Note: Since 2022 is over, I've rearranged this year's blog to read in chronological order.
To the reader:
1. You're reading this blog? Get a life!
2. I'm not being good about updating the blog. But, I have been taking notes and will post these when I get the chance.
3. Pictures are scarce. Sorry.
4. Just look at the map if you want to see where I am. That will probably be updated more frequently than the notes
Here, then, is the first tranche of notes:
June 12, 2022
Left home 7:15 am. Odometer 18502.
Arrived Lundy Canyon 3:15 pm. Odo: 18843
Would have been a good ride but for the wind. I had expected a nice tail wind but instead it's been blowing steadily and hard from the west. So, crosswinds from Palmdale all the way to Lundy. Gusts became increasingly powerful and unpredictable farther north. At times it became downright dangerous. Now at Lundy it is howling through the aspens. If it is this bad tomorrow, I don't know if it will be possible to ride. I just stowed my riding gear in the very large bear box as the wind was picking it up. Hopefully, it will calm down overnight and I can get clear of the Sierras in the morning before it picks up again.
So, yeah, not a pleasant ride at all today. A shame as without the wind it would have been a gorgeous day. I got north of Bishop before the worst of the heat developed. Amazing how quickly it cools as you gain altitude - a few thousand feet worth after Bishop.
One nice sight was the white clouds racing eastward over the Sierras - left to right as I headed up 395. Occasionally, one would cast a dark amoeba-like shadow that slid rapidly down a mountainside. Looked kind of malevolent. Or, maybe that was my mood.
Fuel stops at Mojave, Lone Pine and Lee Vining. At Lee Vining even regular gas was over $7. Haven't calculated my mpg yet but it doesn't look good. Somewhere in the 40's.
Note: dried fruit and nuts rehydrated with a splash of Jack Daniels and some water is a nice campsite cocktail hour treat.
I've re-hydrated my first home-prepared dehydrated dinner. Not sure if I'll eat it cold or try to operate the stove in this wind.
Note: Lundy Canyon Campground now costs $16 and no passes. Plus the spring that supplied non-potable water has not been maintained. Fortunately, I found a convenient place to get water from the stream.
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| Campsite at Lundy Canyon |
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| The aspen trees in the evening |
June 13, 2022
Horrible night. Lundy Canyon runs east-west and seemed to act as a tunnel concentrating the winds. It was so windy there was nothing to do but go to bed after dinner which I did at 7:30. The aspen grove attenuated the wind at ground level but it howled like a banshee in the treetops 19 or 20 feet up. Or maybe like a freight train just outside my tent. I haven't heard wind roar like that since the "wind event" in 2010 in Pasadena which was caused by an extraordinary Santa Ana. Slept fitfully at best though somehow managed a few hours of deep sleep. By 1:30 the intensity had lessened - no more freight train - and by dawn was reduced to just a strong breeze.
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| Aspens in the morning light |
Got away at 9:00. Crosswinds continued. These gradually shifted to head winds after Reno. There's a long, sweeping elevated hi-speed bypass of Reno. That was unsettling under the conditions.
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| South of Susanville looking out over Honey Lake which is a mostly dry alkali flat according to Wikipedia |
All in all the ride to Susanville was nearly as tiring as yesterday's. I had planned to camp at Eagle Lake but opted for a motel. The night time temp is to dip to freezing and I really want a good night sleep. I'll see how I feel in the morning but so far this trip is no fun. Considering bagging it completely or, perhaps, modifying the route to escape more wind and cold over the next days.
Lunch at Denny's in Carson City. Not much to say about scenery. I was too busy trying to stay on the road to notice much. At the top of Owen's Valley there is a long sweeping climb to higher elevation topping out in a pass over 8000 feet. Some day I would like to stop at a pullout right before the top of the pass to look back down the valley. The next stretch of road somehow makes me think of Switzerland. Broad stretche of pasteur with mountains in all directions. Scattered low buildings with not steeply slanted roofs. Just the spaces are vaster than in Switzerland. But I could be conjuring up false memories of Switzerland. Lots of cows.
June 14, 2022
Decided not to continue on 395. Night time temps in the Burns, OR area where I'd planned to camp will dip below freezing. Canceled my Airbnb for two nights hence near Kennewick, WA and headed west toward Shasta Mountain. Then picked up I-5 north to Sunny Valley Campground north of Grant's Pass. Another price shock as that campground is now $40. Add that to the $118 for a Super 8 motel (didn't that chain used to be a "budget" chain?) last nigth and my thoughts of spending less than $100 total for sleeping all the way to the Canadian border were wildly optimistic.
I escaped the brutal winds and temperatures moderated somewhat so the ride was not so unpleasant. The route followed CA-44 (Feather Lake Hwy./Valcanic Legacy Byway) which starts just west of town. It then turned onto CA-80 on up to I-5. The latter portion I traveled in 2019(?). Not for the first time it struck me that this could be an interesting area to explore. There are numerous campgrounds and the map shows many volcanic sites, mostly not visible from the road obscured by thick forest. Occasionally you see a lava outcropping or cliff, but you have to be looking for it.
The forests appear to be redwood and other tall slender evergreens. And I do mean tall. Sometimes it feels like one is riding through a narrow slot between towering walls of green. At the eastern end of the ride the forest looked tinder dry and ready explode at the drop of a match. Indeed there are numerous burn areas and others of simply dead trees. One thing struck me odd. There were big areas of trees with blackedned trunks topped by dead brown pine needles. This didn't make sense. If the trees burned, why are the needles still there? Or did they die due to some disease, infestation or drought and the blackened bar is jsut part of the pathology? Or, did they burn but fought back to grow new needles but then died because they were to weak to sustain new growth?
Toward the west the forests looked healthier and greener. Perhaps precipitation has been heavier there. There's one splendid moment when snow-capped Mt. Shasta appears hovering at the end of a long straight corridor formed by the road and the trees.
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| Sign may reflect my mood. Somewhere in the forest and the only picture I took this day. |
I-5 seemed a little more annoying than usual. Through northern California and into Oregon it features one three or four thousand foot summit after another and especially heavy truck traffic.
June 15, 2022
Ride up to Portland was uneventful until the last couple miles. I had thought that I had enough fuel to reach my friends' house but began to worry just as I hit a miles long "Stau" of bumper to bumper traffic. Then I missed the turnoff onto I-84 and grabbed the first exit I saw which put me onto the Hawthorne Street bridge (featuring a steel grate but not the wide gauge that is so difficult on a motorcycle). This landed me in Southeast Portland. Google helped me find a gas station and then a route to my friends' house.
June 19, 2022
Destination Yakima from Portland. Intended to go up the Gorge but after consulting the weather forecast decided to go up I-5 and then east on US-12 which goes over White Pass. The forecast was for heavy westerly winds again affecting the Gorge and the leg north to Yakima. Encountered gusty winds but nothing like previous days. The easterly section of the route is very scenic. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy it as the 2-lane highway is twisty and steep so I had to keep my eyes on where I was going, especially with gusty wind and threat of moisture on the road. I only hit one brief stretch of very light spitting rain. It did get cold though as the road rose. That got me on edge as I get hypothermia quite easily which causes reactions to slow down. From Portland to just past White Pass the sky was leaden and depressing. Suddenly, though, on the downslope the sky opened up to blue and sun filled a valley bordered by towering basaltic cliffs. Snow capped mountains glinted in the distance. A moment later and just as suddenly the air went from chill to warm. It was like passing through a thermocline in the ocean.
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| Somewhere east of White Pass. I'm not even in Canada yet and already getting a little tired of forests and lakes and moutains. |
Night in an Airbnb. Oh, I forgot. Lunch at a roadside Chinese restaurant at Silver Creek, "The Great Wall," not to be confused with my all time favorite "Great Wall" Chinese restaurant in Prince George, BC. The chicken fried rice was easily the worst I've ever eaten. But filling. The staff, though, was very nice. I wondered how this establishment came to be out here in the middle of nowhere.
June 20, 2022
An almost pleasant ride today from Yakima to Grand Coulee. Since it was a short ride I moderated my speed which made it more pleasant. Warm and windy again. The scenery from Yakima to Grand Coulee is extraordinary and, quite probably, unique. Towering basalt cliffs where you can count a dozen layers of lava flow. This is the "Scablands". All carved out by the catastrophic Ice Age floods that the geologist Bretz postulated and then finally proved to his doubting colleagues. I stopped again at the "Dry Falls" near Coulee City to refresh my memory from 2017. This area is really worth a visit for anyone interested in earth history.
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| Somewhere in the Scablands |
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| The Dry Falls which dwarf Niagra |
I did a bit of hot and bothered riding back and forth to select a campground on WA-155 just south of Grand Coulee Dam. Neither had potable water. Settled on Osborne Bay campsite and deployed my water filter to clean up the lake water. In Coulee City I rode all over looking for a grocery store. Finally found a small one and bought high priced wheat thins and some boxed Chardonnay. I could have saved time had I known that at Electric City and nearer to the dam there are abundant stores and restaurants (well, eating establishments) including a Safeway. Took a quick dash up to the dam to see it from a new angle that I missed in 2017.
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| Grand Coulee Dam spillway from above... |
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| and from below. |
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| You can see where water pours through outlet tubes at three different levels in the spillway. Purpose? |
Had a pleasant message chat about a malfunctioning AC with a dear friend who is keeping an eye on my house.
Ok, this moment is really quite nice. Sun is low to my left over the lake, still bright white light, not fading yet, sea gulls have swooped in and are circling over the water and calling out. I guess they are scoping out the dinner situation.
Walked over to the water's edge to watch. Wonderful. I love lake water in the light before sunset. Uncountable colors and all the while gulls swooping and diving and some swifts as well. Momentary premonition of the world without us, after humans have ended our ugly and beautiful existence. Returned to my campsite to see 5 large birds, maybe golden eagles, wheeling about in the strong evening breeze.
Time to eat.
June 21, 2022
Got away with my usual slowness this morning. Took 174 down to US-2 as in 2017. The farmland is nice with its jumble of hills running into hills, but I wasn't wont to stare at it this time. The same lack of interest when I got on US-2 with its long, straight 2-lanes stretching to the horizon. It's not new. Been here before. But, I don't think that is the reason this trip has not caught fire for me yet.
Stopped in Spokane to visit REI for some tent pole repair items. If not mentioned, I snapped a pole while at the Sunny Valley camp site and used my only splint to repair it. Given the age of the tent some extra splints may be needed. Wish someone would think of that for me.
Managed to get lost but eventually made it to my destination, Smith Lake Campground. All the sites were taken and I was greeted by a chorus of barking dogs. Headed back down the 2 mile, steep gravel road wondering if this will be my turn back point. For most of this trip I've swung every 5 minutes between "push on a little farther" and "bag it and go home." I reached the highway and turned right, north, toward the border. So, "push on" it is. I thought I might cross the border today and see where I could find a place to stay in Kingsgate. But came upon a sign for Robinson Lake Campground. It turns out to be a quite nice Forest Service Campground. Potable water, pit toilets and picnic tables. So similar to a BLM site. $15/night and they accept various 50% off passes.
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| The Forest Primeval... sort of. |
So, if I wake on the "push on" side of the mood seesaw, it's off to Canada tomorrow.
No phone reception here so I can't check weather up north.
Northern Idaho. There's no doubt about the political leanings here. Outside Bonners Ferry there is a billboard blaring "Welcome to Trump Country" and something about loving god, guns, country and your neighbor. Along the gravel road to Smith Lake I saw out of the corner of my eye a handmade sign declaring "If your (sic) ridin with Biden...." I didn't catch the last part but can guess.
June 22, 2022
Got away 9'ish and crossed the border. While waiting in the short queue at the border station had a nice chat with a Canadian biker on some cruiser. He had been on US-2 which I traveled in 2017. He found the long straight stretches to the east of the Cascades a "tranquil" ride. Soft spoken, dark skinned with features that made me think he had indigenous heritage.
There's another campground, "Copper something" about a mile before the border. Note for future trips/travelers.
The ride up to Golden was altogether pleasant despite a few brief rain showers. The mountain scenery is magnificent. Lots of Sound of Music vistas. It feels like this trip is starting to finally find a flow and rhythm. That turn north yesterday after Smith Lake was a fateful good move.
Presently I'm in a commercial campground - will I never learn? This isn't quite as bad as that CG from Hell near Coulee City I landed in in 2017. I came here for the shower, otherwise I'd prefer to be in a provincial park if camping. It's very noisy as it sits right next to Highway 1 ("Trans Canada Highway" or TCH) and there's a fairly constant stream of trucks roaring uphill. At least that drowns out the music some neighbors are playing.
Note to self: stop repeating past mistakes. Uh oh. Someone just started a very smoky fire. This could be a long night. And now there's a couple more smoking fires. And, oh yes, the sound of children screaming and cryihg.
Well, there is a beautiful view of the mountains from my site (through which people tramp to get a view).
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| The view from my site |
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| And again near sunset |
I keep losing stuff on this trip: sunglasses, the cap from my rear tire valve stem (probably on the sidewalk in Portland), a little notebook in which I recorded gasoline purchases and mileage and, now, a ziplock bag containing salt. The notebook also contained a list of passwords. Fortunately, it didn't say what they were for so the information is useless to anyone but me as a memory jog.
Tomorrow on to Cache Creek and a motel.
June 23, 2022
Something has definitely changed for this trip. Today's ride was the hardest, most exhausting, most unpleasant so far. Yet, here I am in Cache Creek in the Tumbleweed Motel planning to head up to Prince George tomorrow. Abandoning the trip is no longer in consideration. Only where to?
Woke to temps around 40. Initially it was sunny with misty clouds that kept spitting. By the time I was ready to leave the temp had edged its way up to 50 but rain had moved in. Not torrential, but steady with horizon to horizon cloud cover and winds. I departed with all my cool weather gear on.
Stopped immediately for a cup of coffee and breakfast sandwich at a Tim Hortons, then got underway. The entire trip is only about 275 miles but took all day. There were multiple delays for construction and a one hour long blockage due to an accident (tractor trailer ran off the road and blocked one lane). There are multiple mountain passes in the 3000 meter range between Golden and Kamloops. Of course, it got colder as the road ascended each time and I worried about icing on the road. To make matters worse my visor which has a pinlock anti-fog panel began to fog up. I guess the conditions were too much even for pinlock. Fortunately, a narrow band at the top of the visor remained clear so I could see though by tilting my head at an awkward angle.
After about 50 miles I was so chilled I worried about hypothermia and pulled over at a roadside scenic lookout. I put on my windbreaker over my riding gear and then pulled out my stove and heated up one of the prepared breakfasts from my food store. Between the windbreaker and the high calorie meal I was in better shape for the rest of the ride. That was good as the weather was unrelenting until the final descent out of the mountains to Kamloops.
Scenery going west out of Golden must be spectacular. What I could see through the mist and clouds swirling around looked like massive snow-streaked peaks towering over the road. But once again I was too concentrated on staying upright and on the road that I couldn't look around. The second part of the trip is less spectacular but still lovely.
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| I did some laundry |