Alaska - The ride report

[Escape pod]

… The process in which organic material exposed to minerals over a long period of time is turned into a stony substance. Petrification.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Hey Nate. Does the fan have any garbage stuck in it preventing smooth turning? You probably already checked that, but it matches blown fuses and no fan. Assuming coolant level is good, you can also try grounding the fan at the plug to see if it will turn on when the key is on. I skim so fast I miss everything about delicious food and good times when you write about having a bike issue!

I'll poke at it a bit more today, it still felt very crunchy when I was spinning it after I broke it loose from it's frozen state, so, probably crap in there for sure. I might just disconnect it as the last time that happened (via the dealer) no fuses blew, it just started to get toasty while I was in line to get into Ranier national park.

The fan thing reminds me when my thermostat went out on my VFR in Mexico.

On the way out, we got stopped by a diligent Tijuana moto cop, apparently for missing a stop sign.

He offered convenient, roadside assistance in paying the $20 fine, but at the same time gave us a short cut to the border, which my sweating VFR greatly appreciated. Once on the road, it's fine. But, yea, sitting in those lines, hot steamy bubbling goodness.

Yeah, it stays cool moving, even moving slowly, but any amount of time sitting in these 80+ temps and it warms up real fast.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

As they say, if you're not riding, you better be posting. Do they say that? Someone says that. Probably.

My hosts in Seattle were way to nice and while I was getting myself sorted out Ginger had gone out and bought coffee and breakfast from some local spot. As such, I was a bit longer in getting out of there than planned. But at some point, you gotta get back on the road to make progress...

Loaded up and ready to roll, hopefully without traffic

I hit traffic just past downtown Seattle due to a few lanes being closed for road work. I was contemplating how long I could last before needing to pull over when I local rider blasted past on the shoulder. When in Rome I figured and followed his lead. After a mile or so traffic was moving along again so I merged back in and got work work covering some miles on I-5. I had a plan to get off I-5 south of Seattle and TWT has sent me a very delectable route that would avoid I-5 most o the way to her place.

It was in fact near Tacoma, but I got off the highway and picked up 7. I didn't realize how ready I was for a good run at some twisty roads until said corners appeared and I had to remind myself I had a fair amount of weight on the back of the bike. Fun was had but I did pull off for a few pictures.

After the good corners of course..

After some more hooning I rolled into Elbe, which is a pretty cool looking town and apparently houses a railroad that'll go to Mt Ranier. They also have a bunch of converted rail cars you can stay in or dine in. And this neat old church. I was tempted to stop for a bite but it was a bit early for that sort of thing.

A little ways down the road I realized I probably should have stopped in town, because I needed to pee, instead I just used this turn out. Apparently you can ride on this logging companies land, but not on an ebike, so there.

There was some country road cruising to get to my destination for the evening, nice and scenic and most importantly, not I-5

Holy Toledo! No, not that one.

I made it to McMinnville which I promptly called McKinley a few times.

I went out to grab a drink and found that my bike had a new friend.

The Blue Moon Lounge purports to be the oldest continuously operated bar in the county or something along those lines. Fun spot. I considered eating there, but decided the weather was good for the roof top bar at my hotel.

There was an art alley on the way back to my hotel so I walked through it. I particularly liked this creative gate.

The food at the hotel was ok, but the setting was solid.

And then on more stop at the cellar bar to check it out.

After that, having been up until almost 3am the night before, I sauntered back to my room and was out like a light.

 

[budman]

We will miss you and your stories about your trip in Hawthorne... but I sure get it!!!

Hope the road is treating you well today N4te!!

 

[needles]

We will miss you and your stories about your trip in Hawthorne... but I sure get it!!!

Hope the road is treating you well today N4te!!

@N4teTheGreat - we're hoping you might be able to join in Hawthorne.

 

[two wheel tramp]

a

We will miss you and your stories about your trip in Hawthorne... but I sure get it!!!

Hope the road is treating you well today N4te!!

it’s not. i’m being mean to him.

 

[budman]

Not sharing your rear end massager??

 

[N4teTheGreat]

I'm well fed and over caffeinated, what's not to love. I really do want to make it to Hawthorne and while riding straight there from this trip almost seemed like a good idea, I should probably give the bike, myself and my S/O some TLC and turning around to head to Hawthorne in one day might be pushing my luck

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Alright, one more update since I am taking an easy (but fun!) day today.

I was up and out of the hotel by 10:30 looking at roughly 300ish miles to my destination. I snapped on final shot of the hotel because it was a neat building and loaded up.

Just outside of town I saw signs for Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge so I pulled in to have a look. It didn't seem all that preserve-y but what do I know.

I stopped in Dallas to get a shot of their courthouse (I think?) nice building and the definitely a small town vibe, it was around noon and a bunch of kids were playing flag football on the lawn.

I'd been riding for a bit and decided it was picture time, so I pulled off to get this shot and of course the big rig I'd passed a while back caught me...

No biggie, just down the road was this covered bridge that demanded a photo.

A little ways further my route took my onto a smaller road the quickly became one lane, and twisty as all get out.

I was having trouble seeing the cracks and dips along the way so I stopped to take of my sunglasses which also afforded a good chance to get a shot of the tree tunnel I was riding in.

The road led to a water fall, in all my rides through Oregon I don't think I've ever gone to see a waterfall

Not bad for a small one this time of year.

It was 1ish when I got to the next town after this fun bit and I was hungry as I hadn't eaten yet so I stopped when I saw a local bar and grill.

The burger was decent, though on the well done side, but still hit the spot. There was a older woman at the end of the bar enjoying some day drinking while playing keno. Turned out she used to live in Cali in her younger years and lived / worked in Palm Springs back when Frank Sinatra was frequently around. Apparently she worked at a restaurant he rented out for his birthday and got to hang around watching the goings on all night. She said she and her friends had quite the party house down there.

After lunch I went to find gas and after a bit was back on fun roads. Fun, recently chip sealed roads as I discovered when my rear kept wanting to step out around corners. Still better work than what we get for chip sealing in the bay area so a reasonable pace was maintained.

Cottage Grove had a nice historic downtown, I stopped for a quick photo and considered coffee across the street, but it was Monday and they were closed.

the tire was pretty well scrubbed at this point..

All the goats in the background stopped to see what I was up to as I took this picture. Further down the hill about four different farm dogs chased me along the fence. What is it with farm dogs and their hatred of motorcycles?

 

[N4teTheGreat]

I haven't done a ride through Oregon backroads without hitting gravel, why stop now?

I was seeing hints of fall here and there, but also, it was like 90 degrees sooo, definitely not fall just yet.

This river / bridge was rather pretty, as such I missed my turn twice.

The sun was getting low and I had an hour left to get to TWTs house, or so I thought

Despite some wildfire action, and at one point a big old fire truck using both lanes until they saw me, the road was excellent.

I definitely stopped for this shot, not because I was busy looking at a side road and completely blew the corner, nope.

Shortly after this picture I realized, once I was out of cell signal, that in adjusting the route I'd left out one key stop. The one that had TWTs address. So, instead of being an hour away, I had to backtrack about 40 minutes, at which point the fastest route was down I-5 for... an hour and a half

It was a bit dark when I arrived.

TWT wasn't too annoyed with me and made an awesome stir fry which hit the spot nicely.

Then we had a quick nightcap on the porch before calling it a night. I'll probably ride somewhere fun today too as I get slowly closer to home.

 

[needles]

Vaya con Dios. Fair winds. Safe journey.

Its one of the intangibles of touring on a motorcycle. Specifically with a partner. You've been on the road for several days or weeks, and you're coming home and reach that final point, like on a freeway and you hit that final fork in the road. They go one way, you go another, and the trips ends with a hearty wave as one accelerates up on a transition and you just set your heart and mind on getting home.

Beautifully said @berth - both @TowerRigger and I agree!

 

[WoodsChick]

Holy Toledo! No, not that one.

I moved out of my mom’s house in SJ a month after my 16th birthday and landed in this tiny town of Toledo! Lived right on the Cowlitz River, worked full-time at an apple tree farm, growing the baby trees we’d sell to apple orchards, and busted my butt to get through my junior year at Toledo High School. I did not expect to see Toledo mentioned in your ride report, Nate, or anyone else’s!

There’s a place in Dunsmuir where you can stay in converted rail cars. It’s a pretty neat looking place.

Thanks for documenting and sharing your trip for us, Nate! I know it takes a lot of time and energy, and I appreciate your efforts. It’s been most enjoyable!

 

[N4teTheGreat]

I'm glad you and others are enjoying it. I remember someone in I met asking me if I had a blog and I said no, but as I thought about it, I guess this is kinda that..

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Well, I got two more of these in me, because I'll be home tonight.

As for yesterday. It was an "easy" day. So I slept in a bit before enjoying coffee and breakfast with TWT. She had the appropriate mug for my return to the states...

I used the time to give the bike some love, new fuse to replace the blown one (oh also, the bike has TWO radiator fans and I'd only un-seized one of them, sooooo) and a chain clean and adjustment. I didn't have a 10 amp fuse so I put a 7.5 amp in instead. I should probably pick up more fuses before I leave town today...

TWT put together a delectable route to get me from Williams to Eureka via some very fun roads. She lives in a good spot for that as it wasn't long at all before things got entertaining...

Even trees take naps.

There was a little smoke haze in the air, but the views were still pretty solid.

That mattress has probably seen some things...

I got a brief brake in the action near lake Selmac, but then I took a left and things got race tracky again. Long sightlines and fast sweepers, good times.

Too good, the only picture I got was on the final straight at the end of that section. Oops.

I took a water break in Cave Junction and was amused by the local Chevron's installation...

One of the guys had locked his keys in the truck next to my bike. He had a spare set at home so he wasn't too worried and proceeded to tell me a harley joke that I am pretty sure I have heard before, something to do with a horse and a chicken and getting stuck in the mud. You'll know if you've heard it.

Off I went and after setting I traffic waiting for some electrical work to happen and then following a smokey dump truck for a few miles I finally got clear road and started climbing again.


Wrong side of the sign, I was entering, not leaving.

Another great road, lots of turns and view and very little traffic. After a while I realized I'd been on some of this road before...

In fact I'd ridden this into Happy Camp probably 4 years ago or so, however somehow I got myself on a dirt road on the back side of the mountain instead and had done 20 miles or so of dirt. I like the paved version better.

I did fine the same snow park where I popped out of the dirt onto pavement and was quite happy to see it.

Now

Then, ok I didn't get the pose close at all, but you get the idea...

I considered stopping in Happy Camp, but decided against it, I had a ways to go and there was premium gas further down 96, so I snapped this shot and continued on.

96 was scenic as ever and of course fun as all get out. A strong headwind at times got annoying, but wasn't really a problem.

It was quite warm though, I think the bike was reporting low 90s. Different weather than I've grown accustomed to.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Another quick glamor shot because there was shade.

Initially I thought this was the market that has the gas station and was wondering if they took it out. Confirmed with the guy in the store that was a ways down, but decided to stop for caffeine and water. They have free wifi and ice cream as well, so seems like a good stop for anyone running 96.

I gassed up in Weitchpec with that sweet sweet premium. It had gotten REALLY smokey and I'd been past a fire camp so I was starting to wonder if I was gonna get routed. I saw a USFS truck pull out of the road I was gonna take to Martins Ferry and asked him if the road was open. He told me the smoke was from a prescribed burn and the road was open and awesome. Sweet.

The section of road up to the bridge was pretty busy with more than a few bro dozers hauling ass and using the whole one lane road. Good thing I was late apexing and hugging the shoulder.

When I go the bridge I realized there was a quarry down the road to my right and based on the time it was probably shift change, which would explain all the traffic. Thankfully, I was going left to Orick.

It was a fine road, sharp switchbacks paired tastefully with tight sweepers that offered good line of sight so one could connect multiple corners, which is one of my favorite dance moves with this bike.

Kinda pretty too...

I let the GoPro run, we'll see if I got anything interesting, odds are no. I think I saw maybe three vehicles on my way up the road,

The trees started thinning at points as I got near the summit. The air was cooling down and felt quite pleasant.

I passed a sign noting "pavement ends' but it did not, as they have recently paved the former gravel section. It was definitely fresh chip seal, and in some places more chip than seal, so there is still gravel out there for those looking...

Good 'n goaty is how I'd describe this road.

As I rode along the ridge line I got a hint that things might be a little cooler on the coast...

I got into some neat fog for a bit as I was riding through the redwoods. Pretty spectacular. The roadway was rough as I recalled it from 2022 when I rode up as far as a viewpoint before circling back, probably rougher as I started to worry if my wheels would still be round at the bottom. I think they are.

I was kind of expecting the coast to be socked in, so I was pleasantly surprised when I rode out below the fogline and got to a nice clear coast.

Requisite bike on coast with sun setting pic for my return to Cali

I hammered on to Eureka, considered pushing further and decided not to. Grabbed essential provisions after booking the cheapest motel in town.

Grabbed a burrito because I was craving one, it was decent, but my SF self is spoiled when it comes to good Al Pastor. Then I went to the bar right next to my motel for a few beers. Then I quickly fell asleep in my room as all those corners took it out of me for such a short day...

Today I head to SF and while most might just hammer down 101, I'm thinking of 36 > Alderpoint Rd > Legget > 1 > 128 and then 101 home. A cool 322 miles.

 

[CDONA]

Ribbon cutting before you cross the GGB, , ,

a minor little homecoming celebration, for THE Barf ambassador

 

[budman]

That would be appropriate!!!

Great pics of some roads that I actually know where they are.

The final final is upon us.

 

[two wheel tramp]

@N4teTheGreat captured a few pics that are less than five miles from my house. I sent him on my race track and I am glad he enjoyed it.

I live in moto heaven.

 

[MartyD]

I'm just sick with envy. Gonna go out to the garage now and put on my new tire. I'm really motivated after all these fine photos.

 

[Blankpage]

Oregon looks like a nice ride.
Probably take me a week to get there given my daily range limits.
I suspect a proper riding pants would make a world of difference.