The Old Guys Are Wilting

One of the things about riding more than 500 kilometres in heat that is north of 100 degrees F. is that by the end of the day you are done like dinner.  Yesterday we rode 516 kilometres putting us over 1000 since we started on Wednesday morning.  For the whole day all the rock outcroppings were the same as the volcanic rock that we started to see north of Omak, WA.  The whole area was covered by the Columbia River flood basalts more than fourteen million years ago and covers more than 164 000 square kilometres in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.  The amount of lava that erupted is absolutely incomprehensible.  It has been estimated that the lava in this are could cover the continental US under 12 metres of lava.  The deposits were still visible during the early part of today's ride.  As I said earlier, the geology of this part of the world is gargantuan.

 

As it was last year, the GPS is proving to be invaluable.  When we want to find a place or get on the right highway, I program it in, and Voila!, unless I don't read the display properly, we go where we're supposed to go.  When you are in places you've never seen before your stress level is reduced considerably.  And it is wonderful to know how far you have to go, especially when you are fighting 100F degree heat.

 

Ready to leave Ontario

 

We left Ontario, OR at about 9:00 a.m. heading for Meridian, ID and the H-D dealer there.  One of the things that Harley riders do is check out dealerships along the way.  High Desert H-D is a huge dealership.  There must have been more than two hundred bikes on display inside the store and in the lot out front.  When we walked in the door a middle-aged man walked over and asked where we were from.  When I told him that Jim was from Kamloops he said, "I have to talk to that guy and ask him if he knows a small town near Kamloops."  He asked Jim if he know where Falkland was and was amazed to find out that we had ridden through Falkland on Wednesday.

 

Bikes at High Desert H-D

More bikes at High Desert H-D

 

He had quite a story having worked in several H-D dealerships in Kennewick and Spokane, WA.  He was a partner and got out before the guy took Harley for $18 million.  He had fallen in his parking lot in January and fractured his skull causing some brain damage.  To date his medical bills are more than $80 000.  When he asked me my opinion about the US medical system I told him I thought it was screwed because people cannot get care without their prohibitively expensive insurance.  He pays $1200/month for his insurance but for some reason wasn't covered for the fractured skull.  As it turned out, he was the owner of the dealership and was just checking in with two travelers who were passing through.

 

Finally, he must of figured we were safe to talk to because he gave us his opinion about President Obama, and it wasn't favourable.  He wasn't the first person who told us that today.  People here take their politics seriously but the level of venom is hard for a Canadian to understand.  There is a subtext when people refer to the President as a 'community organizer' instead of a Harvard Law School graduate, editor of the Harvard Law Review, or constitutional law professor.  Part of it has to do with him being a Democrat, but I think there's more to it than that, and I'll leave it to you to read between the lines to get my meaning.

 

We stopped at the Mountain Home, ID, Walmart to buy more Power-ade since we were going through it quickly.  We met a couple in the parking lot who asked us where we were riding and who suggested rides to do if we had the time.  He rode a Gold Wing and she rode an 1100 Honda Ace.  Unfortunately we don't have the time to do those rides but they sounded like a lot of fun and worthwhile doing.  Just as we were leaving I snapped this picture of someone who wanted to make their politics quite clear.  They must be really disappointed with how the November election came out! 

 

I wonder how they really feel?

 

We got off I-84 and on to Route 20, a secondary road with a speed limit of 65 mph.  We took it easy doing just below 60.  The land here is desolate.  The views are great but what surprises me is that in the middle of nowhere there will be a house which is miles from the nearest neighbor.  I wonder why people would choose to live so far from the conveniences of a city but obviously some do.

 

Isolated farm below a rock bluff about 20 km from Mountain Home, ID

 

This is arid country

Jim patiently waiting for me to take pictures.

 

The road climbed over the mountains and we gained elevation rapidly.  At one point we were just under 1700 metres above seal level.  At one of the viewpoints we met a couple from Salem OR.  They had been travelling in their camper for two weeks and were heading home.  We spent a few minutes chatting before moving on.

 

The couple from Salem, OR.

 

Looking back the way we came.

 

Last year as we travelled Garry and I saw an incredible amount of road kill.  This year, fortunately we have seen far fewer dead animals and the ones we have seen have been smaller except for a couple of deer.  We've seen gophers, birds, and today, I believe we saw a badger on the side of the road although Jim thinks it could have been a marmot.  Occasionally a gopher will play the odds and race across the highway tempting fate.  I wonder if they do that to relieve the boredom of being a gopher.  A highlight of our ride today was seeing a pronghorn antelope cross the road in front of me.  It was close enough that I had to hit the brakes to give him room to cross.

 

Between the two small villages of Hill City and Fairfield we stopped so I could take some pictures.  While we were there a guy in an ice cream truck stopped and started to talk to us.  He recommended several rides including one over Galena Pass into central Idaho.  He said that it was a great ride with all kinds of small towns that were worthwhile seeing, "except for Ketchum. It's full of damned liberals."  Another person who obviously isn't a President Obama fan.

 

Rural scene near Fairfield, ID

Sawtooth Mountains?

Sawtooth Mountains?

The 'damned liberals' guy.

 

Sometimes you come across unusual names that stick.  One small place was called Picabo (pronounced Peekaboo) just like the American alpine skier, Picabo Street.  At a rest stop we met a rider who gave us advice on more rides in Idaho.  We have found that people are quite willing to talk to us and offer suggestions about where we could ride.  For the most part people have been quite friendly, but then we don't give them reason not to be.

 

The goal of today's ride was to visit The Craters of the Moon National Monument, a lava field that was laid down in eruptions that occurred from 15 000 to 2100 years ago.  The lava fields stretch up to 45 miles from the vents and there are cinder cones, lava tubes, and a variety of different lavas.  We stopped at the visitor centre then rode the loop.  Where we saw a variety of features.  Being black rock and with the sun shining directly on it, the heat was intense.

 

Views of the lava field

Cinder cone in Craters of the Moon

Spatter cone

Pahoehoe lava

A'a lava

 

At this point we decided to call it a day and try to get a room in Arco, ID, about 30 kilometres from the lava fields.  We stopped at the D-K Motel and were able to get a room for a reasonable price.  Even though our goal was to reach Idaho Fall, after 416 kilometres we felt that it was a big enough day so we stopped with no regrets.  There were already four motorcycles parked there so it felt OK. 

After unpacking we headed for a restaurant for a chicken dinner.  While we were there I noticed a man walking out the door with a semi-automatic pistol in a holster on his belt.  It was quite an unusual sight for a Canadian who is unused to seeing anyone other than police and military carrying sidearms.  Idaho has what is called 'open carry' laws which means that as long as the firearm is visible one does not need a permit to carry it and this guy was exercising his right to do so.

 

For a small town probably more than 700 miles as the crow flies, from the Pacific Ocean, it was unusual to see a submarine conning tower and a torpedo on a park.  Idaho is quite a religious state so it struck me as ironic that the sail had the number 666 in three foot high numerals.  The torpedo was a Mark XIV model which was the standard torpedo in use in the US Navy from the late 1920s until 1969 and which was used primarily in the war against Japan.

 

The sail of the USS Hawkbill (SSN 666)

 

Mark XIV torpedo on display

 

Across the highway from the motel, there is a rock bluff with numbers all over it. Locally it is called 'The Number Hill' and each of the number represents a graduation year.  The custom was started by the graduating class from Butte County High School in 1920 and has continued ever since.  Some of the numbers are from the '20s and 30s but they seem suspiciously well preserved.  One of the locals told me that whenever a class reunion too place the class would pay to have the numbers repainted.  He said that the Bureau of Land Management wanted to take the numbers off but the public outcry was so strong that they relented.

 

 

 

 

The Number Hill, Arco, ID

 

As I came back to the motel I met four guys and we started a conversation.  One was from Florida, another from Alabama, but the others didn't say.  One guy rode his Victory from Washington State to Missoula where he met the other three who rented H-Ds from Grizzly H-D for about $100 a day.  They are riding for a week or so like they do every year, then they return their bikes and go their own ways.  It seems like a good way to do things.

 

The conversation turned to politics as it seems to do quite often here and the guy from Alabama expressed his disdain for 'the community organizer in the White House.'  There seems to be a common theme in that people who don't like the President seek to demean him and delegitimize him by describing him in terms that minimize his accomplishments.  I don't know what is behind this 'take no prisoners' attitude but the election is over and it would seem to me that the country would be best served by working together rather than continuously trying to oppose and cripple the winner.  That's a knife that cuts both ways as the Republicans will no doubt find out if they ever win the White House again.

 

So, tomorrow we are planning to ride to Idaho Falls then to Jackson Hole, WY.  We plan on taking it pretty easy and staying south of Jackson Hole so we can make a run into Yellowstone Park on Sunday.  The trip is going well and when we get into the higher elevations of Yellowstone the temperatures may be a but lower than they are here because the heat is taking a toll on the old guys.  Wearing leathers in this heat is a young man's game but we're still trying.