Short Ride to the Spiral Highway

[moscowbmw]

Last Saturday I needed to get to Home Depot and price some countertops for my wife. Luckily for me, between my house (Moscow, Id) and the Depot (Lewiston, Id) is a great stretch of road. My nearest dealership is near there, so I made a nice afternoon ride.

 

The first 20 miles south from Moscow on US-95 was uneventful, and then I arrived at the best part; 1500 vertical foot drop down into Lewiston. Here is a view from near the top of the grade.

 

 

The town of Lewiston, Id is on the left; Clarkston, Wa on the right. Yes, Lewis and Clark came through here on their journey. The Snake river comes from the top of the picture; the Clearwater river flows from the left of the picture. I took the main highway down, but if you look to the right side of the picture, you can see the spiral highway. This was the old highway, and my main objective.

 

Interesting historical note, Lewiston was the first capital of the Idaho Territory. Here is the marker.

 

 

From Home Depot I took a shot across the valley at the hillside where the Spiral Highway sits. It gives a good indication of the elevation change.

 

 

I just purchased my RT 2 months ago, and I hadn't visited my local dealership, Macs Cycle in Clarkston. I met Wayne the Service Manager. He was great! Very helpful answering questions and supportive of me doing a good bit of my own wrenching. Neat folks.

 

Now the fun started. I crossed the Snake River and arrived at the bottom of the Spiral Highway. A couple of quick turns at the bottom give a feel for pace (these turns are sharp). Here are two shots early on. One looking up; you can see the building at the top. The other is my obligatory RT beauty shot.

 

 

 

I'm not familiar with this road, and I'm new to the RT, so I kept a pretty gentle pace. The road surface was good, and the sharp turn markings are accurate. The bike was wonderful, but I need more practice on very technical terrain like this.

 

Near the top I took a few more shots so you can see more of the turns.

 

 

This is my favorite picture.

 

 

All in all, a great afternoon. Since this is close by, I should have more opportunities for this excellent road.

 

Mike

[NoLongeraK1200RSRider]

Mike.. WOW!! How I envy you having such a great road right in your neighborhood. Nice pics and good on you for realising that your skills may not be the best on that bike yet and taking it easy on the ride. "Live to ride another day" has always been my motto. Thanks for sharing.

[eddd]

I hope you didn't get all the pricing information on that one trip. I think you need to return to the store several times to check the figures!

[drzep]

Man am I jealous. What a great looking landscape - that made me afternoon a little better!

[gloveguy]

Mike...I remember that hill well...it was always guaranteed motion sickness on our way back to the University of Idaho from Boise. Thanks for sharing. Now you need to head south and try the old Whitebird Hill north of Riggins.

Dennis

[Francois_Dumas]

Looks like a fun road to ride Nice shots, and interesting bit of history ! Thanks !

[moscowbmw]

Dennis,

 

I would love to try Whitebird Hill. I'm young enough that the state had constructed new roads around Whitebird and the Spiral Highway before I attended the University of Idaho. It really makes the ride better for us now since almost all of the traffic takes the nice highway.

 

I'm still looking for dates when you and I can meet and try "The Rattlesnake" down to Enterprise and Hells Canyon. Our summer calendar is firming up now that the kids are almost done with school .

 

Regards,

 

Mike