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2 weeks
4280 km / 2675 miles
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Late August 2016 Jayne
and I rode from Portland, Oregon straight east. We
decided to do the first 300 miles by interstate, just
to cover some ground the first day. We avoided
Interstates for the rest of the trip. Our first and
main goal was Hells
Canyon in north east oregon. From there we
rode south to the ghost
town of Silver City, in Idaho. We continued
east to Bruneau
Bunes and City
of
Rocks. Then we rode north along the scenic
byways of Sawtooth and Salmon
River with stops in Custer
ghost town and then Fort
Missoula in Montana. Back west again to Wallace, Idaho,
and south again along Lake
Coeur
d'Arlene back to Hells Canyon. Further west
through eastern Oregon to the Painted
Hills and Mount
Hood
National Forest.
A lot of our friends aske Idaho? Why
Idaho? To be honest, we didn't know what to
expect, but we wanted to go because we hadn't been
there before, and I had just finished reading "The
Big Burn" which largely took place in Idaho
in 1910. It turned out that Idaho is a beautiful
State, especially the middle section. Very remote in
places, with lots of fantastic canyons. We ended up
calling this trip the Canyon
Trip.
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The best time for such a trip is
summer, since some of the areas are on high elevations
and snow must be expected until late spring and already
again in late fall.
The road conditions are generally good. Even
most of the gravel roads are in decend conditon. The
roads to and from Silver City, ID are the exeption and
off-road experience and high clearance is needed.
In terms of safety wild animals and wildfires
are probably the greatest thread. Not only bears can
be dangerous, but mountain lions and even
racoons can be dangerous. We always left our food
in locked aluminum
panniers when camping. In regards to wildfires
it is advisable to ask at ranger stations about
current conditions and expected fire direction.
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Before the trip we were worried if the
trip could happen at all because of all the large
wildfires in the area. We decided to start
anyway and be ready to change plans along the way, if
needed.
We stopped at several ranger stations along the way to
ask about current fire conditions and exact fire
locations.
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We had planned for an early
departure, for once, but due to a
dead battery on my bike we didn't get
started after noon, again.
We rode
interstate I84 until past La Grande, OR and
made it to a campground
at the Anthony Lakes
in the Little Alps just before nightfall.
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| Highway
86 from Baker City towards Hells Canyon
wasn't very interesting at first, but soon got
better. |
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As we started to climb
hills and small mountains the
riding got more fun and it opened some nice
views.
The second night
we stayed at Copperfield
Campground.
A great place with showers and all for cheap.
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| The road through the actual Hells Canyon
is a dead end road. It's all paved and a lot of
fun with lots of sweepers and beautiful views. |
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