October 4, Saturday – Rattlesnake

An hour after a cloudy dawn found me heading south on Washington’s Highway 129, the road from Clarkston to Enterprise. Pat and Chris had told me about their trip down to Wallowa Lake near Joseph with Eagle Cap Wilderness describing it like Jackson Hole and the Tetons in miniature. But Chris cautioned about the infamous Rattlesnake Grade that dropped like a shot down bomber to the bottom of the Grande Ronde River only to switchback back up immediately to gain back all the elevation that was just lost. She didn’t think that my rig and land dinghy could handle the steepness and the hairpin turns. Her warnings even caused me to dream about descending narrow mountain roads and flying off into space through the weak guardrail.
I was now there. I dropped Snee-Oosh into third gear and put my four-way flashers on. Griping the steering wheel in a death lock I popped my ears as the road seem to have no place to go but down Rattlesnake Canyon. Another element to the journey was that there were no other vehicles either coming up the road or down. I was alone but was in a state of total rapture. This was mountain driving at its best. There was nothing in my seven months of driving that could hold a candle to this. I just needed to keep focused and not look over the drop off.
A sign warned “bump”. What they really meant was that the highway was separating from the cliff and was heading for the creek hundreds of feet below. I felt the rig tip to the right responding to the slopping pavement which prompted a direct reflex to head for the other side of the road. Didn’t like that feeling at all.
Finally what seemed like ten miles of snaking in then out, then cross over the ridge line only to double back the road reached the bottom of Rattlesnake Creek to follow it down to the Grande Ronde and the bridge. There situated on the riverbank was a small café with about eight pickup trucks parked out front. I was too much of a weenie to pull over and walk through the door.
This was no scenic drive along the river’s edge like on the Clearwater. The road took the first side canyon and started to claw its way back up to the plateau that it had just left on the north side. The south side of the journey was not as torturous as the north side. The canyon was straighter so one could see the progress further up the canyon end and the doubling back and forth up the canyon wall. This whole down and back up again employed numerous switchbacks and because of the zero traffic and the coolness of the overcast sky I just played the road as it lay. Kick ass driving.
It was like crawling up a table leg and then bang you are out on top. No transition: either climbing or going flat. The countryside was rolling with some wheat fields and forested low ridges. Suddenly there were other vehicles but not on the road. Every pullout or turn out had one or two pickups parked. Hunting season. I saw two large flocks of wild turkeys. Was this their game? I saw no horses or trailers. Correction: I saw one lone cowboy on a grassy knoll near the road along with 400 sheep and three dogs. Wish I had caught a picture of that.
This open range driving was a delight. Ahead I saw storm clouds with light rays beaming through and as I got closer I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was absolutely amazing. Here I am near the end of my circle tour in my neighboring state, essentially my backyard, and there in the clouds are rugged, massive mountain peaks with snow and glaciers. WHAT is THIS?? They’re called the Wallowa Mountains. I have heard about them but had never seen them. Cousin Mac told me that they are an amazing set of mountains. Eagle Cap Wilderness is the protective cloth that holds this mountain range together. The clouds added depth and mystery to their origin. The rolling hills gave way to an open basin containing the towns of Enterprise and Joseph. The towns were surrounded by ranches of the caliber of Wyoming. The mountain range lifted directly from the basin floor making for spectacular scenery. Wallowa Lake stood with one foot in the mountain valley and the other on the basin floor complete with glacial moraines to add to its prominences. A state park of the same name was at the head of the lake situated in the ponderosa pines. This was indeed a nice place and a grand time of year to be here. There was strong evidence that during the summer season this could be a messy place with masses of humanity. Closed down attractions of jet skis, miniature golf courses, go-kart tracks, bumper boats pools, trail rides and a tram to the top of Mount Howard smelled of noise and confusion in a place that deserved better. It was the time to be here.