I really wanted to go on a little ride before starting my Wander2008 trip in a week. I've had a route over Mt. Hood sketched out for a month or two, but I'd heard that Lolo Pass was still closed due to snow.

So I changed bikes and jumped on the DRZ so I could get through mild bits of snow, and also so I could have more fun on forest service roads. That turned out to be a good idea.

I started out on OR224. It was nice and twisty. After passing one slow-moving cage, a couple of sportbikes went past me at a very elevated rate. Looked like they were enjoying themselves.

I went up past Lake Harriet and then northwest of Timothy Lake on FS58. This route was paved, and I was able to really blast along it. I found a little route that climbed straight up to a small ridgeline- I think it was called "high rock summit". It was pretty cool to see four mountains from one position- Helens, Adams, Hood, and Bachelor.

After that little climb, I finished running out to Hwy26, then ran down Hwy35 nearly to Hood River. I then turned around and ran up Lolo Pass. It was quite a surprise to make it all the way through on Lolo!

Once I was done on Lolo, I ran parallel to Hwy26 to Sandy for gas, then turned north and took some great twisties to I84 to run home.

This was a great half-day ride. It was especially nice to scout some areas to ride in the future.