San Diego or Bust, August 2017, Part 7

I TRIED TO GET THESE TO POST IN REVERSE ORDER, BUT NO SUCH LUCK.  IF YOU'D LIKE TO START AT THE BEGINNING, GO TO AUGUST AND FIND PART 1.


Saturday—Day 19

Destination:  Thompson Reservoir, Oregon

Miles:  316

Critter Count: 1 deer, bald eagle, sand hill cranes

It's a beautiful morning, once again. We are up and on the road by 7:30.  That might have been an error in judgment as it was a very cold ride, getting down to 45 degrees.  Maybe we should have waited for the sun to come up a little higher.

There are 3 ways to go north from Lake Almanor. One goes right through the Lassen Volcanic Park, and we are all tired of the crowds so that was a big no.  The second goes too far west, almost to Redding, so that also got voted down as too hot.  The third was to take some county roads to the east of us that would short-cut us to SR 44 which joins up with SR 89 just outside the Lassen Park.  This was the winner.

 The view of Mt Shasta from Highway 89

About 30 miles past the SR 299 junction we turned north on Harris Springs Rd.  This forrest road took us to Medicine Lake.

Looks like the lake is a little full.  You have to wade out to the beach if you want to swim.

Medicine Lake had been an option to camp at, if we had arrived in the afternoon.  As it was only 11 am we opted for a snack and a rest as I reset the GPS's with the next route.

 It is a pretty little lake

After Medicine Lake we took SR 139 north splitting off on county roads as we went into Oregon.  We went through Bonanza and out to SR 140 to go east through Beatty, to Bly where we had lunch and got gas. We then turned north on more forest roads to get to Thompson Reservoir.

 We again had a beach front site

Smoke from the fire across the lake made for a nice sunset

Tomorrow will be a short day. Less than 130 miles to Dave and Loretta's where we plan to spend the night.

Sunday—Day 20

Destination: Dave and Loretta's, Bend Oregon

Miles:  128

Critter Count: 1 deer, bald eagle

We had a quite night in camp.  At sunset the sand hill cranes started telling each other about their day.  They have a very distinctive cry.  They started back up this morning as the sun was coming up.  They were so loud, we all got up.  We planned on breakfast in town, so clean up this morning was minimal.  We went to the Silver Lake Cafe for breakfast and had our last visit for now, with Lyon.  He will head straight up US 97 to catch a highway west over the mountains.  He would like to get home to Hillsboro before all the weekend traffic gets on the highways.  It makes sense, but we will miss him when he leaves.

We lasted 1.5 miles on US 97 before diving onto secondary roads that paralleled the highway to Sun River.  Then we went a little west so we could then come in on the Cascade Lakes Highway.  We stayed to the west of the Bend mess, coming into Dave's place on the Tumalo Rd.  It was nice to have a day to spend with friends.  They told us about their ride home, after they left us, and we filled them in on our adventures.

Monday—Day 21

Destination: Debbie's house, Yakima, WA

Miles:  297

Word of the Day:  Hot

We have company for part of our ride today!  I had planned on us doing a lot of US 97 to get us to Yakima at a reasonable time, But Dave and his friend Darryl had other ideas.  They used us as an excuse (as if they needed one) to go riding!

We started out after a great breakfast (thanks Dave for feeding Wayne his favorites) and followed back roads to north of Redmond, crossing 97 at Terrebonne. We continued east to the Madras Highway (US 26), which we took north to Madras. Once out of town we took backroads on the west side of the highway until we had to go back on 97.  6 miles later we were off to the east on SR 293. The next time we stopped Wayne was telling us about this car that had followed us up 97, then waved energetically at him when we peeled off.  We had no clue, until later that this had been our friend Sue who lives in Terrebonne.  What are the chances, and how did she know it was us from behind??? 

 We took state highways through part of the John Day Fossil beds  and through the towns of Antelope and Fossil.

 Very cool rook formations

 I'm standing under the rocks, but the other side of the valley is so smooth and weathered

In the town of Condon, Dave and Darryl turned east, trying to get higher in elevation to avoid the heat, while Wayne and I headed west to get back on US 97 so we could cross into Washington.  We had lunch in Goldendale, then took the Bickleton Hwy northeast to Mabton. Then it was SR 22 northwest to where we could cross I-82 and the Konnowac Pass Rd to Moxee. Then we worked our way north to Deb's house.  It was hot, hot, hot all afternoon.  I was dripping wet by the time we got to Deb's.

 It was so much fun to catch up with Deb and Lisa.  We spent the evening talking about old times.  We used to camp and ride together almost every weekend.  I miss that, but moving to Salt Lake City put an end to it.

Thanks Debbie, for taking us in for the night, and for all the good times we've had over the years.  Hard to believe it was 30 years ago that we met on the trails at Mad River.

Tuesday—Day 22

Destination: Monroe, Washington

Miles:  183

Word of the Day:  Home

Total Trip:  23 days, 22 days riding

Miles:  4952, only about 900 short of what I expected 

Debbie and Lisa had to work today, so we got up with them and were on the road by 6:30 am.  Yikes!!  We thought we were avoiding the heat, but it never did warm up until we got west of the Cascades.

We struggled to get out of town, as the roads that my map showed weren't there anymore.  It happens... We didn't want to go through town, so we got on the dreaded interstate, I-82, for the 8 miles to the Yakima Canyon exit and then headed north.  I love the ride through the canyon, it is so pretty. We were getting gas in Ellensburg well before 8, and at the Liberty Cafe on the Blewett Pass highway for breakfast.

Then it was up to US 2 and Leavenworth, over Stevens Pass and in to John's house before noon.

We're back!

It looks like the bikes puked camping gear all over the place!

It's nice to be home, where ever home is.  Currently that's John and Cheri's place in Monroe.   We'll stay here for a while.  Wayne needs to rip into his BMW and fix that bad boy, then it is off to Bend to hang with Dave and Loretta for a while.  Hopefully I'll have more for you from there!

Take care,

Patti

Life shouldn’t be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, wine in one hand and chocolate in the other, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

San Diego or Bust, August 2017, Part 6

Wednesday—Day 16

Destination:  Deadman Campground, Sonora Highway, California

Miles:  248

Word of the Day:  Yosemite

Critter Count:  deer and squirrels

Boy, it was another really hot night.  But it is nice to start the day with just a vented jacket on, not 3 layers which then have to be taken off at some point. Once again, up at 6:15 and on the road by 7:30.  We took roads that ran along the edge of the National Forest, stopping in North Fork for coffee.  The sign claimed it was "the center of California".  I wonder how they figured that out?

 Then it was into Yosemite National Park.  I got to use my new 'old guys pass'.  How cool is that? The park is very smokey, as there is a fire in the area.  And they are doing a ton of road construction.  The summer high season seems like a dumb time to do that, but oh well.

 Yosemite is a long narrow valley.  That is the north road in the distance

El Capitan, Yosemite Park

 After crawling our way into the park and finding the park store, we decided not to camp with the masses.  We found a picnic area for lunch, then started out of the park to the Tioga Pass Rd, SR 120.

 We found a bear trap showing that there are still bad bears in the park

 View from SR 120

 Lake Tenaya

 Me and my guy 

 Tioga Lake

 This is SR 120 just east of Tioga Lake.  It must have been a thrill, building this road.

Mono Lake

SR 120 meets US 395 at Lee Vinning. Here we took a left and went north to the Mono Lake Interpretive Center.  Mono Lake is a vast inland sea nestled at the feet of the 13,000' peaks of the Sierra Nevada Range to the west and the ancient volcanic Bodie Hills to the north.   It is one of the oldest lakes in North America at an estimated 760,000 years old.  Mono Lake does not have an outlet.  Streams bring minerals into the lake and evaporation has removed fresh water from it.  As a result, the salinity content is over twice that of the ocean.  The islands in the lake are the result of volcanic eruptions.  The white island, Paoha, erupted about 325 years ago.

From here we headed north to Bridgeport for an early dinner, during which we decided to go to Kennedy Meadows and the Deadman campground for the night.  They have a camp store right there, so beer/juice will be cold still when we get to camp.

Sonora Pass, SR 108 is located about 20 north of Bridgeport. It is our very favorite road ever!!!  

Besides a 25% grade it should also have one of those twisty road signs with 'Next 50 miles' noted below!!  It is like a roller coaster, and so much fun.  If it hadn't been so late, I think we all would have turned around and done it again!

We have now gone over the crest of the Sierra Nevada's 2 times, only 9 more to go!!

Thursday—Day 17

Destination:  PiPi US Forest Service Campground, California

Miles:  237

Word of the Day:  Ginormous 

Critter Count:  3 deer

We started the day with more of SR 108, what a great road! Once we got down out of the National Forest we dodged off the SR and on to county roads to work our way around Sonora.  We were on SR 49 for a very short time, but then took CR (county road) E18 over to Murphy to catch east-bound SR 4, the Alpine State Highway.  This has Ebbetts Pass to cross.  We started by going by the Big Trees Recreation Area.  We went through miles of ginormous trees.  It was so cool.

 SR 4 is an odd highway.  It had many miles of single lane road.  I've never seen a 'highway' that didn't have a center line on it.

 Lyon and Wayne

 Cindy

We opted to take the short cut on SR 89 through Merkleeville, where we stopped for lunch.  Then it was up to SR 88 as we head back west and over Carson Pass.  4 down, 7 to go. This road had a lot of construction zones on it. We eventually turned north on a Forest road and ended the day at Pipi campground. This is the first time we have been on deserted skinny forest roads since Wayne's bike has developed problems.  It really showed us that it would be HORRIBLE if he finally broke way out there.  That plus the unexpected log truck we came nose to nose with was enough to make us rethink our return route.

 Wayne and Lyon at Pipi campground.  This is in the area that is open to trail riding

Friday—Day 18

Destination:  Lake Almanor, California

Miles:  268

Word of the Day:  Compromise 

Critter Count: 8 deer, lots of hawks

Compromise is important in marriage and also when a diverse group rides together for a long time. Even though I spent many a night designing and verifying our planned route, today I have to ditch that in favor of what is best for Wayne and Bob's bikes.  At this point we were going to spend 4 more days zooming around on the Paved Mountain trails and cross the crest of the Sierra Nevadas another 7 times.  None of which would really advance us north.  With the beemer having problems and Bob's tire issue, we decide to do what needed to be done to get us all home safely.

 Bob's tires are shot.  It's time for him and Cindy to head to Reno and get him some new ones

 Wayne needs to go more directly home so that he can begin taking apart his engine and replace his main seal.  Although the bike is not any worse than before, he still is worried.  So the group will break apart one more time, Bob and Cindy heading back east, Lyon, Wayne and I heading north.  It's sad, but we'll ride together again later.

The three of us rode forest and county roads to Placerville, where I got out my misbehaving laptop.  It said it had 23 minutes of power left, so I quickly put together a route north that used primarily SR's, and had just got it done on both bike-mounted units when it ran out of power. Even if we need to go a more direct route, that still does not mean I-5.  We will stay on state highways and smaller roads when we can.

 We got coffee, pie and worked on the laptop at the Buttercup Pantry/cafe in Placerville.

 That Lyon, not only did he have a valley named after him, but Root Beer too.  And we all missed taking a picture of the best one--the "Lyon's Dam Rd".  I wish we had stopped there!

 We left Placerville on SR 193 which took us north and then west to Auburn.  We hit more road construction, this one had us sitting for about 25 minutes in the hot sun.  We had no idea when the pilot car would arrive, so I didn't takeoff my helmet.  I should have, I thought I was going to heat stroke!!

 We crossed I-80 at Auburn and headed north on SR 49, through Grass Valley and Nevada City.  We had lunch at the Indian Valley Outpost on Fiddle Creek.

 We continued along the Yuba River

 Yuba River

When we got to SR 89 we turned toward Graegle, Quincy and Paxton. After a quick stop in Greenville, Lyon said he wanted to find a woodcarver  near Lake Almanor.  He had purchased several of his pieces from this guy who winters in Arizona.

 Meet Almanor, Lyon's new friend

 There is a story behind this bag.  Lyon's daughter gave it to him before he went on his first bike camping trip, the 6000 mile Trans America Trail in 2014.  It has survived not only that trip but also the Washington Back Country/BC loop in 2015, the 32 day Alaska trip in 2016 and now the 2017 California trip.  That is one tough bird bag.

 We stayed at the North Shore Campground on Lake Almanor.

 Lake front view

 Sunset on the lake

Although it wasn't the most miles we have done in a day, I think we went the farthest in one direction.  We went north almost all day.  At this rate we'll be home in no time at all.

San Diego or Bust, August 2017, Part 5 -- The Return

This starts our return trip home.  At this point it is just the three of us, Lyon, Wayne and I.  But not for long.  I count only the travel days.

Sunday—Day 13

Destination:  North Shore Campground, Lake Arrowhead, California

Miles:  222

Words of the Day:  On the Road Again (hum along if you want)

Critter Count:  small herd of deer, coyote

Happy Birthday to me !!  For the first time in I don't know how long I got to spend some of my birthday with most of my family.  We met for breakfast in our hotel. My sister and her family, my brother and his wife, our kids (Becca and Bo) and us. It was great. They can no longer complain that I'm never around for my birthday.  Of course we had to all go to California for it to happen, but it did happen!!

Lyon and Wayne ready to hit the road

We got on the road about 9:30 am.  A little late for us, but we don't have far to go.  We took surface roads out of the south side of town until we got to the Otay Lake Rd.  We took this east until we crossed SR 94, then we took the Honey Springs road.

 We took a right on Lyons Valley Rd.  

We continued north, crossing I-8 on SR 79.  We went through my favorite pie-town, Julian, but didn't stop for pie.  It was Sunday and that place is a zoo on the weekends.  We back-tracked on about 30 miles of our south bound route, but that could not be helped.  

We took county roads into Hemet where we stopped for lunch.  Then it was back on SR 79 and across I-10 at Beaumont.  We took a bunch of county roads to SR 330 which took us up towards Big Bear Lake.  At Running Springs we took a left and went to Lake Arrowhead where we joined up with Bob and Cindy.  They have been visiting family for about a week and we are finally back together!  They have been camped here for 3 or 4 days, visiting family and hanging out waiting for us.  They have a great campsite, and a new jump starter/power pack.  The good news is that it actually charged my computer up enough that I could do a little work on it.  Yipee!  

One of the items that Lyon had bought at Cycle Gear was a new chain.  He tried to put it on today, but they had sold him the wrong length.  And the clerk had come out and got all the numbers and stuff off his bike, and they still got it wrong.  Grrrr.

Monday—Day 14

Destination:  Kern River near Isabella Lake, California

Miles:  259

Word of the Day:  Chaparral Motorsports

Critter Count:  only kamikaze squirrels

After talking about it last night we decided that we all needed a trip to Walmart for supplies and Lyon needed a new chain so a trip to Chapparral was also planned.  This is the biggest motorcycle shop I have ever seen.  They have a helmet room, and it is as big as the first floor of our old Everett house.  Sheese!!  Too many cool things to see!

 This is the San Bernardino Valley from above the clouds.

We did our first stint of Interstate riding as it was the best way to get to Walmart, and then from there to Chapparral.  It was 14 miles, and saved us a bunch of time, but still...it was interstate!  Once we got back on State Routes (SR), we went back up to Crestline and worked our way over to Wrightwood. We followed the ridge road down to the flats and spent sometime working our way across to Rosamond.  We took the back roads to Tehachapi, and then the parallel road as far as we could. We did get on SR 58 but the road we wanted to take to the north was closed for repairs for one day, the day we were there.  Go figure.  The nice flagger guy told us how to take the detour, so we were back on track quickly.  

We took county roads to Lake Isabella, where we stopped for dinner.  Then it was up the Kern River Road to Camp 3, where we took site 3 for the night.

 We are getting really good, putting up our tent

 This place is full of really big rocks

 Wayne found a great place to kick back

 No showers again tonight, but the river was warm enough to wash up in, so all is good.

Tuesday—Day 15

Destination:  Island Park, Pine Flat Reservoir, California

Miles:  215

Word of the Day:  Tourist

Critter Count:  2 lone deer, many raptors, bobcat, herd of deer with large buck, rattle snake!

We had a great night's sleep, despite being warm.  I mean really warm.  We didn't really think about it and we all put our rain flys on our tents for the privacy they provide.  When we went to bed, our tent was like a sauna.  I started off with the tent and fly doors both wide open and sleeping on top of my bag.  It was one of those nights, the sun went down and I was out.  I woke up enough to zip the fly closed when Wayne came to bed.

We were up and on the road before 8.  Pretty standard for this group. We continued north on the Kerns River road. Along the way we got stuck behind a rental camper-van.  Oh brother , this tourist was freaked out on the narrow twisty road, really out of her comfort zone.  We were afraid to pass her, as she looked like she would swerve into us at any moment.  We finally got by and continued up to Mountain Road 50.  We had hoped to camp yesterday at the California Hot Springs, but we got off track and ended up on the Kern River instead.  This turn put us back on track.  The locals call this next section the "Tail of the Lion".  They know that a road back east is called the 'Tail of the Dragon" but they say "We don't need no stinkin' dragon".  Really? Well it is a fun road, Wayne got to the end and exclaimed "That was so much fun!! Are you sure that's legal?"

 Waterfall on the Tail of the Lion

 Kaweah Lake

 Cindy bought new riding clothes, in 'Don't Hit Me' yellow at Chaparral

 The mighty steeds

After a quick snack at the lake we continued onto the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. My timing was good, I qualified for my $10 for life, Senior Access Pass on Sunday, bought it on Tuesday and a week later the price went up to $80 for life.  Still a good deal, but I'm still glad I got mine while I could!

 Some of the big Sequoia trees on the General Highway

 In volume of total wood the giant sequoia is Earth's largest living tree.  They grow naturally only on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, usually between 5,000 and 7,000 feet elevation.  There are about 75 groves in all.

 The General Sherman Tree is 275 feet tall and 103 feet around at ground level.  It is estimated to weigh 1,385 TONS and about 2,200 years old. It's largest branch is almost 7' in diameter.

 After leaving the park on SR 180, we headed to Elwood Road. Wayne's Mom, Shirley Elwood was born on the family ranch along this road.  Wayne has only been here a couple of times when he was young.  His grandmother sold the place when her husband died.  We found the corner of Elwood Dr and Elwood Road.  We are guessing that this is where the original ranch house was.  It is now part of the development of Miracle Ranch.

We turned left when we got to the Piedra Road looking for a market to buy cold drinks at.  Although Shirley's birth certificate lists Piedra aswhere she was born, she was actually born at  home on the ranch.  We then turned around and headed to the Pine Flat Reservoir and the Island Park Corp of Engineers campground.  It was close to 100 degrees and we were under impressed with the open field of campsites.  But we kept looking and found one that was relatively flat and in the shade.

 We decided that privacy is over-rated and opted to not put the rain fly on tonight.  It was soooo hot.

The reservoir wasn't full, but it did have water.  Wayne went for a swim and said it was good.  I was too hot to even walk down and check it out!  While he was swimming, Lyon was again putting a new chain on his bike.  This time it was the right size and went on easily.  Yea Lyon!

We all had showers and tried to keep from sweating too much.  At dusk Cindy went for a walk and startled up a young rattle snake.  She came and got us, but when we got there he was already gone.  Thank goodness!