11:03 a.m., leaving Yakima, Washington: We're getting a horribly late start due to having to complete our unfinished blog from last night using a slow dialup connection. Nonetheless, we're chipper because today's trail is less than an hour away.
As we wound our way through the Coeur d' Alene National Forest, we took a break to admire the Idaho mountain scenery. While Brubaker took photos, Holman shared his stories about windshield bug splatter.
11:50 a.m., Naches, Washington: This area is mostly treeless and dotted with large hills. Our plan is to explore a dirt road that's shown on the atlas going north from Naches. The map indicates that it crosses over the mountains to the town of Ellensburg, Washington. We booted up our Garmin GPS 10-equipped laptop and exit Highway 12 onto Wenas Road. The nRoute and topographical software is showing loads of cool dirt roads branching off of Wenas Road, which after 15 minutes is still boring blacktop. For no particular reason, we make a turn onto Black Canyon Road. The entrance to this dirt road is posted with signage indicating that it falls under the authority of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. It also shows a color-keyed system that indicates whether or not a given trail was open to vehicular travel. It indicates that it is indeed open, so we head in and promptly come to a closed section at 1.28 miles. We shrug our shoulders and turn around. Another try down another trail has the same result. Why would a trail be posted open and then immediately closed a short distance later? Aggravating. Back to Wenas Road.
11:59 a.m. Wenas and Observatory Road, north of Naches, Washington: We finally get our wish when Wenas Road makes the transition from blacktop to dirt. A short 2.84 miles after it turns to dirt, we point our Hummer left onto Observatory Road, which is really a dirt two-track trail. Our Garmin software is showing gobs of trails in this area, so we go exploring. The trails aren't hard-you could do them in a stock SUV-but they offer a fascinating look into the Washington backcountry. The terrain is rolling and pine trees abound. We are quickly falling in love with the Garmin topographical maps because of the mind-boggling amount of info they provide. The beauty of the system is that you can easily toggle between the street-oriented nDrive and off-highway-oriented topo maps, depending on what type of info you need.
Ya think driving the H2 has gone to their heads?
The trails are marked extremely well in this area. At mile 4.12, we pass yet another sign with a green dot, which indicates that it is OK to explore. At mile 5.22, we come to a "T" in the road and we continue following Observatory Road instead of turning left onto Mud Flats Road. Eight miles in, we pass the observatory that-with our keen, scientific, computer-like minds-we figure was coming. About .75 miles past the observatory, there's a bypass trail that is more rugged than the main trail. At the top of this little trail there are great views to the east at an elevation of approximately 3,919 feet.
We continue on Observatory Road, eventually turning left onto Hanson Road. This road is far more rugged than Observatory Road, with rocks and ruts being prevalent the entire length. Our Hummer's Rod Hall genuine accessory remote-reservoir shocks do a stellar job of damping the heavy H2 on the rough trail. Approximately 7.5 miles past the observatory, it becomes evident that we're getting close to the town of Ellensburg. We end our dirt foray at Manastash and Strande Road. According to our Garmin GPS 10 trip computer, we've averaged 11.8 mph from the observatory to Ellensburg, and the total driving time was about 30 minutes. We've had our dirt fix for the day.
We're excellent planners. We waited to stretch the winch cable of our new Hummer/Warn winch until we got deep in the mountains of Idaho.
5:40 p.m., Washington-Idaho state line: Holman comments that the interior of the Hummer has developed a bizarre aroma. A quick investigation reveals that the trash bag storing dirty clothes from the Top Truck Challenge Tank Trap has come partially open. Inside, it's apparent that water- and mud-soaked clothing is beginning to coagulate and burble. Notably, the soiled garments seem to be conspiring with the Mega Blanket to overtake the front seats and its occupants. We agree not to show fear.
6:00 p.m., KOA Campground, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho: With 1,391 miles under our belt, we roll into this stunning campground located east of Coeur d'Alene. Amazingly, the first person we meet is a Four Wheeler reader. Race Bingman is a transplanted Alaskan who works at the KOA and drives a '99 F-150. He must be psychic because one of the first things he mentions is that there's free laundry soap in the laundry room. After we set up camp, Brubaker does laundry while Holman begins working on our daily blog. At every opportunity Holman points out that he set up his Coleman Crestline tent in a record 12 minutes flat.(Ken is still setting up his tent as you read this.-Sean).