Managed to salvage one day off out of the four days I'd planned for a backcountry hike. Decided to get out of town, so I tossed my tank bag on the Triumph and headed up to the Northeast corner of the state, where I've done a little hiking and fishing over the years.
Started out in central Washington, from Wenatchee. Headed north on 97A past Lake Chelan. Cool in the morning, 60 some degrees. Was glad I had the liner in my mesh jacket.
Along the Columbia I managed to get a photo of this big feathered critter. Am thinking it's an immature bald eagle. Saw two more nesting adults along the river with the white head feathers, but sorry, no photos of them. Also saw eight deer along the trip, all near the road. Some mule deer, some whitetail. Didn't see any bear or moose, but I wouldn't be surprised if I had seen either.
As the day and the miles wore on, the heat climbed, and by noon I shed the jacket liner. Headed east on Highway 20 from Tonasket. Superb ride! Plenty of twisties marked for 30 - 45 mph, and fun on the Triumph at a considerably faster pace. Did have to slow for road work and a flagger near Republic.
The Upper Columbia, not far from Canada. Pretty section...
Lunch at the Mustang Grill in Northport was excellent! Northport is a quaint little place, with all of about 300 people living there. I think I was the only stranger in town at the time. Good food at the Mustang Grill too. There's a brew pub in town, but I wasn't going to mix drinking with riding. On the other hand, it would be great at the end of a long hot ride...
A trout stream in need of further attention with the fly rod...
And Sherman Pass on Highway 20. Nice and cool up there! Almost cold in fact.
Some glorious curves and hills on Highway 20 and nearby roads. Took time to poke around some back roads too, including about 50 miles of dirt. I knew it was going to be a long day, anticipated about 400 miles, but all my backroad exploring took the day's total up to 522 miles, which was a long darned time on the little Triumph 900! We came out of it smiling though. I think that's my longest day ever on a motorcycle...
Regards, Guy
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