SoCal to the North Cascades and back, 11 days

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Morecowbell

Well-known member
FJR Supporter
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Mar 30, 2011
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Location
Palm Springs, CA
My buddy Pete and I usually try to get two big rides done every year...7-10 days in the spring and again in the fall. Normally in the spring, we'd leave in late May, but this year the vacation bids didn't allow that, so we had to leave in late April. Touring that early in the year means no UT/CO/ID/MT/WY mountains. This ride would have to stay at the lower elevations to avoid snow and seasonal road closures. We've done Highway 1 up the coast a number of times in the past, so this time we decided to head north along the western Sierra foothills and see how far into Oregon and Washington we could get. With a complete collection of Butler Motorcycle Maps, we thought we'd try to hit as many highlighted roads as possible.

Normally when heading out, I'll have a pretty solid plan worked out for the first few days of riding. After about day #3, the plan becomes a bit more fluid depending on our progress. This time, however, we had no real plan. On the first day, I thought we could make it to Oakhurst. That turned out to be a bit optimistic.

Day #1, 4/19

Palm Springs to Three Rivers CA

440 miles

On most big rides, I'd be on the road at sunrise or earlier. Not so this time...I got home from work the night before around 10:30pm, and I had to do a quick load of laundry and pack. In bed after midnight. I hit the road at 8:15 and met Pete at 8:30. We slabbed it on I10 through San Bernadino and north on 215 towards Wrightwood. We got to the back roads south of Palmdale, and then west on N2. We then headed north past Willow Springs and into Tehachapi. A brief run west on 58 brought us to Caliente-Bodfish Road. That's a fun little road, though a bit choppy in some places. We topped the tanks at Lake Isabella, and grabbed a bite at Burger King. I'd have preferred to hit the diner at the Kernville Airport, but apparently Pete was too hungry to make the extra 14 miles to get there. Awesome. So we then headed north out of Kernville, hoping to take the Kern River Highway up to CR107/190 through the Giant Sequoia National Monument. A few miles north of Kernville, a sign was posted advising that the road was closed at Johnsondale. We pressed on until I found Johnsondale on the Garmin. It's located prior to the intersection with CR107. Crap. That's turnback #1 (of an eventual 6). We headed back south and then west on 155. I think 155 could be a fun road if the pavement were better and the corners were clean; as it was, it was slow going with a lot of dirt/gravel on almost every tight corner. Then we headed NW to Fountain Springs. I asked a CalFire crew if M56 was open all the way up to CR107 so we could rejoin the earlier planned route. The were *pretty* sure it was open, so we headed east. M56 is a really fun road, with a lot of nice swooping curves through the pastures. As we climbed, the road started to get a bit dirty. And then came the sign, "CLOSED TO THROUGH TRAFFIC." Well, the road still looked passable, so we pressed on the see how far "through" we could get:



The higher we got, the dirtier the road got. We were kicking up a lot of dust, and had our doubts about making it all the way to CR107:





Finally, 31 miles later, we got to the turn for CR107. The barrier was down, no way to get around it. Crap. Turnback #2. We headed 31 miles back to the west, and then NW to Porterville. We stuck to the back roads as much as possible. No way to make Oakhurst that night with the roadblocks. We rolled into Three Rivers just before sunset and found a hotel within walking distance to a restaurant. The bikes were a mess from riding on the dusty roads. We got them cleaned up a bit and headed out for chow. The restaurant was fairly new and looked promising. I had the grilled chicken which was quite possibly the worst grilled chicken I've ever had. I still cleaned my plate, however. Pete commented that I rarely say anything negative about any meal, so it must have been pretty bad. Headed back to the room and tried to get some planning done for the next day, until I dozed off...

 
...don't leave us hanging 'cowbell. Looking forward to the next installment!

How far north did you two make it?

--G

 
Day #2, 4/20

Three Rivers to Placerville

422 miles

We woke up around 5:45am, and rode to the coffee shop about a mile up the road. No real idea where we were going that day other than north through the Sequoia National Park. Over coffee, I programmed a route through Sequoia and then backroads up towards Yosemite...and then however far north we could make it.

When we got to the gate at Sequoia, we found out it was National Parks Week, with free admission to all USNPs. That was great news, because I had apparently lost my annual park pass. The card usually resides in the side pocket of my tank bag, but it was nowhere to be found. There's $80 gone like a fart in the wind. I hadn't been through Sequoia since 1997, so it was good to try it out again. It was early, so there was almost no traffic.



It's a tight twisty road climbing up out of the valley below. Kinda hard to see in the morning shadows



We stopped at the turnout for the giant General Sherman tree, but didn't quite feel energetic enough to hike a mile round-trip to see the actual tree. Yep, I'm a lazy bastard. Still some snow up there.



Great views to the west once we got a bit further up the road:



On the way out of the park on the NW side, we stopped at the General Grant tree. We hiked a bit to see it. Those sequoias are just huge! I couldn't get a good pic of the Grant tree, but I got a crappy shot of another tree near the parking area. My little camera couldn't quite get it all.



We headed west on 180 past Squaw Valley, and then took some back roads around Pine Flat Lake. We did a few miles on 168, Auberry Rd, then north to Bass Lake. Generally roads that are highlighted on Butler Maps. We topped the tanks and grabbed some lunch in Oakhurst. During lunch we decided to continue through Yosemite and exit the NW side. We headed north into the park on 41. Yay for National Parks Week and no fees. The downside was some extra traffic. Some cars we could get around, and others we couldn't. Some people were polite and used turnouts, and others were absolutely clueless a-holes and refused to move over. We rolled through the park and the scenery was just spectacular. The waterfalls were in full swing. Due to the traffic, we didn't stop for any pics. Tyler posted some really good stuff a few days ago in another thread, and that's pretty much what we saw.

We then headed north on 49 and took some back roads to avoid Sonora; at Mokelumne Hill, we headed east on 26 until it hit 88. Man, 26 is a really fun road if you can get it with no traffic. The pavement is in perfect condition, nice sweepers. We took Sutter Creek Rd back to 49. SCR is a paved goat trail, but the scenery is fantastic. North again on 49, Placerville seemed about far enough for the day. We rolled in at sunset, topped the tanks, and headed for a hotel. There was a Mexican restaurant across the parking lot, and we got in just before closing time. The chow was good, and the girl behind the bar had a great attitude and was fun to look at. We tipped her well.

Day #3, 4/21

Placerville to Alturas CA

489 miles

Woke up at 5:45 as usual, and rode to a nearby Starbucks for trip planning. Again, we had no idea where we were going that day. Got the Butler Maps spread out on the table, had some oatmeal...but it was very difficult to concentrate on planning with a couple of women in yoga pants standing in line nearby. I'm 47, but well on my way to being a dirty old man. Ok, back to the maps and GPS...but wait, not only does she have yoga pants, but she has some frontal enhancements as well. Hooray! How am I supposed to work in an environment like this? Mind you, I'm not complaining...it just takes longer to get a route into the Garmin. Ok, they're gone...back to work.

We rode north on 193 to Cool, then NE on Foresthill Rd. Then west on Sugar Pine/Iowa Hill Rd. It's decent enough at first, but then gets narrow through the trees:



Approaching Colfax, the road drops steeply to cross the North Fork American River:



The old bridge still stands next to the new one...I love old bridges and railroad trestles:





We climbed out of the valley, took 174 to 49, then some back roads towards Oroville to join the Oroville-Quincy Highway. That road is just fantastic. Perfect pavement, nice sweepers, and life was good...until:



Shit. We can't catch a break. Turnback #3...so much for our plan of going through Quincy. But at least we got to run the OQH again. It's a lot of fun:



Back in Oroville, we topped the tanks and grabbed some lunch. Maps spread out...what to do now? Pete motioned out west towards the coast, wanting to avoid the desolate stretches in NE CA and SE OR. But then he mentioned Idaho. Huh? We can't get to Idaho easily if we head west to the coast. I made the executive decision to head north to OR and WA, and we'd do the coastal stuff on the way home in a few days. We took Cherokee Rd to 70 and followed the North Fork Feather River up the valley. Another fantastic road. Nothing technical, but perfect pavement and great scenery. It gets a G1 rating on Butler Maps. Then 89 to Lake Almanor, east on 36 to A1/Eagle Lake Rd. The entire length of A1 is highlighted on Butler, some of it being G1. We got about six miles into it and, and of course...a barrier for the seasonal road closure. Turnback #4, and it was starting to piss me off. So much for staying at the lower elevations. We headed back to Susanville, then north on 139 and 395 to Alturas. It was an uneventful evening ride, except for the howling wind. It finally died down as we rolled into Alturas at sunset. We topped the tanks as usual, checked into the Super 8 (not so super), and walked to an Italian restaurant down the street. The chow was good, and they had some really good IPAs on tap. No eye-candy for the dirty old man, though.

 
Great stuff so far.

Hwy 26 is DREAMY, ride that one often! Up and back several times actually.

OQH, closed? There is like 3 good roads running up to Quincy from Oroville. Hwy 70 is usually known as OQH, I just rode this one, was open to Quincy.

Hwy 165 thru Bucks Lake I think is still closed.

Lots of turn backs,, but makes a "fun" adventure.

Iowa Hill Rd.......I need to check that one out!

Great report so far.

 
Iowa Hill road eh? My back yard. You are doing a fine job of finding the roads off the beaten path. You are correct OQH is 162 that turns into Bucks Lake road, Hwy 70 is the Feather River Canyon to Quincy. Yep, still snow above 5500 elevation in the shade.

Next time your up this way give me a shout, we have room for mc travelers. Nice report so far!

 
Next time your up this way give me a shout, we have room for mc travelers. Nice report so far!
Thanks for the offer, Doug. Hopefully next time I'll have a better idea of where we're going ahead of time.
Day #4, 4/22

Alturas to Walla Walla WA

608 miles

We were up at the usual time and headed to a coffee shop down the street. The weather was overcast and cool, and it had rained during the night. Luckily it was dry when we hit the road. We droned north on 395. It's a rather boring road, with just a few gentle curves here and there. It was starting to sprinkle as we approached Lakeview OR, so we stopped and got suited up in the rain gear. Just light sprinkles mostly, with a good solid rain for about 5 or 10 miles. The Olympia rain gear works pretty well. We stopped in Burns OR for fuel and a snack, and then headed further north. There are a few nice sweepers on 395 between Burns and Seneca, which helped keep us awake. At Seneca, we headed east on 16 up into the Strawberry Mountain Range. Hw 62 north towards Prairie City had a few good curves and some scenic value as it crossed the mountains. We then headed east on on 26 to join up with 245, the Dooley Mountain Highway. That road had some really great twists and turns, G1 rated on Butler, lots of fun...but there were no good photo ops due to the fire damage. A huge fire had burned about a year ago, and there's a lot of work going on cleaning up the mess. At least the weather had improved, and we could ditch the rain gear.

We then headed west on 7, and then joined 73 through Sumter and Granite, heading for the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway. All was well until we got to the higher elevations and started seeing snow on the road, with fallen branches and other debris. One snowbank had tracks through it, so we followed the wheel ruts to the other side and continued on. Heading east on EDSB, the prognosis was not looking good:



We stayed in the left lane and pressed on. Eventually, our luck ran out:



No way we could cross that snow and get around that tree. Turnback #5. We headed back south towards Hw 7, and we had to re-cross the earlier snowbank. I was in the lead, and committed to a wheel track on the right, when I realized it was the wrong track. I should have been to the left, but it was too late to correct. The snow was a lot deeper on the right, and I tried keeping my front wheel centered in the track. Halfway across, my front wheel started bouncing between the sides despite my steering inputs. I came SO close to dumping the bike right there. How I kept it upright is beyond me. Pete was convinced I was going down. After I got across, I yelled at him on the radio to stay to the left, for Pete's sake! (pun intended). I stopped to get a shot of him crossing. He had a much easier time:



Well, now what? We got back on 7 and headed for Baker City. After a fuel stop, we headed north on I84 for about 15 miles until we could get onto 237 and 203, some decent back roads. At La Grande, we headed north to 204. On the map, 204 looks like a good choice...and it might have been, had it not started getting dark as we climbed up the east side. Nearing the top, it started to sprinkle. Good thing we got the rain gear back on a few miles back. Then it started a solid rain as we descended down the west side of 204 in the dark. Not so much fun. We joined 11 headed north to Walla Walla, and the rain continued until we rolled into town. My gloves were soaked. I have only one pair of gloves that I wear year-round. I vowed to order some GoreTex gloves as soon as I got home.

Using the iPhone, we found a Red Lion right in downtown near several pubs that would be open late. Score! We parked the bikes and walked 2 minutes to a place that had good chow and some tasty IPAs on tap. A little bit of scenery as well. After 600 miles, and a few miles in the rain, a few beers were what I needed. Needless to say, I dozed off before I could get any planning done for the following day.

 
Day #5, 4/23

Walla Walla to Omak WA

540 miles

We hit Starbucks just a few blocks from the hotel early as usual...and as usual, we had no real idea where we were going that day. The Butler map showed a few highlighted roads in SE WA, and then a whole bunch of them to the north and west of Spokane. So that settles it, we'll go that way. It was a cool morning, overcast but not raining. We headed north on 125, east on 124 and 12, and then onto some smaller back roads towards Lake Bryan and the Snake River. The roads were quite entertaining; just sweepers over the rolling hills through a lot of farmland. Quite a bit different from what we'd seen over the past few days. We crossed the dam/lock separating Lake Bryan and Lower Granite Lake. The dam crossing is now gated and requires an escort from a US Army Corps of Engineers security guard. The last time I crossed the dam in '06, there were no gates or guards that I could see. It was cool to see the heavy machinery used on the top of the dam...since we were being escorted, I couldn't get any pics.

We headed NE on 194 and 272...we stopped to don the raingear at Palouse since it was starting to sprinkle. Then north on 27 through more farming communities, each with a large grain elevator to store all the local crops. We passed through the outskirts of Spokane and grabbed fuel and lunch west of the airport. The weather was fine at that point, so we ditched the rain gear. Then a bit of a drone west on 2 until heading north on 231. A few miles to the NW on Little Forks Rd, the scenery suddenly went from rolling farmland to slightly more rugged hills and TREES!



We took another back road west to join up with 25 running north along Lake Roosevelt. We decided to cross to the west side of the lake to hit several more highlighted roads while working our way west. We could have taken 25 all the way up to Kettle Falls, but instead we decided to take the Inchelium-Gifford ferry so we could hit the G1 rated road on the west side of the lake. No trip to the PNW is complete without a ferry ride, of course. The weather looked pretty nasty on the west side of the lake, so we dug out the raingear again as we waited for the ferry.



We were gonna have to ride through that??



As soon as we rolled off the ferry, the rain started coming down. The Inchelium Hwy was a good road, but we kept the pace pretty slow with the heavy rain. As we headed west on 20, the rain started to abate, and eventually quit. Luckily the pavement was dry as we went through a really fun set of curves east of Republic. Then north on 21 and west on back roads towards Oroville. Some of them were clean and we could pick up the pace, but some were a bit dirty which slowed us down a bit.



It was late afternoon and we knew Omak would be as far as we could make it for the day, but we still had time to hit one more scenic loop. At Oroville, we joined the Loomis-Oroville Rd as it loops west, south and back east to 97. We were glad we spent the extra time...it was a fun road with some really pretty scenery, especially just before sunset.



We rolled into Omak just after sunset, topped the tanks and checked into a hotel. We got to the restaurant across the parking lot about 20 minutes before closing time. The waitress/bartender wasn't too pleased with that, but she warmed up since we ordered quickly and didn't require a lot of attention. She was much happier when I bussed our table to help her out at closing time. What sucked was being on day #5 of the ride, and I had yet to see a pork chop on any of the menus. All I ask is for at least one big pork chop on every tour, and so far no such luck. Gotta keep a positive attitude and keep hoping for that pork chop in the days ahead.

 
Day #6, 4/24

Omak to Ellensburg WA

432 miles

No Starbucks this morning...the hotel had a pretty decent coffee/breakfast set up just off the lobby. Plenty of room to spread out the map, but no scenery to enjoy. So, where to go today? I'd seen a forum post about two days prior mentioning Highway 20 being open across the North Cascades. I mentioned it to Pete and he immediately wanted to head in that direction. After 20 dumped us out NE of the Seattle area, I figured we would head back to the east towards Yakima and then maybe south towards the Columbia River and end the day in The Dalles or Hood River.

Just a few miles south of Omak we joined Highway 20 and headed west. It's a fun road between Okanogan and Twisp. West of Winthrop, the scenery started getting better and the temp dropped as we climbed higher. It dipped into the upper 30s, but at least the sun was shining and the road was mostly dry. And then came...the snow. Lots of it. We stopped at the Washington Pass overlook. I was hoping to get a pic near the sign, but it was covered with snow. I think the sign is under there somewhere behind the bikes:



Of course everyone has to get the shot of themselves standing by the snow:



A few miles to the west the snow depth started to shallow a bit:



Then it was time for a pit stop. A small parking area was plowed, but that was it. The roof you can see is the public toilets. I climbed up onto the snow and walked out behind the building to do my business.



Heading west, the snow thinned out and the pavement dried out, so it was a beautiful ride. As we rode along, I mentioned the possibility of stopping by the Boeing plant at Everett and doing the tour of the B747/B767//B777/B787 production line. I mentioned it almost jokingly, but Pete was immediately interested. Since we both work in the airline industry, it's something we've both wanted to see for many years. Even though it would have a huge impact on how far we got that day, it would be the perfect opportunity. I hope to take the wife to Seattle someday for a pub crawl and sightseeing, but I don't think she'd be interested in the Boeing tour. At the next pit stop, I rerouted the GPS to add PAE as a via point.

At Rockport, we headed south on 530. And it started to rain. Not just a sprinkle, but a solid steady rain. Well, we were near Seattle...rain should be expected. Just east of Arlington, we jumped onto some back roads. I didn't want to do I5 in the rain just yet. Those roads took us south until it was time to head west join 2 and I5 for the last few miles into Paine Field. Finally the rain tapered off to a light sprinkle. We parked the bikes...and there was the heavy metal (and composites) across the field:



The tour was pretty interesting. Boeing prohibits any photography during the tour, so I left my camera and cell phone in the locker with my gear at the entrance. We saw the B747 line, or what's left of it. Orders for the -8 model have rapidly dried up, and there were only two airframes visible, an -8 passenger version being prepped for rollout, and a -8F freighter on the final assembly line. There was one B747 cockpit section in the jigs below the viewing area. I guess the days are numbered for the Queen of the Skies. Sad. It's one of my favorites, right up there with the L-1011 and B727.

The building is HUGE. It's hard to get a sense of how big it is until you spot a KC-46 airframe (B767 tanker) on one end in the distance, and it looks tiny. The next building was the B777 line. Lots going on there, with the final assembly line full of -300ERs, and the jigs were all full of subassemblies being built up. The B787 line was pretty much the same story. The big fuel efficient twins are the future, I guess.

After the tour, we wanted to get to dry ground ASAP. We did a couple of miles on I5 before joining 2 to head east. The rain had finally ended and the pavement was drying out. But the downside was afternoon traffic, and lots of it. Being from CA, it sucks not being able to lane-split. East of Sultan, the traffic started to thin out. As we climbed up to Stevens Pass, the temp dropped and the rain started up again. It got down to 37 degrees at the pass, and my gloves were still soaked. The heated grips just can't do much in those conditions. My fingers were in pain. Like I mentioned earlier, it's time to order some GoreTex! At Coles Corner, we took 207 for some twisties shown on the map. That was fun since the road had dried out again. We joined up with 2 again for a few miles, and then south on 97. That's a pretty nice road crossing the Wenatchee Mountains. The wind was howling as we rolled into Ellensburg just before sunset. We topped the tanks and decided to call it a day. We found a roadhouse-style restaurant just a 5 minute walk from the hotel. The chow/beer was good, and the waitress was just delightful. She was a really cute blonde with a beautiful smile, and a really great attitude. She noticed our moto gear and mentioned that her father used to work for Gerbing. She was our favorite waitress for the whole trip. But still no pork chop. Grrrrr.

Day #7, 4/25

Ellensburg to Salem OR

576 miles

We had breakfast at the hotel again as we looked over the maps. We figured we'd try to get down into central OR by the end of the day. South of Ellensburg, we took 821 towards Yakima. The was a great curvy road running along the Yakima River. We did a few miles on I82 until we exited to join 22 SE towards Mabton. Those were some boring miles. Straight road, not much to see. We joined Mabton Hwy across the rolling hills...the curves were fun, but the wind was howling again. That took the fun down a notch. Then we took the Goldendale Hwy heading west. There's a fun section on that road where it gets twisty as the road drops into a canyon and then climbs out the other side. It was quite unexpected:





West of Goldendale, we took 142 down to the Columbia River. That road was quite a good time, G1-rated on the Butler map. We fuelled and grabbed some lunch at The Dalles, and then headed a short distance west on 30, the old Columbia River Highway. Fun road. I had to stop at the overlook for this pic:



It was a beautiful day for riding:



Next was 7 Mile Hill Rd taking us east back to The Dalles. Another fun road. Then east on I84 to 97, and then 206 towards Condon. South of Fairview there are some really nice curves on 206 as you climb out of a valley to the plains above. The valley is kinda visible just to the right of the road in this shot:



At Condon, we headed south on 19 towards Fossil. The scenery started to improve a bit. South of Fossil on 218 it got really interesting. Lots of fun twisties, and most of that stretch of road is G1 rated on the map. We wore a lot of rubber off the tires on that one.



Here's a neat twisty section just north of Antelope:



West of Shaniko it calmed down a bit on Bakeoven Rd towards Maupin. Then west on 216 where we joined 42, hoping to take it south towards Detroit. The road was pretty good for a while, and then it started to get a bit dirty. Well, you can guess what happened next:



Well crap. Turnback #6. Back to the north on 46 for a bit, until we came upon a sign pointing to Estacada. I knew where that was, at least! We started in that direction, and just past Timothy Lake, the road turned to gravel. If we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all. We voted to press on. After about 5 miles of gravel, we got back on to crappy pavement. Eventually we ran into 46, the Clackamas River Road. We were running out of daylight, but we had lots of fuel in the tanks. We headed south to see where we'd end up. This time our luck was okay, and the road was open all the way south to Detroit. It was a pretty nice evening ride, and we had to the road to ourselves. At Detroit, we decided to head west to Salem and call it quits. The last few miles on 22 were pretty boring, and we rolled into Salem as it was getting dark. We found a room at the Travelodge near downtown and hiked about 15 minutes to a brewpub for dinner. Again, the chow and beer were pretty good...but still no porkchop.

 
Nice...you found a lot of our favorite Oregon roads...great job 'cowbell!

--G

BTW - You went right through my (riding) backyard as you were slogging east on Hwy 2 from Everett.

 
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In Oregon any road south of I-84, mostly east of Hwy 97, and north of Hwy 26 and to the Idaho border is riding the the box. If you ride in the box all the roads are good!

 
Day #8, 4/26

Salem to Roseburg OR

443 miles

We hit the Starbucks in downtown Salem early. There was some scenery to enjoy there, but nothing on the scale of what we'd seen Placerville a few days prior. With the map out, we decided to head west towards the coast and then zig-zag our way southbound. We headed west on 22, which was pretty boring for about 30 miles until Valley Junction. We then split off to 130, which was a really nice road with some good sweepers and a few tighter turns. It's very green in western OR. Living in the desert for 22 years has me accustomed to crispy brown colors.



We then turned south on 101 for a few miles until we hit Slab Creek Rd, a rather tight curvy back road. According to the Butler map, it's part of the old Hwy 101. I see these old concrete bridges on some really tight little roads, and I always wonder how they got the equipment and materials there to actually build a structure like that:



Then south on 101 for a few more miles until Devils Lake Rd...we tried to hit every back road to avoid running though every small town on 101 which gets old pretty quickly. After DLR, south on 101 again until 229 down to Siletz. That was a fun road, with a G1 section on the map. Choppy pavement was scattered here and there, but overall a good ride. Between Newport and Toledo, we did a loop around Yaquina Bay. It was a beautiful day for riding:



We then headed east on 20 for about 15 miles to Hwy 180, yet another small road highlighted on the map. We rejoined 20 at Blodgett and headed east to Philomath. After refueling and a quick stop at Mac's House of Fine Beef (McDonald's), we headed SW on 34 towards the coast. Hwy 34 is a fantastic road...smooth pavement, nice sweepers, great scenery. At Yachats, we headed south on 101 to Florence. Usually 101 up the Oregon coast is a bit tiresome, but this section is actually really good. Once you get away from the traffic, the road is great and the views are spectacular.

At Florence, we headed east on N Fork Siuslaw Rd/5070, which runs parallel to 126, with the intent of joining 36 a few miles east. It was a pretty good road for several miles, and then it started getting tighter and dirtier. That's never a good sign. I could see some switchbacks coming up on the Garmin which showed the road to be paved. At the base of the switchbacks climbing a small mountain, the road turned to gravel. Dammit. The transition to gravel occurred during a turn just after crossing a small bridge, and Pete wasn't quite ready for it...his rear tire slid out quite a bit and I thought he was going down. Somehow he kept the bugger upright and we continued on. What's a few more miles of gravel road among FJR friends? Two miles later, we reached the top of the hill before starting down to 36. And then:



Son. Of. A. Bitch. No way around that barrier. Turnback #7. This was getting really, really old. And the worst part is, we were only 2.2 miles from the bottom of the hill and joining 36. Two Point Two Miles. So we turned around and headed back down the gravel switchbacks for two miles until reaching the paved section. It was an addition 32 miles to get back to where we would have joined 36 originally. Okay now, where were we? We headed east on 36 and turned south on Poodle Creek Rd. Cute name. We crossed 126 and took a back road down to Territorial Hwy/200. We headed south on 200 to join 38 SW to Drain. Our plan was to overnight in Roseburg and get in early enough to get some laundry done. We had already cut out one section of planned back roads in the interest of saving time, and during a fuel stop in Drain, we decided to cut out another section and get to I5 and make a beeline for Roseburg. I hate to miss out on some cool curvy roads, but I guess 26 miles of I5 wouldn't kill me.

We got into Roseburg with some daylight remaining, which is unusual for us. We got a room at the not-so-lovely Rodeway Inn downtown. The only reason to stay there was the short walk to McMenamin's Roseburg Station Pub and Brewery. I'd been there before on a previous tour and I thought it was worth repeating. The food and beer was great, but the staff...eh. And guess what? Still no pork chop. This was starting to annoy me as much as the multiple turnbacks on this trip.

Day #9, 4/27

Roseburg to Willits CA

527 miles

We woke up early to a steady rain. I know there's a Starbucks on the west side of Roseburg that I've hit a few times before...but Pete said it wasn't worth the hassle in the rain. He wanted to gear up and hit the road and get coffee and breakfast somewhere down the line. Huh? Well that's what I usually do on a solo tour, but Pete NEVER skips his morning coffee. So we headed west for a bit on Hwy 5, taking it easy on the curves in the rain. Just when I was thinking that riding in the rain isn't so great, we passed a few school buses taking loads of kids to school. Then I thought...ya know, riding an awesome beast of an FJR in the rain is still several magnitudes better than having to ride a freaking bus to school and sit in a classroom for the rest of the day. Those poor little bastards. And suddenly, riding in the rain didn't bother me anymore.

We took several little back roads roughly parallel to I5 until we reached the Tiller-Trail Hwy/227. As we joined 227, the rain was finally starting to let up. It's a really nice road with some good turns as you climb over a mountain range. Further south, we joined 62 for a rather boring slog into Medford. I've spent a lot of time in Medford due to the airline gig. At least we knew where the Starbucks was. It was mid-morning when we had our coffee and breakfast snacks. We then suffered through about 17 miles of I5 before exiting at Ashland to take 66 and Old Highway 99 for a few miles, joining up with I5 again a few miles south. After that it was another 17 miles of I5 until joining 96 to head west. The westbound portion of 96 is a great road. The pavement is in good shape, and the curves/scenery fantastic. We stopped briefly at a construction area where a rather cute signholder shared some of her blackberry stash with us. After Happy Camp, the pavement deteriorates substantially. The section of 96 from Happy Camp to Willow Creek has great views, but the crappy pavement was really beating me up. My FJR is approaching 30000 miles, and the stock suspension is pretty much shot. I've got a new Gen III shock on the shelf ready to go at the 30K service, and the forks will go to Race Tech. But until then, it's kicking my ass. Then the clouds started rolling in, so we decided to stop and rig the rain gear:



At Willow Creek, we joined 299 westbound. The rain started coming down again as we climbed over the pass and we descended down into Eureka. It was mid-afternoon, and we needed a break. I'd found a moto-themed café in downtown Eureka while on a work layover, so we decided to stop there for a late lunch.



It's a cool place with good chow and some neat vintage motorcycles on display. They also have some riding gear for sale...and a pair of Alpinestars Drystar gloves hanging on the rack. But with a price of $199.95, I think I'll take my chances and head for home with my old gloves. That's just a wee bit overpriced. We continued south on 101 with a brief fuel stop in Fortuna. After a few more miles of 101, we joined 254...Avenue of The Giants. I can't count how many times I've been on that road, but it never gets old. Every time I pass through that area, I skip 101 and take 254 through the trees. Most of the road was repaved a couple of years ago, and it's just a fantastic ride.





We rejoined 101 and headed south to Leggett. Normally we'd take 1 over to the coast and head down to Fort Bragg. Hwy 1 from Leggett to the coast is an awesome stretch of road, right up there with the Tail of the Dragon as far as I'm concerned...but probably not as much fun when the road is damp. Plus, both of our front tires were starting to wear kinda thin on the sides, and that curvy stretch of damp pavement suddenly seemed less appealing. We decided to wimp-out and stay on 101 south to Willits. No guts, no glory, as the saying goes. We found a small hotel in Willits at sunset. There was a pizza place a short walk from the hotel with beers signs in the window. That would have to do. The pizza-sandwich was good, but you know what a pizza place most definitely doesn't have on the menu? A pork chop.

 
Day #10, 4/28

Willits to Oakhurst CA

466 miles

It was clear and cold the following morning, around 43 degrees. Google Maps didn't show any decent looking coffee shops in Willits, but we knew there was a Starbucks in Fort Bragg. It was only 34 miles away, not too bad. We headed west on 20, which is a spectacular road. We took it easy until the tires warmed up a bit. Even once they had warmed up, we still kept an easy pace because we needed the tires to make it all the way back home. We came up behind a few trucks and cars enroute to Fort Bragg, but every driver was nice enough to use a turnout and let us go by. Shocking! We saw one of the drivers at the Starbucks a few minutes later and we thanked her for being courteous.

After coffee and breakfast, we headed south on 1 for 20 miles until 1 splits to the right...we continued straight on 128. Hwy 128 is a beautiful road, with the northern part having a lot of curves running through more giant redwoods. It's almost (but not quite) as much fun as Ave of the Giants. Further south, the road widens out and runs along a valley with wineries on either side. The last few miles before our turn onto Mountain House Rd were a lot of fun, with perfect corners and smooth pavement...lots of fun. We took a break on Mountain House Rd to dispose of the coffee and stow the jacket liners. It was a great day for riding:



At Hopland, we headed east on 175. That road has some really good turns and smooth pavement on the west side. Heading downhill on the east side wasn't as much fun...dirty corners and generally crappy pavement. We continued east on 175 and then 29 south of Clear Lake. We joined Morgan Valley Rd which was entertaining. Then the road suddenly becomes Berryessa Knoxville Rd, and the pavement gets really shitty. There were several low-water crossings, and the rough pavement was beating the crap out of us. I could almost feel my stock suspension deteriorating as we rode along. The pavement here wasn't quite as bad as several other places:



That road was highlighted on the Butler Map. Not sure why. Now that I've seen it, I'll never do it again. Finally, as we got to Lake Berryessa, the pavement smoothed out and we could resume a normal pace. We headed east on 128 and E6, eventually getting on I80 for a bit to get through Sacramento. We joined 16 east out to 49. While eastbound on 16, we saw an RV driver that was behaving like a real moron. He was holding up at least 10, possibly 20 vehicles. At every stop, the behemoth would slowly work its way up to 55 mph, but the idiot would never pull over onto any of the many wide shoulders to let traffic go by. That crap really pisses me off. We slowly picked off the cars ahead at every passing zone, and eventually we were able to pass the RV. Pete was in the lead, and as we passed the RV, Pete made a waving motion to the driver to indicate "use the turnouts!!". When I was at the RV drivers 9 o'clock position, I could see that he was giving Pete the middle finger. WTF? This asshole was driving rudely and illegally (CA law requires use of turnouts when delaying 5 vehicles or more), and he's flipping us off? As I pulled in front of the RV, I had my middle finger displayed quite prominently. What a dick! But once he was in the rear view mirror, he no longer mattered.

We headed south on 49 and then east a bit on 88 to 26. We had so much fun on 26 the week prior, we wanted to hit it again in the opposite direction. What a great road. We continued south on the same back roads as last week to avoid Sonora, and then rejoined 49. South of Coulterville, there are some fun curves:



The bikes were a mess from all the rain and dirty roads we'd seen:



Just south of Bagby, 49 gets really entertaining...it would have been a lot more fun with fresh tires:



After that it was an uneventful evening ride down 49 all the way into Oakhurst. We checked into a hotel and found a brewpub on Google Maps not too far away...got the bikes put to bed and we started walking. Fifteen minutes later, we found that the brewpub was quite small and packed full of people watching the guy playing guitar. And at a place like that, after people eat, they stay at the table having beers and watching the guitar player. No way to get a table. Crap. Well, we started walking back and found yet another pizza place. And as I mentioned before, what do pizza places lack on the menu? That's right, an entire 11 day tour with not one pork chop. Seriously not cool.

Day #11, 4/29

Oakhurst to Palm Springs

469 miles

We hit Starbucks early in Oakhurst...and since we were going home today, I had the route set up pretty quickly. We had to avoid some of the best twisty stuff just to make sure our tires made it all the way home. We went around Bass Lake and headed south on some back roads routing east of Fresno. East on 180 for a bit, then SE on 63, 201, 245, etc. South of Porterville, we got back on Old Stage Rd, and then 155 towards Lake Isabella. I think 155 was a mistake this time, since the road is so twisty and dirty, but I couldn't think of any better route. We took it easy to preserve the tires. We stopped at the Kern Valley Airport to grab lunch as the greasy spoon diner. It's pretty cool to see a BD-5 on a stick acting as a windsock:



East of Lake Isabella we joined 178 eastbound. That's a pretty good road crossing Walker Pass. Once you hit 14, the fun stops. From there, we went to Inyokern to join 395 and drone south, and then east on 58 to Barstow. Those were some boring miles right there. Then south on 247 with one last pit stop in Yucca Valley. And then finally home. As much as I love long road trips and being out for a week or two, it's always great to come home to the wife and dog. I parked the bike and the wife and I headed to a dive bar nearby for a beer and fish tacos. It was almost a week later before I got around to getting the bike washed. That took some work. I finally got my pork chops two days after getting back.

We covered 5412 miles for an average of 492 miles per day. Not my highest mileage trip ever, but still not too bad. I can't wait for the next big trip this fall with a fresh suspension...we're heading east to TX Hill Country and the Ozarks.

Thanks for reading.

 
In Oregon any road south of I-84, mostly east of Hwy 97, and north of Hwy 26 and to the Idaho border is riding the the box. If you ride in the box all the roads are good!
Fontanaman. You are so right. Decided to ride that box this weekend. Road from Shaniko thru Antelope to Fossil is unbelievably fun and 206 from Condon back to Biggs has some great sections. Thanks for the suggestion!

 
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