Bike Tour - Wallowa Mountain Rambler

We ran our first Wallowa Mountain Rambler Bicycle Tour of the season. The wild flowers were out in force, the weather was toasty (for the first two days), food delicious, and the atmosphere fun. One client particularly kept everyone laughing with her stories. We're thrilled she will be joining us on our September California Explorer - Camping Tour. Guiding our tours is just plain fun because of the wonderful people that join us.

The first day was the hottest of the tour. We left Baker City, OR around 8:30 am. Everyone knew it would be warm as soon as you stepped out of the Geiser Grand Hotel into a warm wind at 6:30 am. We rode from shady tree to shady tree and drank plenty of fluids. On our way out of town we spotted a herd of antelope and later a few mule deer hiding under shady bushes. The day ended with a long down hill run to Catherine Creek State Park. Everyone took a cooling soak in the creek. Super refreshing. The days mileage was 37 miles.

On the second day we continued our down hill run to the small village of Union. We got up early to beat the heat today. From here we traversed the world's largest circular valley. (I have no idea what this really means, how's it measured, etc. I guess it falls in the classification of useless trivia). As you might expect a few different jokes and comments came out this piece of trivia. We stopped for coffee and ice cream in Cove and Imbler. Lunch was in a park in Elgin. The big climb (or only climb) of the day was the Minam Grade. It was a warm climb but not as hot as the day before. The downhill run to the campground in the Wallowa Valley offered spectacular views (see photo on right). Once at Minam State Park one of our guest found a super nice soaking hole in the Minam River. Usually you can swim in the river but for this tour the river was running very high and fast.

We've adopted getting up early to beat the heat. Breakfast is usually 6~6:30 am with the goal of getting out of camp by 7:30 or earlier. Today we headed for Wallowa Lake. This was a day of riding, eating, riding, eating, riding, eating, riding, and eating. We stopped at the little town of Wallowa for coffee drinks and a pastries. The first group snatched up the remaining tasty pastries. Our next food stop was in the small village of Lostine. Here we stopped at the Blue Banana for more pastries and cool coffee drinks. I loaded up on one of the Banana's big cinnamon rolls and grabbed a bag of roasted almonds to go in one of our dinner salads. Next stop was Enterprise. We bought some delicious sandwiches from a local bakery and ate them under a gazebo next to the county courthouse. As we're eating we watched an impressive afternoon thunderstorm unveil in front us. Very cool place to watch a storm from a distance. From Enterprise we headed to Joseph along a back road. In Joseph we picked up some fresh baked bread, and a three berry cobbler. The cobbler felt like it weighed 5 lbs. Suprisingly, we ate the whole thing that evening.

The next day we explored the area around Wallowa Lake. Some folks took the tram up Mount Howard, some walked along Wallowa Lake, and one person went for a hike in to the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The guides spent the time getting our food supplies organized. Everyone did some laundry.

On the fifth day we left Wallowa Lake fairly early. Our destination was a picturesque campground along the Imnaha River. Most of this ride is along quiet paved forest service roads. The first major climb was to Salt Creek Summit. From here we dropped down to Lick Creek. On the way down we passed a guy working on his broken down car. Nice guy. We offered to help but he declined. I then asked if he needed a tow. I figured we could hook the car to the back end of the Burley Nomad Trailer. From Lick Creek their is a climb much shorter than the ride up Salt Creek Summit though the length is deceptively long. This climb ends at a ridge overlooking the Imanaha River. From here it's a long down hill run to the campground. Once again one of our guests found a super nice soaker hole in a small creek that feeds the Imnaha River. The Imanahe was running fast and high. The local mule deer were getting more bold as the evening went along. One of our guests took on the active role of chasing the deer away.

On the sixth day we rose early to hazy skies and relatively high humidity. We set off up the first climb of the day. The first group to the junction for the Hell's Canyon Overlook dropped their trailers and rode the three miles to the overlook. Although hazy it was still a very impressive view. The Seven Devil Mountains are usually clearly visible. This morning you could only make out their silhouette. This group rejoined their trailers and the other group a short time later. From here we pushed to the summit. A quick check of the bike then we begin the 4,500+ decent. Yesterday and today clearly had the most wild flowers. It's a very cool sight to see the change in ecosystem as you lose elevation. Once down to the main road we headed west to Halfway. In Halfway the guides restocked with groceries. We ate lunch in the town park. Every day has its unique aspects. Today's was the women's bathroom in Halfway. The bathroom has two side by side toilets with no divider in between. As one of the guides on the tour I requested that the women on the tour use the bathroom in twos to speed up the time we get on the road. Once again we got a few good jokes out of this rest stop. Our last climb of the day is over a good size hump between Halfway and Richland. I took on the role as the tanker. I carried two six packs of beer, milk, and ice in my trailer. Even with the extra weight the climb was still very doable. Once at the top we stopped a couple of times to take pictures. This is when the troubles began. Everyone made it safely down to the turn off for the campground then the tire flats began. Between the turn off and the next morning we had seven flats. When we pulled off the road to take the photos some of us ran over goat heads. Each one of these little buggers is covered with thorns (prickers) that can easily pierce your tires. They are hard to see because of their brownish color and small size. The campground host stated he had three bikes with flats and had given up mountain biking in the area because of all the goat heads. This campground has more character than any of our other stops. Being July4 the locals were out shooting a few fireworks along with some tribal drum music. Fortunately none of this went to late. The fireworks and music actually came from a few camps outside of the park. We also ran into a few young guys from the campground while walking along a nearby road earlier in the evening. One of the guys asked if we've seen any rattlers. We said no. He replied "I'm going to eat me a rattler." He and his buddies continued on their way, kicking the road side grass as they went. I never heard the ambulance that evening so I'm assuming the rattlers avoided the dinner plate. Personally I like this campground for it's showers and it's colorful character. Every time we stay there we come away with a funny story.

For much of the last day we ride through a canyon with the Powder River. It's a pretty ride that is very different from any of the other days. This road is on the same route as an Adventure Cycling's cross country route. During one of our rest stops a lone rider heading east stopped and asked if we had a multitool. She was doing a cross country credit card tour (i.e. eating in restaurants and staying in hotels). Her front brakes weren't working. We found two loose screws on her front brakes. As she departed those of us from the West wondered if she understood how remote some sections of these roads. She was from Europe. She's made this far I suspect she'll make it the rest of the way. People can be pretty resourceful. Traveling without a sag vehicle can bring out the best in people. After our last climb of the day we stopped to see the ruts left from the Oregon Trail. There's an interpretive center up a steep hill that I have yet to ride up. The Trail is down near the main road. Back at Baker City it was time for a milk shake. Near the end of the ride I start fixating on food but I kept it to myself. No sense punishing others with my thoughts of food. Most businesses in Baker City were closed for the 4th but the ice cream shop was open. Nothing like a large chocolate - espresso milkshake.

Bike touring is an amazing way to travel. On this route we circumnavigated the Wallowa Mountains. Each day was different. This is my favorite route. When traveling by bike you see, hear, and smell things that you would just miss in a car or on a motorcycle.

To see more photos from this tour go to www.snapfish.com. To access the email address is info@wildheartcycling.com and the password is wildheart.

If you haven't made your plans for the summer we still have room in some of our remaining tours. Email anne.marie@wildheartcycling.com to find out about availability. Click here for our the tour calendar. The detailed itinerary for this tour is here.

Cheers, Ben


Bicycle Tours - Oregon, Bike Tours - California, Bike Tours - Vermont
www.wildheartcycling.com