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      08-12-2019, 09:01 AM   #1
bwhip
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Drives: 2018 M2
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Idaho, USA

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Brilliant Car, Awesome Scenic Roads (many pics!)

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Once a month through the season - that's my goal for a weekend or long weekend ride or drive. My August window was this past weekend. I was all set to take the Ducati, but on Thursday evening, I noticed that the forecast up north was calling for the possibility of some heavy thunderstorms on Saturday and maybe a bit on Sunday. Heavy. With hail. I don't mind riding in rain. Sure is nice to have the option of a pretty awesome car, however! So, Friday morning I decided that I'd drive instead.



Original plan was to do the route counter-clockwise, but the hotel where I like to stay on the river in Orofino was booked Saturday night, so I went that way Friday afternoon. Good thing I did, otherwise I would have had a problem getting home!

I shot this photo just north of Riggins, Idaho, along the Salmon River. A few hours later a big storm came through and caused a huge landslide, closing this highway! Good thing I went clockwise.



I had to stop at the top of White Bird Hill Summit to grab a photo. Such an amazing view from there.



It was too late in the day to run out to Elk City and back, so I decided to do that on Saturday morning. On Friday evening I just drove a few favorites between Grangeville and there, which led to some nice photo ops. You can imagine how fun this road is when zipping along at a reasonable (or unreasonable) rate of speed. Don't lose your concentration - or you'll be swimming!







I climbed the hill toward Grangeville to get a better view of the valley below, where that awesome road is along the river.



Friday evening when I got to the hotel, I really enjoyed the fiery sunset reflecting off the Clearwater River below.



Weather on Saturday morning was pretty nice, despite the threatening forecast for later in the day. I knew I'd have quite a few hours of fun and beautiful scenery before then, so of course I had to make a quick stop to make sure my foreground subject was presentable for the camera!



I did a quick run up Old Hwy 7 toward Cavendish, which is really fun and tight, and has amazing views.





Such a fun road.

Next it was east on Hwy 12 along the Clearwater River.



Then, back over to my favorite road in Idaho - Hwy 14 to and from Elk City. 60 miles each way - of pure awesome. So much fun to drive or ride (hard), and so beautiful.







I stopped for lunch in Kooskia, then headed northeast on Hwy 12 - the famous Lolo Pass route. 99 miles of curves along the river. Always a joy.





About 20 miles in, a police cruiser came screaming up behind me, with lights flashing. Oh no. Thankfully (for me), it wasn't for the usual reason. He roared past on his way to some other pressing matter ahead. Another 10 miles or so ahead I found out why. Traffic was stopped in both directions while they retrieved some people whose car had gone off the edge. Report was that they were injured, but thankfully no one was killed.



In 20 minutes or so we were on our way. Toward the top there's a spot off the road that has some really nice views.









Spent the night in Hamilton, MT. When I arrived in the area, the thunderstorms rolled in - and they were pretty intense! I'd have gotten pretty hammered on the bike for sure. I was hoping for it to be pretty dry in the morning for photo ops, but the roads were soaked. As I climbed the mountain to head toward the Montana/Idaho border, the temperature dropped to the low 40's, and the road was a bit slick. Still, there were some lovely photo spots, and thankfully hardly any vehicles on the road that early so I could stop here and there for a shot.











As always, the M2 was incredibly impressive throughout the trip. So fun, so fast, so responsive - and quite comfortable! I just love this little blue beast.

On the stretch of Hwy 93 between Salmon and Challis, Idaho, there's a really cool canyon where I grabbed this shot:



Had a few more thunderstorms along the route on Sunday, so it worked out really well to have the car this time instead of the bike. As always, I'm super grateful to live in this amazing part of the world. Nice to be able to have a quick weekend getaway of 1000 miles of intense fun to clear my head and recharge the batteries.

Last edited by bwhip; 08-12-2019 at 09:13 AM..
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