About to launch...Get the hell out of town!

[knyte]

6 hours ago, Salish900 said:

I'm walking on clouds right now

Very very cool - can't wait to see your photos and such.  Looking forward to it!!

[nhchris]

6 hours ago, Salish900 said:

.... Is it not the anticipation of a trip that is half the fun? I'm walking on clouds right now. 

Bike camping is so much fun.  I plan to go out for a few nights s soon as the National Forest campgrounds open here in NH.

I have a great little tent, collapsable fly rod, plus air mattress and cozy down bag.  Ahhhh, the night sounds of wind in the trees and light rain shower on the fly.  I rest easy knowing the FJ has her cover on too.

[Salish900]

Forecast is looking great. Highs in upper 50's and even 60 on Saturday. 60 around here feels downright hot this time of year. I'm feeling the turns, smelling the plants, hearing the rubber, seeing the canyons and mountains. Now if I could only find my tank bag. Doh! This is a good shake down for later summer travels. 

[Waldo Jeffers]

Have a great and safe ride bud. Jealous!

[Salish900]

Anticipation...

[betoney]

On 3/10/2021 at 8:40 AM, Salish900 said:

I'll be camping East of Hood River for the night. Saturday morning I will get up and do the BZ and Klickitat loop near Mt. Adams! Then head down into Eastern Oregon and wander around on the back side of Mt. Hood and the John Day area. I'll camp out in the desert.

Dress warm for sleeping/camping, overnight temperatures in the high desert are COLD, low 30's - high 20's.  Brrrrr

[Salish900]

10 hours ago, betoney said:

Dress warm for sleeping/camping, overnight temperatures in the high desert are COLD, low 30's - high 20's.  Brrrrr

Yep! But it's a dry cold right? Compared to our soggy cold here in Olympia. I love the high desert. I'm long a fan of the motto that "there is no bad weather, only bad equipment." Looking at some BLM spots near the White River or John Day for Saturday night. Have to limit the gravel I travel though, and some of the sweet spots are quite a few miles down BLM gravel. I don't mind doing it a while, but not for extended time.  

[keithu]

There's a nice little camp spot right here:

Google Maps

---

Grant County, OR

This is just a few miles north of Mt. Vernon on US395. You only have to ride about 50 yards of gravel to get to the spot. I've hunted deer in this area many times, and I mention this spot because I once saw someone else on a motorcycle camping here while we were heading up the 3940 road. 

[keithu]

Or if you want to get a little farther away from the highway and can handle about two miles of gravel there are some nice spots just up the hill. This is a spot we've camped in during deer season:

Google Maps

---

Long Creek School District 017, OR

Head up 3940 until you see the 016 spur on your left. Ride up that and find a spot that looks nice. 

[Salish900]

27 minutes ago, keithu said:

Head up 3940 until you see the 016 spur on your left. Ride up that and find a spot that looks nice. 

Awesome tips @keithu. My current thinking is that I won't go quite that far SE. More between Antelope and Fossil, or might loop through that area and come back north to the White River area off 216. I'm a fan of sometimes going without a destination in mind. One of my favorite books that I loved in college even before having kids, is The Phantom Tollbooth. In it, a boy says: "being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are, it's a matter of not knowing where you aren't, and I don't care at all about where I'm not" Wise words. Wise words. 

I, like many of you, live an incredibly scheduled and regimented life with work and family. Some are more OCD than others, but I find a tonic for my soul is to head off and not be too clear on where I'm going. Making my plans in the sand at low tide. For this reason, after I finish the BZ/Klickitat loop, I will head south and see where the 900 takes me. If I see a place to heartbreaking to leave, I will camp. 

I am going in, as much as out. Going to a place of silence among rivers and desert. 

[HGP61]

22 minutes ago, Salish900 said:

but I find a tonic for my soul is to head off and not be too clear on where I'm going.

I so agree, Together with my two regular riding buddies we tend to keep planning for our camping trips to a minimum. Plan for our first trip to Ireland was ----"Lets get the ferry to Belfast and turn Right" and that's as far as the planning went. We had a fantastic trip and found some fantastic roads and scenery on the Wild Atlantic way. I've no problems with someone who needs to plan everything to the tinyest detail if that's what they need to do but for me the important thing is sharing the experience with good friends and taking things as they come .

[keithu]

Ah, I was thinking "John Day" the town not "John Day" the river. All the roads around the river are awesome but I can't speak to camping spots. Have fun!

[Wintersdark]

5 hours ago, HGP61 said:

I so agree, Together with my two regular riding buddies we tend to keep planning for our camping trips to a minimum. Plan for our first trip to Ireland was ----"Lets get the ferry to Belfast and turn Right" and that's as far as the planning went. We had a fantastic trip and found some fantastic roads and scenery on the Wild Atlantic way. I've no problems with someone who needs to plan everything to the tinyest detail if that's what they need to do but for me the important thing is sharing the experience with good friends and taking things as they come .

Absolutely.  I've found I never manage to mess up a trip more than by having planned it.  Now, I feel a lot of that is because I'm just bad at planning - set goals that seem reasonable but in practice aren't fun, for example, or feel like I need to follow a given route simply because all my timing is predicated on This Thing taking This Long.  

So much better to have very loose goals - I need to get to <town>ish by <day>ish.  Then I can stop somewhere just because it looks interesting without feeling like I Need To Be Somewhere.

This does, however, have the effect of requiring my loose goals to have very loose timing requirements.  I basically plan for around 500-750kms per day and that's about how far it goes.  But I like to not feel bad about "Oh, god, this breakfast and coffee is amazing, I'm going just sit here in the sun for a while."

[Salish900]

Well, my body is back home, but my spirit is somewhere still in the Gorge...know what I mean in more ways than one? 

I'm too tired and elated to do this justice. What a trip. All I wanted and more. I'm out of the shower and the hot tub after a 4.5 hour ride today (about 260 miles today and roughly 600 miles over the whole trip) ride that started at 32 and turned into 46 and raining, so excuse me being a bit spacey. 

Friday was just gorgeous here in the PNW. I left town about 4pm and had a quick slab ride down to the turn off for Hwy 14 that goes along the Columbia river. It's unremarkable until you get out of Vancouver, and then turns into the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. And then the fun begins! The sun was setting, the skies were clear, and as you climb a ridge you gain enough elevation that when you pop out, the whole Gorge is laid out in front of you. It's breathtaking. It continues to be eye candy every bit of the way. So much to see. I had the road mainly to myself. 

It was soon dark, so I pulled off of Hwy 14 and crossed over the Bridge of the Gods to Oregon and slabby Hwy 84 to Hood River to grab dinner. The Full Sail pub had recently opened and I had a nice burger. Back on the road, I headed down 84 to Memaloose State Park. No problem getting there after dark,  and as I have spent more nights alone in wilderness than seems believable, I had my tent up and I was sacked in just moments. The photo below is from the following morning. 

 

I soon found out that Memaloose is right next to the RR tracks! If sound is a big deal to you, make sure you get a spot closer to the river. It was frosty in the morning, and I was excited about the Saturday adventures. 

Gear note: I use a BrakeFree light on my helmet and figured I could charge it with my Luci solar light that has a USB port and can charge phones. Sure enough! 

I had no idea what I was in for, having not ridden 141 or 142 before, but man, I was just in heaven. The day was clear, and yet chilly. I had to ride extra carefully not so much from any ice or frost but from all the gravel. It had snowed recently enough that all the roads in the area had been treated with gravel. If you did this in summer when the gravel was gone you could certainly grind down your pegs. 

The road to BZ corner is fine, but just prelude. The BZ-Glenwood road is where the action starts. The views of Mt. Adams are outrageous. Pastoral heaven. Just God's country. 

From Glenwood you head south toward 142, taking 142 toward the town of Klickitat. Along the way is the Klickitat canyon, and what a stunning bit of geography. It should be more famous. It's a deep and dramatic chasm where you are in serious danger of losing control of the bike because your eyes are so pulled away. There are some stretches along here where if you need to pass, let's just say, you can reach speeds sufficient to pass a lot of cars quickly. 

This loop back down to Lyle at the Gorge is just a bit under 100 miles. You can camp along the way if you wish, and it's just magnificent. By the time I go to Lyle, I felt I had already enjoyed the day's highlights! I crossed the bridge over to The Dalles, and headed south on 197, not entirely sure what I was going to do. Full tank of gas, feeling already pretty satisfied...I got down to Maupin and thought I would check out the White River BLM campground, to see what it offered. The road from Maupin along the Deschutes is paved but not marked, and it's just marvelous. Very much like Yakima Canyon, for those who know. A national Wild and Scenic River, among basalt mountains. I passed several fine campsites along the way but decided to keep going. When I got to the White River site, it was perfect. 

The day had turned balmy, really warm, bike said 63 or something. Once I saw it I knew I would stay. I grabbed a spot, set up camp, and just about passed out with happiness. I later rallied and hiked up one of the nearby hills for some grand views. I later went down to the river and read for quite a while. 

The obligatory selfie had to be taken. Can you see the beams of light coming out of my head? 

To bed early, and snug as a bug, I woke early. Waiting for the dawn to happen, I laid there and contemplated all I had seen, and all that has been, and was to come. Then I did the "It's really cold outside so make this quick!" camp breakdown. I got up at 6am, new time change time, and was on the road by 7am. Sun had not yet hit the canyon. My jacket and bike were frosty, but an Aerostitch heated vest and my heated grips and I was good to go. 

My ride back home was a true NW mixture of freezing in the morning, and fairly sunny on the dry side, and right on cue, as I came West in the Gorge on 14, I hit rain right as I hit the transition from Pines to Doug firs around Skamania. It rained steadily all the way back to Olympia. 

I had no drama, no difficulties. The bike is such a dream. So smooth. So quick. Happy to cruise at 80, and pass faster, happy to go slow. Just a wonderful travel machine. 

I needed to go. I went. One version of me went, and another came back. 

[texscottyd]

On 3/12/2021 at 10:53 AM, Salish900 said:

but I find a tonic for my soul is to head off and not be too clear on where I'm going.

This.  100% this.