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+--- Thread: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. (/showthread.php?tid=11731)
Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - PowderToastMan_imp - 08-21-2015
So, a nice gentleman on BARF (Bay Area Riders Forum) posted up a camping trip to Highway 36. Unfortunately due to one of the many rampant wildfires all over the place, Highway 36 was shut down in the middle, preventing the group from going with the original plan of riding it all the way from Fortuna to Redding.
Either way I decided I would join and since I would be about halfway to Oregon at that point, I might as well keep on trucking north and go all the way.
Here's my album since I'm too lazy to inline select pictures in this thread:
http://imgur.com/a/KLJ34
Day 1, Saturday: We met at Fairfield, and kickstands up at about 9AM. Took some nice twisties through the edge of wine country to Cloverdale where we would grab gas and briefly hit 101 north.
The main group took 128 to 1 to lunch at Fort Bragg, but the few of us who got to the gas station last were left behind (group leader wasn't into taking his time at the stops I guess!) an our straggler group lead missed the exit. I was aware of the exit but didn't want to separate from the few group members I was with, so I stuck with them until we found a good place to stop, and we decided to continue 101 to SR 20 which would also take us to Fort Bragg. I was not in any way disappointed by this detour! Highway 20 is an absolutely beautiful 40 miles of road. Lots of ups and downs, twisty and well paved the whole way. I highly recommend this stretch of road to anyone who has the opportunity to get to it.
Our "detour" was actually maybe a little shorter in miles/minutes than the original path, so we were just a few moments behind the main group for lunch.
After lunch we took the remaining bit of Highway 1 north of Fort Bragg, and once again WOW what a great piece of road. Just moderately disappointing that 1 has to end and the only option to keep going north is 101, which is still actually a pretty nice road. Interesting combination of 55mph limit highway and stretches of freeway, but at least there are lots of hills and turns to keep it interesting.
Finally we got to the campsite with sunlight to spare, set up our tents, and had a fantastic time with BBQ, beers, and lots of shooting the breeze. There were some discussions about route options for the day since one guy was going to follow me up to Oregon and a few guys wanted to hit some unfamiliar territory before heading home.
We decided we would take this interesting looking "Fire Road 1" at the edge of Mendocino and Trinity counties, which goes from SR 36 to 299...
Day 2 we got up and took 30 miles of Highway 36 to Mad River, just around the point where it was closed. We were able to get onto that fire road we had talked about:
https://imgur.com/m0zXWJE
https://imgur.com/fBce8Wh
https://imgur.com/56kIXnF
https://imgur.com/Md5gX6F
But we encountered a closure and were advised by forest rangers that while it wouldn't be illegal for us to keep going, it wouldn't be a good idea. There was another side road we could take to loop back to 36, which we decided to do.
I was pulled over by CHP for rolling stop back onto 36 (we landed right where the barricade was and I saw nobody was coming so I thought it was no biggie... oops!) but he let me go with a warning. Good stuff!
Took 36 back to 101, Fortuna for lunch and then most of the guys went home, while two of us continued north to 299.
299 was not much to write home about, just a nice open twisty highway with lots of sweeping turns, and a passing lane in the uphill direction quite often. Got to Willow Creek (smoky!!), hung a left up 96 and enjoyed 140 miles of solid twisties all the way to I-5 just south of the CA-OR border. My new riding buddy decided to head south toward Shasta while I hit northbound to visit with family and friends in Medford.
The rest of the trip:
I did a nice loop from Ashland to Klamath Falls and back by way of Dead Indian Memorial Road and 66 (I think it's OR 66, not related to US 66). Dead Indian had a lot more long straight stretches than I thought it was going to, but 66 was a really great piece of road, though the pavement is a little worn.. still perfectly good! And when you get over the hill for the last few miles back into Ashland, there is a really huge and steep drop which is a little scary but makes for a fantastic view.
Next day I took 62 out to Crater Lake and boy am I glad I did. Having grown up around Medford, I've been to Crater Lake many times, but I can now say with authority that riding your motorcycle up there has to be one of the best ways to enjoy that little short half day trip. Brilliant roads pretty much all to myself, and great views.
Yesterday I caught 199 to Crescent City from Grants Pass, and 101 (with a stop to see my old friend Paul Bunyan) plus Avenue of the Giants down to Leggett and 1 to Fort Bragg where I stopped for a night at the Beachcomber. Nice little cozy place to pass out by the beach. Checked out glass beach for 5 minutes, took another spin on 20 (once again great ride!!!!) up to 101, and bombed it the rest of the way home.
I give this trip 10/10 points... will do it again for sure!
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - Inhouse Bob - 08-21-2015
Shame about all the fires. I hope y'all get some easy, steady rains soon and for a while. I'm glad you got in a good ride, though!
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - PowderToastMan_imp - 08-21-2015
I know, right? I'm now officially ready to sacrifice some of my good riding weather in favor of a bit of rain, as long as we don't get flooded
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - the Ferret - 08-21-2015
That all sounds wonderful. Wish my wife and I had mpre time we could have spent exploring Oregon when we were out there a couple weeks ago. One of the things on the list that got eliminated was Crater Lake.
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - Pterodactyl_imp - 08-21-2015
Great ride and some good photos. There is some serious timber around there.
Cheers
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - redbirds_imp - 08-21-2015
Stunning scenery PTM. Enjoyed the pics and excellent write up. I must make a trip to the Pacific NW sometime.
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - Cormanus - 08-22-2015
Looks fantastic PTM. I'd love to have a ride in that part of the US.
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - gossman_imp - 08-22-2015
The entire Portland area has an air quality alert, this afternoon visibility is about 2miles at most, everything is rose colored and smoky from the fire's in Washington state and eastern Oregon. Red flag warnings and humidity in the 20s, hopefully the entire PNW doesn't burn to a crisp. Worst I've seen it in 56 years of living here.
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - MSB911_imp - 08-22-2015
Sounds like a great ride!
RE: Oregon again! Scenic route this time. - PowderToastMan_imp - 08-23-2015
(08-22-2015, 02:00 PM)gossman_imp Wrote: The entire Portland area has an air quality alert, this afternoon visibility is about 2miles at most, everything is rose colored and smoky from the fire's in Washington state and eastern Oregon. Red flag warnings and humidity in the 20s, hopefully the entire PNW doesn't burn to a crisp. Worst I've seen it in 56 years of living here.
Sheesh. It's pretty mind boggling how that much smoke can get blown all over the place.
Medford was kind of on and off with the smoke while I was there, and Crater Lake was really not bad the day I went up (Union Creek along the way was pretty smoky). I guess I got pretty lucky with my timing!
I also heard from the guys who went back down south last Sunday that the 101 corridor was super hot, 100+. But by the time I got there on Thursday/Friday it was back into the 70s or low 80s, very comfortable ride!