Day 2, Elgin to Kamiah....

The old Stampede Inn in Elgin isn't what it used to be a few years ago. My room was dirty and not well taken care of all the way around and I noticed a HUGE spider web in the corner above the curtain...big! Like the kind that had been there for months. 

All this downgrades the room from a $68 room to a $45 room, but they are still charging $68. I tend to stay in budget hotels on my rides, but the Stampede Inn is getting a little too budgety for the money. 

I got up this morning and rode about an hour to Joseph, OR. I picked a spot for breakfast that had lots of cars in front of it and the place was packed which is usually a good sign. Just after I sat down at the only available table (@ the time), two other riders walked in and scanned the place for an open table. Having plenty of room I waved them over. 

Turns out these two were down from British Columbia. I forgot their names...I really need to work on that. We'll call them Hans and Frans for now. Nice guys. The one on the left has been riding for years and knew most of the roads in Or, Wa, Id, and Mt. Great to have some conversation while scarfing down a good breakfast. 

Left the motel at 8:00, got to breakfast place at 9:00, didn't get out of there until quarter after ten. Busy, but worth the wait. 

Jospeh is not at all like it used to be 15 years ago. It looks more like 23rd in NW Portland than a small country town now.  There are so many little boutique shops you can't hardly tell what is what. I suppose that makes the money. 

I headed SE out of Joseph over the mountains and down into Hells Canyon near Halfway (the town).  

This is a panoramic view from a viewpoint on the way down from the West side. 

At the bottom there's a big dam. You follow the river a ways and cross over another (below) and then you're in idaho. 

The road leading up out of the canyon on the Idaho side was paved with a yellowish colored rock. Wierd stuff. It also proved to be a little slicker than most pavement. I broke my rear tire loose a couple of times in the sharper corners. I wasn't expecting that on dry pavement. Maybe that explains the 25 MPH speed limit that went on for miles. Apparently a power company owns the road and the land so they make the rules. 

Even at lower speeds that road out of the canyon was endlessly twisty. 

Once you get out of the canyon, your on to Idaho highways. In many cases that means 65 mph speed limits on two-lane highways. Whoo-hoo! The FJR gets to stretch it's legs again!!

I stopped in Riggins,ID for lunch. The big Salmon and Little Salmon rivers meet in Riggins and they have jet boat races up the Salmon River. Unfortunately not today tho... 

The next bit of fun came with White Bird Grade. 

(Another panorama pic)

White Bird used to be the main route over the pass, but has since been replaced by a more modern highway that pretty much goes straight over the pass. Old cars couldn't pull those hills, so White Bird has a ton of super tight hairpin switch backs leading up the hill. To make it even better, most of the corners were pretty steeply banked. The tightly banked corners and pretty good pavement made for an awesome ride. Whitebird may even be better than The Old Spiral Highway over near Lewiston. Glad I took the scenic route!

This is part of White Bird on my GPS. Those corners are sharp!

I pulled over near the top to take a break and noticed the whole area is laden with these bushes. They produce some sort of fruit that is slightly larger than a cherry, and has an orange-yellow color to it. This particular bush was hanging out over a fairly steep cliff so I didn't risk trying to pick any of them. Maybe my Aunt Carol will know what they are. 

After White Bird, I took the North Idaho Grade which took me down into the Clearwater River valley. Even after the curvy downhill grade, the road following the Clearwater River was nothing but sweapers for 30 miles all the way out through Kooskia and into Kamiah where I stopped for the night. 

While riding down the Clearwater valley, I had a medium sized Black Bear run up out of the river and splash across the road in front of me and up the bank into the bushes. As I rode further I realized that I've seen more Bears on my bike than all the other times combined. Cool to see but I didn't stick around long. Never know where Momma or Papa Bear mighy be. 

Staying at the Clearwater 12 motel in Kamiah. Huge step up from the Stampede Inn, yet it only costs $7 more. I'll sleep better tonight. 

$18 ribeye for dinner again at The Hub in Kamiah. Ready for bed now. 

Tomorrow it's over Lolo Pass and into Montana and East Glacier for the night.