saying I was in Washington but I was.  I arrived at the dam about 9 AM and was happy with my progress.   

I had seen a fawn at a house in the forest on my way to the dam and kept my camera ready on the way back to the main road but it was gone.  I did come across a family of wild Turkeys though and stopped to take a photo, this freaked them out and by the time I got the camera ready they were running down the road away from me so I took a few shots and chased them down, unfortunately they ran into the bush before I could stop and take another photo. 

Later I stopped at the metal grate bridge to take a few photos while a sheriff laughed at the tourist and kept on going. 

My last victim of this trip is the North Dam in the town of Electric City near the large Grand Coulee Dam.  First I needed to get there and headed west on hwy 20.  The best part of this ride was that they just finished oiling the road for chip-sealing.   

I drove easy through that section and made it to the town of Arden and then south on 395 for a few miles to Hwy 231.   What was really crazy was that I came around a curve to see a two humped camel in someone’s pasture along with some llamas.  I almost turned around to take some photos but just felt like getting home so I continued on my elevated pace.

At Reardon I headed west on hwy 20 and the rolling wheat fields are as far as the eye can see.  Some spots were brilliant green which looked nice against the brown dirt.  

 After I took the turn off NW to Electric City I saw a few folks that were riding their bikes in the middle of nowhere.  I waved and kept on going.  It was hot at Electric City and the dam but I got my shot and kept on going.  

 

I was finally on the last stretch heading home, Coulee City, Douglas, Waterville (the police were out in force there) then down the canyon to Oronodo and turning West in Wenatchee.  I was zipping along and caught up to this guy on a black Harley type bike in brown fringe leather jacket and chaps.  I waved and kept going, after roughly 200 miles or a tad more I decided to get gas in Cashmere.  I pulled over and the guy on the Harley pulled in also.  It was hot and I said Hi.  I saw the guy taking off his jacket and he said he was from Manitoba.  He asked about how to avoid Seattle.  I had a map and gave him a few ideas and then just gave him the map.  This guy was a poser big time.  He had a gorgeous bike but no luggage at all, he had never taken a trip before as he was trying to wrap up his jacket and chaps into a roll and time them to the small back pad with a leather strap.  I then got out a nice bungee cord and took it over to him.  I don’t know if he used it but he should have.  He thanked me for the map and help and I wished him luck on his ride over to the coast.

Leavenworth was the usual stop and go, I figured it would be light since it was a Monday but NO.  At the west end of time I see this flashing reader board saying that there was construction ahead and to expect waits of 20 min or more, Oh great!  Sure enough about 15 min up the road and I come around a corner and as far as I can see is stopped cars.  I have not had lunch and it was around 2-3 by now and I was starving.  I just turned off the bike and got out my jerky and water and ate and talked to other folks walking around.  I was unfortunately in an area that had no trees, cliffs on both sides and the sun was beating down on me like a rented mule.  About 1/2 hour later we were moving.  I was slightly impatient and don’t like to do it but decided that I wasn’t going to tolerate people holding up strings of cars so I started spanking them 4-5 at a time.  I must have passed a hundred cars, trucks, boats, rolling condos, etc.  I kept the pace and just spanked and spanked those cars.  At some spots I saw bicyclist heading up the pass, what the heck is that all about?  The further I went the more I saw and I waved and gave them the thumbs up.  Some waved most didn’t but I tried to encourage them.   I remembered that there is a bike ride called the 3 past blast or something like that and I’m sure this was part of that ride. 

I pulled into the house around 4:30 in the afternoon and was happy to be there.  I called my folks and hopped into my truck met my mother who was watching my dog for the weekend.  It was a long day but the family (me & the dog) is back together.  A great trip, 2100+ miles in 3 days and a bunch of dams.  Another dam adventure complete :-)