BY STEVE LARSEN n PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOB MEADOR0ideNorthwest Ramble

The MO-IDA-WA-HO-TANA ride.

Rick can be reached at (715) 558-4972 orvia email at rsheehan@centurytel.net.A brisk 40-degree temperature greets us

on our first day’s ride. In less than 50 mileswe take the first of what will be many sidetrips, heading 27 miles east on Highway43 to Wisdom, Montana, passing throughthe Big Hole National Battlefield. Graydrizzle and cold air convince us to quickly

A brief stop after crossing the 9,000-foot Galena Summithas us considering going back over the summit again before

heading to the Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch.

Above: Austin Barton’s bronze of a cowboyattempting to “adjust the attitude” of his mountwelcomes us to Joseph, Oregon.

The ride begins with members of the AmericanFlyers Motorcycle Club trickling into Missoula,Montana, on planes, bikes and automobiles fromall over the country.Are we tempting the sprits of Lewis and Clark by expecting no rain or snow inSeptember, over the mountains in which they spent so much time and nearly died?We meet at a large home rented for the first and last night of the trip in

Hamilton, Montana. Our eclectic group of bikes has taken on a definite BMW tilt this year. Three were rented from MikeBender of Adventure Motorcycle LLC(406-560-4221 or www.advmotorental.com)in Missoula. Mike has an excellent selectionof BMW, Suzuki and KTM bikes. They arelow-mileage and in top condition. Mikedoes have a strict cancellation policy, so besure you understand it before you rent.Shipped bikes arrived via Rick’s ClassicTransport, Inc. Rick Sheehan of Hayward,Wisconsin proved popular with the half-dozen or so riders whose bikes he broughtout (and then returned) to the east coast.

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Right: Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch is located ninemiles south of Stanley on Highway 75 on one of themost spectacular roads in the northern Rockies.

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Highway 95 hugs the Salmon River for much of the ride north toward Grangeville, resulting in one gorgeous sweeper after another.

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Vturn around on the main street ofWisdom and high tail it back toHighway 93. We proceed south to LostTrail Pass and the sun comes out as weride into Idaho. As we enter NorthFork, we pass a roadside restaurantclaiming “Lewis and Clark ate here,”but continue on to Salmon and stop atBertram’s Brewery for lunch.Fully warm now, we continue on to

Challis where we turn onto Highway 75and head east toward Stanley. Beforeturning into the Idaho Rocky MountainRanch, several of us continue south overthe Galena Summit and down into SunValley. We begin this hour-long side tripin the Sawtooth Valley. The road climbssteadily to the 9,000-foot summit with

the jagged peaks of the SawtoothMountains on our right. ApproachingSun Valley, we turn around when webegin to see more and more cars andhead back to the ranch. Earlier ridersemerge from a natural hot springs-fedswimming pool as we arrive.Awakening we emerge from our var-

ious ranch cabins to 34 degrees andmajor frost covering all the bikes. Wethink back to how Lewis and Clarkmust have felt when they left what isnow Salmon, Idaho searching for theSalmon River—and what they hopedwas a waterway to the ocean. Theyeventually changed their minds aboutthe Salmon River and gave it the name“The River of No Return” and set off

FAVORITERIDEdejected, in the cold, over the Lost Trail Pass, heading northinto the coming winter in Montana. We follow their pathnorth to Stanley, then turn west on Highway 21 and atLowman go west on NF 24 on the Banks-Lowman road.Stopping at the Hot Springs campground, we sit at picnic

tables to eat sandwiches, happy with how warm the day hasbecome. The Payette River Scenic Byway provides breath -taking scenery as we climb into McCall, Idaho, named afterTom McCall, who homesteaded the place in 1891. Mostlysedate today, even in top form it’s unlikely to reach its wildturn-of-the-century reputation, which included brothels,dance halls and gambling.After the first day, a new member of our ragtag band, a

woman on just her second ride with the Flyers, falls frequentlyto the back of the pack, causing a bit of a wait on occasion.Most of her riding experience has been on cruisers and in theeastern part of the United States, where the roads are a goodbit straighter than the tangled lines that follow the cascadingrivers here in the Northwest.At an extension ride into Idaho City on Route 21 she leaves

her bike and rides pillion on the BMW R 1200 GS of a moreexperienced rider. For the next 25 miles, over a particularlytechnical set of twisties, he points out key aspects of cornering—slow entry speed, correct line selection, late apexes and howthis all affects the ride. On the way back she rides the route

in reverse on her bike, tuckedclosely behind the ad hocinstructor to get a feel ofdoing the turns herself. Itworks. She spends the rest ofthe week up near the front ofthe pack, enthusiasticallywelcoming the signs withthe twisty squiggle andthe words “Next 54 miles”underneath. “That used tojust scare me to death, now Ijust love it,” she exclaims.L eav ing McCa l l on

High way 55 we bid good-bye to beautiful PayetteLake, turn north onto Highway 95 toward Grangeville andthen to Highway 12 east toward Clarkston, Washington. Wemanage to follow Highway 12 clues through Clarkston withonly a minimum of detours and are soon on to Dayton andthe Hotel Weinhard in the center of town. Lewis and Clarkalso stopped in Dayton—twice. Dayton is known for beingpart of the “Forgotten Trail,” a portion of the Corps ofDiscovery’s journey that historians often leave out, perhaps inthe same way that an unfortunate fold in a Minnesota map

caused Garrison Keillor’s hometownof Lake Wobegon, Minnesota todisappear. Lewis and Clarkcamped on the banks of the PatitCreek, not far from the site of theColumbia County Courthouse.The Hotel Weinhard is a rare find,

one of those classic restored hotels thatdominate the downtowns of small

Billy Braun’s warm baritone, oldguitar and improvised drum setprovide a nice end to the day.

We enjoy dinner at the Roosters Waterfront Restaurant in Clarkston, Washington, as the sun sets on the Snake

River and otters slowly cross the marina.

BMWs dominated this run, but there were alsotwo Suzuki V-Stroms and an H-D Ultra Classic.

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winters. Extraordinary scenery is oftenfound at the ends of the poorest main-tained roads, but well worth the visit,and the tight turns and twists keepeveryone on their toes.The last 70 miles from Enterprise

into Clarkston is perhaps the mostextraordinary of the trip. It begins withbeautiful sweepers across the top of theWallowa mountain range toward theGrand Ronde River. This section, andanother as we descend into Clarkstonand the Snake River, have us whippingthe bikes from side to side. Clearly theNorthwest has its own candidates forDeals Gap-class roads, with somepretty lofty elevation thrown in forgood measure.

The next morning we traverse theincredible roads of Lolo Pass, and late inthe afternoon arrive back at our startingpoint in Hamilton, Montana. We toasta safe trip—no crashes and no run-inwith our esteemed colleagues in trafficenforcement—and perhaps the mostincredible weather on any trip ever. Wasit the spirits of Lewis and Clark watch-ing us? We’ll never know.i 36

Jack and Nadine Dieringer entertain at theHotel Weinhard in Dayton, Washington. Thecouple met 61 years earlier and married in1948. “It used to be Nadine and HerGentlemen Three,” she jokes, “but now all I have left is Jack.”

Descending toward theGrande Ronde River Gorge

north of Joseph and south ofClarkston and Lewiston.towns with an old fashioned lobby full of period furniture,

cozy seating nooks and fresh flowers.The sun is bright as we split off from part of our group

heading back to SLC the next morn, while the rest of ushead toward Walla Walla. We spend the day exploringdifferent runs to and around the Hell’s Canyon areabefore heading to the Quality Inn in downtownClarkston. Relatively mild winters and an abundance ofwildlife drew people to the Hell’s Canyon area more than7,000 years ago. Pictographs and petroglyphs are scat-tered along the river where Native Americans spent their