View Keller Ferry in a larger map
Rode about 600 miles Friday and Saturday. It was a good time to be out. Traffic was light and weather was warm and sunny. I really like the area around Republic. The forests and hills remind me of some of my favorite parts of Montana. Highway 21 from the Keller Ferry to Republic parallels the Sanpoil River with some nice rock formations. It passes through the Colville Indian Reservation and National Forest. It's more of a dry country than the forests over here on the wet side of the mountains - smells different, not so moldy.
The Northern Inn in Republic isn't a bad place to stay. My room was 75 dollars and included a refrigerator and microwave. A/C works good, owner is friendly and the deck has some comfortable chairs to sit in and take in the sunset. Anderson's Grocery and a natural foods store are just down the street.
I rode out to the Wings Over Republic fly-in on Friday evening. It looked like most people were camping under the wings of their airplanes and not much going on. I checked out Curlew Lake state park where I camped last year. That's a really nice park, with camping spots on grass, and a swimming area.
The highway was crawling with deer at dusk. Coming up from Curlew lake there was a group of deer standing in the road and one buck ignored my horn and wouldn't get off the road until I kind of aimed my motorcycle at him. There's a lot of deer killed by vehicles in that area of Washington. I wouldn't choose to do much riding at dusk, or after dark.
This is a picture I took from the Keller Ferry.
That part of the Columbia (Roosevelt Lake) is called the Sanpoil arm because it's where the Sanpoil river flows into the Columbia. The lake is formed by Grand Coulee dam which is about 13 miles downstream. Grand Coulee dam was completed in 1942. Roosevelt lake is named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was president at that time.
Nice ride home on Saturday on highway 20 from Republic to Tonasket, Omak, Twisp, Winthrop, over the Cascades to Rockport and then south on 530 to Darrington, Arlington and back home. Highway 20 from Republic to Tonasket is 40 miles of mostly downhill riding through open range country, with some nice curves and almost no traffic at 10 am on Saturday. Next time I'm in the area I want to go east from Republic over Sherman Pass (5575 feet) and on to Newport Washington.
