The Return Trip hwy 204 & SR 410 Chinook Pass
 

It was time to pack pour bikes and say our goodbyes. We had a good nights sleep and were facing a fair amount of  precipitation on our 415 mile ride home. We had a decent breakfast and some good conversation then said our goodbyes and headed our on I-84 North bound. We decided not to return the same way we arrived so we planned a detour off I-84 onto Summerville Rd and then on to hwy 204.  The ride up I-84 was nice but we had intermittent showers. It seemed the farther north we road the damper wetter things got. This still didn't bother me because all I could think about was the amazing riding we enjoyed the last two days. hwy 204 was new territory for me and I was surprised. It was approximately 38 miles of twists, turns and some straight-aways packaged into a nice riding bundle taking us as high as 5,200 feet above se level and then back down again. At these altitudes we did pay a small price as we did some riding in the clouds. Visibility was about 1/4 block. There were also signs of altitude as patches of snow still lay at the foot of the trees off the side of the road. This didn't last long we dropped in altitude and could felt he air warm up as we did so. Regardless of the rain the country was beautiful and it was like we were the only ones out on the road. I think we may have seen 4 to 8 vehicles the entire length of hwy 204.

At the end of hwy 204 we rode hwy 11 through the town of Athena then took the Holdman Helix RD which turns into hwy 37. This took us 37 miles through some more really nice country side before we made a right on to hwy 735. This where my luck turned for the worse. As we rode along the Columbia river I was really enjoying the scenery, a bit too much, and wasn't watching my speed. Next thing I know I was viewing the bright blues in my mirrors. It was a quick stop and a $113 ticket for 10 over. The state needs all the money they can get I guess. I called pre-paid legal and will let the lawyers deal with it. They have a 90% success rate in beating SMD (radar) infractions. 735 was a nice 45 mile ride even with the infraction. We crossed the river near Richland on to I-182 and then on to I-82. We made a brief stop for fuel and was back on the road.

We were getting hungry so our next stop would be Miners Drive-in in Union Gap not far from Yakima. The weather was much nicer in Washington bringing us partly cloudy sky's and 82 degrees. It warmed up forcing us to pull over on I-82 and remove our textile jackets and switch to our mesh jackets. We rode I-82 for 74 miles taking us into Union Gap where we stopped at Miners as planned and enjoyed the Big Miner burger. It was a treat as always. You can't go wrong stopping at minors and that's why it has made my top 10 burger list. After a great lunch we were back on the road riding west bound on I-82 for another 5 miles then took hwy 12 for another 18 miles to the SR 410 junction. SR 410 was a fun ride as always. We rode 48 miles on SR 410 to Chinook Pass. As we climbed in elevation the temperature dropped a bit and it really felt good. Chinook Pass is always a nice ride in the spring as the snow banks are present and in early spring they are as high as 10 to 15 feet high. It makes for a cool ride as you carve through them with absolutely perfect asphalt conditions. We made a stop at the pass summit. The snow banks that were close to 12 feet in height 3 weeks ago were only 3 feet tall. There was allot of run off and that made for some cool looking road side falls. It really is a beautiful ride in this area. I highly recommend it.

The next 44 miles took us down the mountain and along the white river. We got some good views of snow covered peaks but not of MT Rainier as it was cloud covered. We rode through the small town of Green Water and on to to Enumclaw. This is where Lloyd and I usually go separate ways as he heads to Maple Valley and I to Tacoma Via hwy 18 and I-5. I can't bring myself to bore you with 18 or I-5 so this will wrap up my trip report. I definitely plan on riding hwy 204 again and as always SR 410 and Chinook Pass delivered a great riding experience. This wrapped up

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