September 9, 2012

Timberwolf Mountain

Based on a tip from southbound WABDR riders, we followed the “easy” path around Bethel Ridge and took the side trip up to Timberwolf Mountain. It was spectacular.

Timberwolf Mountain — We went to the mountain top.

Timberwolf Summit view — 360 view of this.

Glider flying — A father and his son were flying radio controlled gliders in the thermals...check out the glider on the left.

Glider transport

Timberwolf summitt

Morning view from Timberwolf

Craig on Timberwolf

Mike on Timberwolf

Outhouse on Timberwolf

Sunrise on Timberwolf

September 9, 2012

Let’s get rolling

Here’s our total route for the southern half of the tripâ€¦

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Start of the trip — Southern start of the WABDR: WA side of "The Bridge of the Gods"

Pavement ends — Pavement ends. And say hi to Mike as you go past.

Forest road — Typical forest road on the southern section

Mike in motion

Dust nap — Time for a nap. I have, ah, 5 of these across the trip.

September 9, 2012

WABDR: prologue

WABDR is short for the “Washington Backcountry Discovery Route”, which is a series of forest roads that run along the eastern side of the Cascades between the Columbia River and the border with Canada. The plan was to start from the south and get as far as we could across a long Labor Day weekend. In order to start at the beginning, we first have to get there.

1200GS moto dashboard — Entering Mt. Rainier National Park

Climbing to Chinook Pass — Climbing to Chinook Pass as Mt. Rainier rises on the left

Mt. St. Helens from Windy Ridge — Mt. St. Helens from Windy Ridge - use the parking lot on the lower left to get a sense of scale.

Windy Ridge — Windy Ridge: one of my favorite rides in Washington

Over the mountains and through the woods

The intrepid duo — The intrepid duo - self portraits using the old 'hold-the-GoPro-in-the-air' technique.

NF-52

Open range — Open range.

Watch out for wildlife. — Watch out for wildlife. Want to make sure this cow doesn't bolt in front of us as we passed.

Taken at the yellow dot. — Umatilla National Forest, looking west. Taken at the yellow dot.

We were here. — Our unofficial 'we were here' shot.

Butterfly Grill — Inspiration for a new restaurant name...the Butterfly Grill

Got Canyon?

Joseph — We rolled into Joseph and immediately met the Sheriff. She invited us to put our bikes on the side to let the town parade go by.

Hells Canyon Lookout — View from Hells Canyon Lookout. Other side is Idaho.

The approach to Hells Canyon Lookout — The approach to Hells Canyon Lookout.

Hells Canyon looking north.

Heading into Baker City — Heading into Baker City.

Almost done for the day — Almost done for the day.

Lights out at Union Creek — Lights out at Union Creek.