July Drive 2013

[bcj]

Monday July 22, 2013

Taking another vacation drive this July 22-27 (2013).
Plan is to cruise around the northwestern states - WA, ID, MT (western).

Started off this morning (monday) eastbound on WA 410 over the Cascades past Mt. Rainier.
All the local Seattle area roads are going to have to wait for pics from somone not from here.
I go past local things all the time that have diminished wonderment values

Some pics that I did take then:
Cayuse Pass. First Tipasoo Lake viewpoint with a shot back west to Mt. Rainier.



Next The downgrade off Cayuse to the east side of the pass.



I Joined up with WA 12 near Natches and followed that through to Clarkston WA.
I had never been along this lower stretch of 12 so thought I'd do some exploring.
East of Pasco is all new territory along that road.
A lot of wheat and similar to the Palouse farther east, but taller valleys.



Once I got to Clarkston, I turned back west on 193 (Wawawai Road) down the lower Snake River.
It's known to the locals as a low traffic route with fair surface for runs from Pullman or Lewiston.



Wound up in Pullman this evening.
Planning on 12 again tomorrow from Lewiston ID to Missoula MT over Lolo Pass.
Pre drive appetizer will be the Old Spiral Highway into Lewiston in the morning.

[humfrz]

WOW - great time of year for a fun trip in this beautiful country, with a fun car ....

Thanks for sharing!

humfrz

[bcj]

Wrote up another one last April - down the coast and back with excursions.
Think that was before you joined.

West Coast Trip

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by bcj

Wrote up another one last April - down the coast and back with excursions.
Think that was before you joined.

West Coast Trip

Nice trip ...... except for some "weather" you ran into....

I've made that trip in our MX-5 and plan on road tripping down that way in August in our FR-S.

Good to see someone else is using their cars for road trips ....

humfrz

[SLEEPER WRX]

I'm a California native and have lived my whole life here, except for 3 years I lived in Yakima WA.
Thanks for the post, the pictures, and the Eastern WA memories.
I caught all of your last trip through my neck of the woods - that gave me the idea to do Carmel Valley Road.

[bcj]

Tuesday July 23, 2013

Took the Old Moscow Road out of Pullman this morning. Turns out they're re-surfacing.
About 8 miles were gravel up to the Idaho border just outside Moscow. Giggidy :/

Took 95 south from there to Lewiston. Picture of the Old Spiral Highway from the top



This used to be the only way to get down the cliff from the north.
The surface is very clean and in good repair though as it doesn't get as much use.
It's been replaced by a four lane freeway now though.

Headed east on 12 up the Clearwater River and then shooting up the Lochsa River to Lolo.
It's a nice drive and most other drivers kept up the pace (50 mph). There are frequent turnouts.
In Idaho (along there at least) it's illegal to delay 3 vehicles rather than 5 (WA).

Clearwater River



Lochsa River



About 35 miles from Lolo Pass they put down fresh chipseal last week for about 15 miles. Dissapointed.
Had to slow down below posted speed to keep from flinging so much gravel into the bodywork.
It cleared up 20 miles from the pass. Nice grip from there to the top.



On the Montana side of the pass they chipsealed about 3 weeks ago.
Still some loose rocks, but not nearly as much. The Montana posted speed is 70
Have to be careful though, some corners with adv35 can sneak up on you fast (+chipseal).

[bcj]

Originally Posted by SLEEPER WRX

that gave me the idea to do Carmel Valley Road.

What did you think of it? Too goat trailish, or was it entertaining?

thanks.

[humfrz]

Nice pictures .....

That "zebra" trailer is something else .....

It appears that you do not have splash guards/mud flaps on your car. Do you wish you had them ... ??

humfrz

[SLEEPER WRX]

Goat trailish - no
Entertaining - no
Beautiful - yes - especially the part closer to Monterey
I did it end of April, everything was green and blooming

[bcj]

Didn't like the black mudguards. There's some red ones available I guess. Don't like those either.
Suppose I might get some OEM eventually, but I'd like to dip them white.

Don't see much in the way of chipping by the tires.
I slowed down from the noise of stikes on the fender wells and underbody.

[bcj]

Wednesday July 24, 2013

Eastbound out of Missoula: took 200 out to Milltown where I turned north on 83.
This road traverses the Swan Valley through mostly National Forrest land.
Decided to go this way rather than take straight lines through farmland north of Missoula.

83 is a very nice road though the woods with good surface and nice sweepers.
Montaaaannnnaaaa Ruuullleessseses! Was able to make some nice progress.
There's 60 and 70 limits on two lane backroads that would be 35 or 40 back in Washington.



Today the objective was Going To The Sun Hwy in Glacier National Park.
Last I was up there in the 90's the weather was crud with occasional feh,
so didn't get much in the way of pictures or an enjoyable experience.





This time the weather was beautiful! They're still working on the roads in the park though.
Ner!
There's about a 3 mile one way section of packed dirt that requires a pilot car and a wait.
Oh well. It's the middle of vacation season and there were bound to be lots of people there.

Went up to the top from the west, then back down the same way.
There's a slightly longer one way section on the east side still in progress too.

Stopped off in Kalispell this evening. Heading back west on 2 tomorrow.

Going To The Sun bug collection



Going To The Sun mud from construction - they were watering the road to hold down dust.

[x96nax]

Very nice! Almost feels like I'm there with you lol

[SneakyPete]

Love your pics! Looks like you had a great time.

[Skywgn1]

It would be nice to see you hit lower Idaho. There will be B.A.S.E. jumpers in the morning. You could then headup to Sun Valley (boring) and over Galena Summit (pretty damn good) into Stanley. From there take the old highway into Idaho City (hold on!) and then Boise. Take the freeways back. So far the pics are great.