stage03

In the fine-sounding Strawberry Mountains we ride on in thick fog through a ghost-like landscape. Apparently there was a huge forest fire here many years ago. The blackened tree trunks rise up sadly into the dull sky. Between them there are mud fields hundreds of metres long and deep water holes - never-ending fun for us ghost riders.

In the evening we come across a group of hunters while looking for a place to stay the night. They take pity on us wet and shivering BMW motorcyclists and invite us to their camp fire so that we can warm up over a bourbon.

During the course of the journey we are able to test our light enduros over a wide range of different terrain types - including water, which we get to know in its most diverse forms. In Oregon we fight our way across snow-covered slopes with deep grooves which our back wheels tend to slip into if we go too hard on the throttle.
Ramona is almost always up front. Firstly because she is more photogenic than the rest, but also because she simply enjoys spraying Herbert and the photographers as she passes through the many water and mud holes, causing a huge spray as she goes.

The canyon not only surprises us with spectacular views but also with eccentric people who have their own individual logic. Over a distance of over 200 kilometres, the Snake River cuts a deep canyon through the Wallowa Mountains. After a steep descent through the barren, exposed mountain landscape, we arrive in the village at the bottom of the valley in the early evening. Here there is a rather solitary gas station with a little grocery store. Our evening meal seems to be taken care of - or at least so we thought! The products on sale - angling bait, ammunition and rain clothing - are not such a good prospect for dinner after all. A sign tells visitors: "If we don’t have something, you don’t need it."