Wallowa Mountains lure local snow enthusiasts

On a recent weekend we decided to check out a new area for us.

Loaded up, we met with Tim, Chrissy and Elizabeth Bieker, and John, Julie and Anthony Bender and left behind Lewiston's gloomy overcast skies for hopefully a sunny weekend in the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon.

The trip took us through Asotin, winding up toward Anatone, down Rattlesnake Grade to the Grand Ronde, up the Oregon side and into Enterprise. We were greeted by the snow-covered, majestic peaks of the mountains surrounding Enterprise.

We stopped at Outlaw Motor Sports, the Yamaha dealership, run by Laurean and Dusty James. We originally met them at the Idaho State Snowmobile Convention and got to talking about new areas to ride. They invited us to Enterprise to check out their area, even providing us a map and telling us how to get to the snow park to begin our adventures. They also let us know Oregon requires a parking permit at their snow park unloading area, which we purchased.

We headed to our cabin at Wallowa Lake, unloaded for the weekend and left for a short ride after lunch. We traveled back to Joseph to catch Highway 82 east out of town toward Halfway, Ore. The road took us to the Salt Creek Snow Park. The road sign noted it was 64 miles to Halfway.

Since we had never ridden in this area, we decided to ride the Lick Creek loop. Forty miles later and darkness setting in, we were back at the truck, having gotten a lay of the land and found many play areas and lots of great scenery.

Between traveling and riding, the night seemed short and daylight arrived early. The guys headed out to meet with the locals from Outlaw Motor Sports, and again went to the Salt Creek Snow Park. The group had grown to 13 in number with seven of the snowmobiles either turbocharged or supercharged.

These machines are capable of pumping out twice the horsepower of a stock sled.

The weather was nasty, with high winds, snow blowing vertically and heavy fog making for limited visibility. All made the going very challenging.

We were on the trail system for a few miles when the group veered off and headed cross country to steep terrain so the turbos and super chargers could strut their stuff. The fresh powder made for challenging going with the higher horsepower machines breaking the trail for the rest. We traversed from mountain top to mountain top until reaching a warm-up shelter maintained by the local snowmobile club.

After starting a fire in the wood stove, lunch was consumed and we waited out a storm that had gotten more aggressive. After an hour or so, adventurism set in and we were off through open meadows and on to more hill climbs.

The higher we got the more intense the fog. So we moved to lower elevations where visibility was somewhat better. Watching these high horsepower sleds and their riders' antics all day proved very entertaining and boy could they ride. But fuel dictated we head for home.

It became apparent that if this group left us we wouldn't have had a clue how to get back to the vehicles because the blowing snow completely obliterated our tracks. Thank goodness the locals decided not to sacrifice the tourists that invaded their secret domain.

Even though Mother Nature tried her best to make it a miserable day, the locals showed us a great area. Cold and exhausted, we thanked them for the adventure.

On our last day the sunshine decided to bless us and enticed us all to another day of riding. We again unloaded at the Salt Creek Summit Park. We hit the trail with excitement and visibility was perfect. With no one to guide us we decided to stick to the trail system with the map in hand.

We eyebrowed the banks time after time and criss-crossing the trail was a blast. We could see by the map that the trail wound around the mountain side, making switch backs and gaining in elevation. We meandered through the tree-covered slopes that opened up to beautiful meadows. Visibility of the high peaks of the Wallowas stretched out for miles. We came to a sign that read "Halfway, Ore., 30 miles," but with daylight dimming and fuel low, we headed for home.

The day slipped away and we again learned more of the trail system. There are many more miles of trails to explore but will have to leave them until our next trip, which is added to our destination list for another time.

Traveling home, the CBs were alive with talk of the weekend adventures, the hospitality of the locals and the great area we explored.

The avalanche danger from recent storms is still high, so please be careful and ride safe.

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The Biekers are avid snowmobilers who live in Lewiston. They can be contacted at city@lmtribune.com.