Backroads of North America

“There is no hell in the hereafter; it lies between The Dalles and Ellensburg and its known as the Durr Road”.
Reportedly this was the comment of a stage driver sometime in the 1880s

Today’s Durr Road is much improved but is is still rutted, rocky, and steep. Local 4WD groups state; ‘ attempt this route only of you’re seriously comfortable driving rough back country roads’.

With these kinds of comments I was compelled to take a look so I loaded up the bike and headed off to ride the old Durr Road.

Before we head off on this trip, I would like to introduce you to the person who engineered this road. John Durr was born in 1848 and came to the Kittitas Valley around 1877. Though this road was difficult it cut 10 miles off the journey between Yakima and Ellensburg. In its day the road was so steep and the switchbacks so sharp that going over the Umptanum required the use of turntables in order to negotiate some of the more challenging switchbacks.

Should you decide to traveling the Durr Road I would recommend that you take along adequate water since you will be traveling through a very arid region of our state. Also be careful and watch where you step this is rattlesnake country.

Now that you have been warned, if your still interested in going, you won’t regret it. This route will permit you to travel in the footsteps or wagon ruts, if you will, of the pioneers who settled this region. Also the views of the Kittitas and Selah Valleys is spectacular. Other views include those of Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, Mission Ridge, petroglyphs (if you know where to look), old homesteads, wildlife, and much, much more.

Plan a full day for this trip though it can be done in about 4-6 hours round trip either back to Ellensburg or Selah depending whether you are traveling north or south. Both towns offer full services and are a great place to get a bite to eat.

So lets get going on our trip south to Selah on the Durr Road. I stopped at the MidState Co-op for gas. The TW200 is getting about 60-74 miles per gallon but I’m going to take an addition 1.5 gallons along just for safety sake. I have had fuel lines get cut or damaged off roading and without a spare fuel can I would have been stuck out in the middle of no where. I worked my way over to Dammon School and from there proceed south. As an interesting note; before 1880 the school was placed on skids and moved around in the valley to where it was needed.

“Hey where did my school go it was right here last year!”

This is a picture of an old homestead on the Durr Road. Most of the farms/ranches in this area do not use wells, this is because the basalt layers here can be 2,000 to 10,000 feet thick and thus would make drilling a well very expensive. In lieu of wells water traditionally has been hauled to these farms and is stored in large holding tanks.

Mt Rainier

Crossing the Umptanum Creek

Mt Adams

After completing my ride on the Durr Toll Road I went into Selah for lunch and returned to Ellensburg on the Yakima Canyon Road.

Ride Information:
Round Trip Distance 80-90 miles
Road is dirt, rock, large rock, steep in places and rutted in places.
There are several large erosion areas in the road that require some thought to negotiate.
Region is arid carry adequate water.
No cell reception in the canyons but good reception on the ridges

Roads of Interest:
SR 821
Manastash Road
Durr Road
Wenas Road

SR 821 is designated as a scenic byway, though it is only 18 miles long. But it is a good alternative to I82. SR 821 parallels the Yakima River and the BNSF railroad bed through a steep walled canyon.

Both the north and south entrance is marked with a sign like the one below:

The posted speed in the canyon is 45 mph and its is heavily patrolled during the summer months. Also the road is quite twisty. This is one of my favorite routes southbound from Ellensburg. When I went to Mt Rainier Park the other day I used SR 821 as my final leg home. There are lots of places to stop along the way and campgrounds along the river, as well, both government and privately owned facilities.

The canyon is full of many recreational activities, such as; river rafting, para-gliding, fishing, camping, and hiking to name a few activities.

Below are a few quick photos from my last ride down the canyon

I went for a short ride to Mt Rainier the other day. I haven’t been there for about three years and its been much longer since I had been to Sunrise so it was time once again to visit the great mountain of Washington State.

I departed Ellensburg 7am in the morning and I stopped to take some pictures of Mt Adams and Mt Rainier just north of the Sweetzer Bridge on I82 looking down into the Selah Valley.

Mt Adams

Mt Rainier

I stopped in Naches to gas up the bike and have some breakfast at Sticky Fingers Bakery, and wow what a breakfast it was. An omelet so large, I ate my fill and then made a sandwich for later in the day. Below are some pictures from Naches.

Sticky Fingers Bakery/Cafe

Downtown Naches

Naches Street Art?

Approaching Chinook Pass

Views from Tipsoo Lake View Area-A popular view spot near Chinook Pass

After entering Mt Rainier National Park the following pictures were taken at Sunrise

Looking to the south you could see Mt Adams

Picture of the bike

Old Lodge- currently under construction

The Mountain

Though this was just a short visit to the Park it was a fun ride Hwy 410 is always a fun ride. There were quite a few bikes on the road today enjoying the weather and scenery. By the time I got to Naches it was pretty hot. I was glad that my riding jacket liner was removable and vented making the last part of the ride comfortable, as I rode home via the Yakima River Canyon.

Today is suppose to be one of the hottest of this summer, so I decided to take a road trip up into the mountains on some local forest service roads. I had been told that there was a campground and fantastic viewpoint of Mt Rainier and the Cascades if you took Manastash Road and then picked your way to Quartz Mountain.

The night before I loaded up the bike (my TW200 dual sport) for a day trip, taking along some basic tools, tire repair equipment, a first aid kit, and some basic survival gear and then went to bed.

The next morning I got up early and made sure that I had enough water, since it was going to be hot, and then loaded a few more things onto the bike like my camera gear. Afterwards I headed into Ellensburg to fuel up. Since I modified the carburetor on the TW200 the fuel economy has dropped by 15% but the engine temperatures are much cooler now since I’m running the fuel/air mixture a bit richer now, (once I install the oil cooler I will return the carburetor to its original settings-but that’s for another report sometime this fall or winter).

So after fueling up and making sure I had extra fuel (just in case), I headed off for Manastash Road. Manastash Road is located both south and west of Ellensburg and can easily be found on Google, Benchmark or Delorme maps. This road follows the Manastash Creek through a steep volcanic rock canyon for about 15 miles, afterward you are on forest service roads, most of them attempt to remain on the plateau between the Naches and Yakima rivers.

There is a northerly route that will spill out west of Ellensburg on the Old Thorp Highway and I also found a southerly route that drops into the Naches River valley as well. I plan to explore this southerly route to see if I can pick my way through to highway 410 and then to Mt Rainier National Park.

Here are a few pictures of my short 80 mile day trip to Quartz Mountain.

1. Kittitas Valley Enroute to Manastash Road

2. Manastash Canyon

3. Rest Stop Along Manastash Creek

4. Old Weathered Sign

5. Pond Near Road

6. Summit of Quartz Mountain

7. Mt Rainier From Summit (Pictures are hazy due to forest fire smoke)

8. Telephoto of Mt Rainier

9. Cascade Mountains

10. Ride Out

Route Details:
-Round Trip Mileage from Ellensburg apprx – 80 miles
-Route: Manastash Road, FS 31, and FS 3100

The Backroad Adventurer

If you look in the top right corner of this webpage you will find a link to a new page that I just created and is named “Links and Resources”. You can click on this link and it will take you to some of my favorite places to go camping or forums I enjoy visiting or places I go to do route planning, etc.

This page will continually change over time and is currently under construction.

I hope you enjoy or find these links useful.

Should you find any of the links broken please let me know.

Thank You,
The Backroad Adventurer

My journey back to the border crossing was a quick one, regrettably. I did stop for a quick breakfast at a small restaurant near Christine Lake and was slowed down a bit by construction south of Nelson– otherwise my return to the USA was uneventful.

The border crossing took a bit of time considering I was only the second vehicle. The US Customs guy was very friendly, actually too friendly, he needed to socialize. He obviously enjoyed his job, thus it took about 25 minutes for two vehicles to enter the USA me and before me a retired couple from Alberta in a motorhome. Anyway better a friendly Customs Agent than the other kinds.

My first major stop was in Curlew. I had bypassed this town on the way up and was curious to learn what was there. Below are a few pictures from Curlew.

Bridge Into Curlew

Downtown Curlew

My next stop was for gas in Republic. From Republic I returned home via the same route I took out.

The bike was performing so well I was able to ride home without stopping for gas until I got back home. My ride north, though a brief journey was quite enjoyable. I hope to return to this part of Canada once again. but hopefully for a longer stay next time. I was quite impressed by the towns of Nelson and Kaslo. The Toad Rock Campground is a must visit for anyone motorcycling in this region. The conversations and diversity of people makes this a fun place to visit.

Electric City Park

Vantage Bridge

Well that’s it for this ride.

The Backroad Adventurer.

Things started slow today, I slept in and lounged around the campground. I walked down to the social area and they had coffee on. So I ended up having a few cups and chatting with a few of the guests.

I finally got going and headed north along the western shore of Kootenay Lake. I stopped in Kaslo and fueled up the bike and continued north until the pavement ended and I turned around and went back to Kaslo to take some pictures.

Some Pictures taken at Toad Rock Campground (Link to: Toad Rock Campground)

I stopped for a very late lunch in Kaslo on my way back to Toad Rock. This is a beautiful community and there were lots of tourists in town when I was there. Lots of motorcycles parked on the west end of town many riders stopping for a bite to eat or just site-seeing. Below are a few pictures from the town.

I returned to Toad Rock after refueling in Kaslo for the ride home. I slowly started packing things up getting ready for tomorrow’s ride home. Later in the evening I had a good time talking to some of the riders about their journeys and went to bed early to get ready for a 5am wake up.

To follow is the ride home.

The Backroad Adventurer.

Today is the first day of a short three day ride into Canada from Kittitas, Washington. I will be spending two nights at the Toad Rock Campground near Balfour, British Columbia. My goal for today is to travel via the backroads of Washington to the town of Republic, and from there work my way north to the Canadian Border. Then via Highway 3 follow the Kootenay River to Balfour and arrive at Toad Rock Campground by early evening.

The first part of this ride was a leisurely drive eastbound on the Vantage Highway (which parallels Interstate 90 east of Ellensburg) passing the Wild Horse Wind Farm.

This part of Washington is quite arid but also has some very interesting and unique places to visit. The area around Vantage was occupied by the Wanapum Indians in prehistory. Native petroglyphs have been found on the basalt cliff walls. Also found here are petrified wood that the natives used for arrowheads and other tools. Regrettably many of the petroglyphs were found lost behind the waters of the Wanapum Dam sometime in the 1960s when they flooded the caves.

The town of Vantage lies at the intersection of Interstate 90 and the Columbia River and is the only crossing of the river for many miles north and south. After crossing the Columbia, I stopped at the Wild Horses Viewpoint and took some pictures of the town of Vantage, the highway, and the wild horses sculptures. There are 15 wild horses on the eastern slopes made from sheets of steel which are visible to the travelers along Interstate 90. If your are eastbound there is a pull off that will allow you to get close to these works which are the creation of David Govedare from Chewelah, Washington.

After viewing the sculptures I continued my eastbound travels on I 90 until I reached State Route 283 which takes you to Ephrata. This road is straight and fast cutting through the irrigated Columbia Basin lands. There is quite a bit of crop diversity along this section of road. For example, there is the scent of mint in the air soon after leaving the interstate, potatoes, corn, and other crops green up the landscape in what would otherwise be a very arid region.

Arriving in Epharta, the county seat of Grant County, you enter into a green space and park like feel once you arrive in the downtown area of Ephrata. The county buildings are just off the main drag and are surrounded by tall trees making for a relaxing and cool place to take a quick rest break.

Just east of Ephrata I turned north and stopped at Soap Lake the “Place of the Healing Waters”. Soap Lake is an old spa town that has been popular for many years. Archeological evidence seems to indicate that even the prehistory Native Americans believed that the lake possessed healing properties. I stopped at the town park and took some pictures of the lake and the town’s sundial.

I continued north on Highway 28, also known as the Coulee Corridor. This route follows the ancient channel of the Columbia River. About 12,000 some years ago an ice dam broke on a large inland lake known as Lake Missoula. This cataclysmic flood altered the path of the Columbia River. Along Highway 28 you will find some fantastic sights, such as; steep walled basalt cliffs, ancient dry waterfalls larger than Niagara Falls, and some beautiful clear lakes.

From Coulee City the Coulee Corridor continues north to Grand Coulee City, the home of the largest hydro-electric facility in the USA and also the largest concrete structure.

After Grand Coulee my route continued north on State Route 158 to the town of Nespelem which is on the Colville Indian Reservation where Chief Joseph is buried. Though he and his people tried to live in peace with the settlers, conflicts arose that eventually led to the last of the Indian Wars in the USA. Chief Joseph led a long battle against the military that lasted for months. His people were betrayed by the Crow indians and finally when the old men, women, and children of his tribe were dying, he elected to surrender. Chief Joseph successfully evading the military for three months, he impressed the military with his tactics, but in the end it proved a fruitless effort, and so ended the last Indian Wars. I went up to the catholic cemetery and visited his grave.

After Nespelem, I zig zagged on county roads until I reached the town of Republic. Here I gassed up the motorcycle before heading north into Canada. I followed State Route 28 up to Danville where I went through customs and entered into Canada.

After crossing the border I intercepted Highway 3. This route after Grand Forks climbs over a steep mountain pass known as the Bonanza Pass. The ride from Christina Lake over the pass for the most part was quite enjoyable. After summiting the road dropped down to the town of Castlegar.

From Castlegar I again forged north to Nelson and Balfour. This was the most scenic part of today’s ride, regrettably I was getting tired and was pushing myself to make Toad Rock Campground so I did not stop as often as I would have liked. The road along the Kootenay River was twisty and slow due to 5pm traffic departing Nelson northbound so I had to patiently follow the Que of traffic since passing would have been just to dangerous.

About 6pm I had arrived at Toad Rock Campground and so ended day one.

More to follow

The Backroad Adventurer

Recently there seems to be a growing interest in this region known as the Kootenays, as it is being discovered by more riders living south of the 49th parallel. Just this year several cycling magazines have published articles about the splendors of this region. One author even attempted to compare this region to a Tolkien-esk like world.

So where is this place located? The Kootenay land district is a larger region located in British Columbia and is comprised of eight parts which are all drainages of the Kootenay River and resides actually on both sides of the US/Canada border.

The region that I plan to travel lies north of the towns of Castlegar and Nelson in British Columbia. This will be my first trip into this region. In the past, I have alway traveled north of there usually on highways 1 and 16 (Yellowhead Route) or I have remained in the USA on highways 20 and 2.

My planned route through Washington limits use of Interstates and zig zags north and east to the town of Danville where I plan to cross the border into Canada at a very small Custom’s facility. Further my plans include visiting Toad Rock Campground near Balfour and exploring the western shore of Kootenay Lake.

Below is a link to a map that shows my planned route north

http://goo.gl/maps/30tR

A ride report soon to follow.

The Backroad Adventurer

I live in the Kittitas Valley, Washington. The valley did not get settled until around the 1860s, though there were several earlier attempts. Supply lines were long and the roads harsh, making early settlement challenging for the pioneers of European ancestry.

AJ Splawn was one of the first to write about the valley:

“It was the fourth day out that we came to the beautiful Kittitas valley. This valley as it looked that day to me, a boy of sixteen, was the loveliest spot I had ever seen. To the west stood the great Cascade range; to the north rose the snow capped peaks of the Peshastin, standing as mighty sentinels to guard the beautiful valley below, where the Yakima river wound its way full length, while from the mountains on the north flowed numerous small streams, and the whole plain was covered with a thick coat of grass. Sage hens and prairie chickens and jackrabbits were on all sides. The songbirds were singing a sweet lullaby to the departing day and the howl of the coyote was borne on the evening breeze. As we gazed on this lovely sight, I wondered how long it would be before the smoke would be curling from pioneer homes, for here the settler would find a paradise.”

So from time to time I go out in the evening for a short ride and visit some part of the county or valley. The other day I wanted to go out Badger Pocket Road. In the early days many of the settlers entered the valley via Badger Pocket since it was the easiest of the trails into the valley. So I hopped onto my TW200 and drove out to the end of the road. You cannot travel the entire trail because most of it resides on a military reservation known as the Yakima Firing Center, I think the name says it all. But I did go to the end of the pavement on the Badger Pocket.

I stopped at the Denmark School. The schools history goes back to the 1930s and after being closed was put up for sale. Today it is a private residence.

At the end of the pavement of Badger Pocket Road you will come to a phone booth. YUP! A phone booth, the owner of this property installed the booth as a form of road art and this is where my short local ride and journey ended.

We had some moisture come up from the south that stirred up some evening thundershowers and fantastic cloud formations.

In less than two hours of exploring this valley one can get a sense of history and beauty.

From time to time I will share with you some of these local journeys from my backyard.

The Backroad Adventurer