To Hell and Back
Saturday, April 18
Friday night I had reviewed my map books, and decided that I would ride to the Hells Canyon area on Saturday. Hells Canyon is an amazingly, pretty area. At its deepest point, the canyon itself is actually the deepest river gorge in North America (almost 8000' deep). The canyon was carved by the Snake River and borders Oregon and Idaho. Having never been to the area before, I was definitely looking forward to the day.
I left Joseph in the morning on Hwy 350 headed towards Imnaha. Yesterday's haze was gone, and the morning skies were a brilliant blue.
Once in Imnaha, I decided to try to take Hat Point Road to see how far I could get, but with the full expectation that I would probably get stopped by snow. The road provides some great views of the Imnaha valley and he surrounding mountain ranges.
I passed by some of the local wildlife, that didn't seem to be too concerned about me.
I kept heading up Hat Point Road, gaining elevation, and taking in the wonderful views.
Hat Point Road is supposed to take you to a really great overlook of Hells Canyon, so I was really looking forward to continuing up the road; but as I expected I soon ran into snow again.
Once again, I turned around to back down the road to Imnaha.
I hadn't filled up with gas in Joseph on the assumption I could get gas in Imnaha. I guess I shouldn't make assumptions. I stopped at the little general store to inquire where the gas station was. There was a group of locals there having their morning coffee and BS session, and they told informed me that the nearest gas was back in Joseph. But one of the guys said he could afford to give me some from one his extra gas cans, so I followed him to his house just down the street and was able to fill up.
My plan now was to go north from Imnaha and take the Dug Bar road which leads through the mountains and all the way down to the Snake River. I asked the locals about the condition of the Dug Bar road since I've never ridden it before. As it turns out, just two weeks earlier a truck on a church group outing had gone over the edge rolling 350' down a cliff, killing a youth pastor and leaving a teenager in a coma. Luckily several others in the truck had been able to jump out near the top. So the locals were playing up how rough it was, but the one that sold me some gas said it shouldn't be a problem on the GS.
The Dug bar road indeed has some sections that are fairly narrow (although wide enough for a car to make it), and much of it winds around the edges of some very steep and deep cliff edges. Most of the road is in pretty decent shape. Towards the end, it has some rocky sections; but it's definitely passable on the GS and was really an incredibly fun ride.
Leaving Imnaha, the road is paved for about the first 6 miles. Then it turns to dirt and starts winding up the mountains.
In the pic above, you can see the Dug Bar road winding its way up the hills. Looks like fun!
Eventually, the road winds east and then south, and you get your first glimpses of the Snake River.
The road begins descending towards the river and ends up at Dug Bar, which has a small airstrip and a boat launch area.
Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera started dying about the time I reached Dug Bar. I spent about a 1/2 hour there, eating a snack and drinking some water; and then it was time to ride the 26 miles back to Imnaha.
I managed to coax just a few more pictures out of my camera on the way back.
I made it back to Imnaha, back to Joseph, Enterprise and then north on Hwy 3 towards Washington. Hwy 3 passes through the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and is another very pretty rode for motorcycles. Once it crosses the Washington border, Hwy 3 becomes Hwy 129. Just after crossing the Grande Ronde River, Hwy 129 becomes a nice twisty highway that is super fun on the GS.
After reaching Clarkston/Lewiston, I tried calling my wife. She raises and shows English Mastiff dogs, and was in Lewiston for a dog show; but she didn't answer. So I decided to head start heading west to make Sunday's ride back home a little shorter. I made it to Kennewick and stopped for the night at a La Quinta Inn.