bcj - road trips

[bcj]

Head of the bay local display of seasonal orientation.

They / Them ... or sommat



other side of the road

[bcj]

Finally got around to getting out of the house.
Decided a Tuesday - Wednesday road trip was in order before the local forests decide to start smoking locally.
Also to avoid the 4July madding crowds.

Another thing was to get a flat of Rainier cherries to pit and dehydrate while watching the Tour de France again.

Was going to wait until after the commuter traffic abated later in the day, but I woke up at 5:30am anyway.
Got to the boat and was easily able to get right on. No waiting in line for the next boat.

Got up over the hill at Edmonds and on to I5. A lot of commuter traffic to Boing in Everett, but once I got past there, the road cleared off and there weren't so many people going in the same direction.
Hopped off at Arlington to take Hwy 530 past Oso and Darrington to where it meets Hwy 20 at Rockport.

Again, hardly any traffic going the same way and a beautiful wooded drive.
Was going to stop off for a pic at Oso, but it's in the middle of a curve and no real way to turn around once I passed it.
The rest of the road was smooth for WA standards in the backwoods.

There were a couple of work zones or re-paving going on with one-way access and pilot trucks, but they didn't take long.
Both on 530 and 20 though the weekday traffic wasn't a monster mess.
The linked curves through the trees are fun.

Stopped off at the Washington Pass rest stop (recommended) for a couple pics off the ledge overlooking the switchback below and views over the valley on the east side.







Continued down to Winthrop for lunch at the burger bar on a deck over the mini-golf course.

Saw another twin going the other way through Twisp
More curves through gulch farms and canyons down to Pateros and the Columbia.

Got to Chelan and took a drive up to Manson to look around.
They're building a lot of new housing there, and elsewhere around the lake.
It's mostly high dollar view lots, but they're ALL on mostly vertical properties, since all the nominally flat spaces have already been built on.
High dollar finishes everywhere.



Then up the other side of the lake to Chelan State Park and back.
Got some teriyaki and hard cider to go back to my room and air conditioning.
It was HOT. About 6, some weather rolled through with thunder and lightning and
a few sprinkles.
I went out and squeegeed the bug guts off the windows with some glass cleaner while they were wetted down.

Next morning I took 97a down to Wenatchee to pick up cherries.
The stand was closed until 9 so I hit up the Costco in East Wenatchee for gas.
Back at the stand, fruit was procured and headed back west on 2.

Stopped in Cashmere for a breakfast bagel and latte then back on 2 west.

At Levenworth, on the east end of town I turned off 2 to the Chumstick Hiway.
It follows the Wenatchee river, mostly, up to Lake Wenatchee.
Fun winding between the huge Ponerosa Pines. Reminds me of pinball.




Stopped off on a rest area on 2 on the east side of the pass and found the only place in the lot that had a bit of shade for bagle and coffee.



Over Stevens Pass, still mostly free of tourist traffic.
A few heavy haulers even pulled over to let quicker traffic flow freely (WHAT?).

Turned off 2 at Monroe for the road to Woodinville, Bothel and Lake City.
Took the road from there to Edmonds to grab the boat back across to the end of beyond.
I was going to wait until later in the evening after the commuter rush, but I made such great time in the pass I was able to get on the 1:35pm boat with ease.

Seattle over the northwest end of town and a murky shot of Rainier.

[bcj]

Star, Idaho
Friday Oct. 6th 2023

While waiting for my nephew's wedding this weekend, I decided to have a look around at the local backroad conditions.

About 9am I started north on 16 over a large ridgeline. At the top is viewpoint showing off Emmett and it's environs. Partway down the grade was the Fireball Speedway, packed out with motorhomes and pitcrews. Looked busy.

Started east from Emmett on 52 to Horseshoe Bend. It follows along Black Canyon and Black Canyon Dam. Once at the Bend, it was only 10am and going back downhill would be inadequate.

Headed north on 55 to Banks where I turned east on the Banks-Lowman Road.

It starts out following the Payette River through a steep winding gorge and 50 posted speed. Yeah. Eventually it screws down to 40 and even more twisty and rockbound.













Lowman sits in a wide valley bottom where the road from Banks meets up with 21 that starts in Stanley.

I turned south back toward Boise though due to time constraints. 21 south immediately shoots up a range on extremely fresh pavement with more turns than seems possible.

One of the best roads I've found yet for 86 action. Even now, goosebumps. Rate: 1 WOW. Not a fraction.







At the top of the hill, there was a pullout with a handy rustic notification:

"Phone Hot Spot - Verizon"
Have to angle it right and hold your tounge just so with the other hand.



On the south side of the hill, seems a different county fixes the road. Not at all bad. Just not freshly laid asphalt. Same assortment of twists and contours. Much enjoyed.

Coming down through Idaho City, it's very evident that the whole valley bottom was dredge mined for gold. Row upon row of gravel and cobbles washed and dumped by conveyer belts while moving up the stream.

Closer to Boise, Arrow Rock Reservoir (man made dam) has been drawn completely down and you can see lines of silt where the water level has dropped down progressively. There was some road construction here, but I got there just as they got the line moving again.







Seems the current border of the greater Boise municipal area stops abruptly at Hwy 21. Multi-level condominums and cookie cutter HOA home developments are on the west side of the road and to the east, nothing but prarie and sage brush.


Sunday Oct. 8th

Went east from Star along 44 to Eagle where I went a few blocks north to West Hill Road. Followed that along til it turns into East Hill Road at Seaman Gulch. Stayed on Hill down into the old part of Boise.

Wanted to take a look at the "Highlands" since all the house flipping shows say that it's the expensive part of town. At Camel's Back Park I turned up N Sunset Peak Rd. It soon turns into gravel, but goes up a bit higher than the Highlands where I can look back down at it.
Some damn big houses up there. Lots of "Architecture" and the like.

The gravel road was very well graded with only a bit of washboarding in a few places.

Next headed a bit further SE to E Mountain Cove Rd. through Old Fort Boise Military Reservation. Another road that soon turned to gravel, about in the same state as the other.

At the bottom was a very extensive offroad bicycle tracks, both paved and unpaved with ramps and lots of structure to play with.





On the way back to the local house, I took a drive up to Bogus Basin. A winding road up to the ski area above Boise. Nice drive and curvy, but busy with RVs, bicycles and tourists turning around in inappropriate places.
Saw one huge house on a rock on the way up.



Up at the ski area there are some vistas over the Treasure Valley. Not a lot of smoke right now, which was good.





Monday I hit the road back home at 6am and drove a solid 8 hours straight back to Seattle. No breakdowns or holdups the whole way. I think the Monday traffic was preferable to weekend hollibobbers trundling back home.

[Dzmitry]

Originally Posted by bcj

Star, Idaho

Beautiful!