Dam Tour SW Day 3

During day two I found the middle of nowhere.  Today was just the opposite as I found the middle of the Sport Bike Touring universe.  Talk about contrasts, flat and boring road well at least Oregon Hwy 395 and Hwy 20 vs the excellent motorcycle roads, Hwy 96 and Hwy 36 in California.

Here is my route:



View Larger Map


I was underway at 7:30 this morning riding to Keno Dam a 2012 Dam Tour destination.  The park where I needed to go was closed.

This was a bit of a shock.  I hope this photo will suffice.  After this stop I road Oregon Hwy 66 for the first time.  It is a a high mountain road.

Here is a photo of Mt. McLoughlin along Hwy 66 in Oregon.

Today I found a bit of gravel in most of the turns but they are easy turns and and for a while I was wondering why everybody is raving about this road.  Then about 15 miles before Ashland the road heads down, cut into the side of a cliff, it winds sharply down with wicked sharp turns.  Nice.  I arrive at the bottom thinking I should try going  back up but instead I decide to head for the Old Syskiyou Hwy and I found it is closed for maintenance.

On to I-5 to California Hwy 96 a 150 mile twisty treat not available at Dairy Queen.  It is also LEO approved too for  50 to 60mph is fast enough to provide miles of smiles.  Fast sweepers is the rule here.  The pavement is excellent and the highway follows the Klamath River most of they way providing an abundance  of scenery for your visual kaleidoscope as you zip down the road.  The pavement is consistent and clean, inspiring confidence with each turn.  About 14 miles from Orleans the pavement gets a bit bumpy but not bad.  So far this is one great road that goes on and on an on with endless turns.

Just before Hoopa it comes to a climax with a set of less than a dozen turns that are banked and much tighter and anything previously.  The pavement is perfect.  Wham Wham Wham and then it is mostly done.

Any the best part is you don't have to exceed the speed limit to have a grand ole time.  It is like a ticket to a amusement park.

Here are some photos:

My Feejer with Garauld's Hydration System which is working out quite well.

Road Construction stop.  CalTrans is stabilizing the hill not changing the road.

Shoulders for pulling over for photos are are hard to find.

Another great turn.

And another turn.

Klamath River

Next it was on to Hwy 36.  Today I found the road surface a bit rough from patching similar to a quilt.  This road is much more technical than Hwy 96. The turns have more variety, more gravel, more tar snakes, and are much tighter.  Tim Mayhew of Pashinit.com has created a great web site of road in California.  Here is his free report describing Hwy 36.

Here are some photos I shot today.

My favorite sign in California!

I got the photo I wanted!

Well that my story for now.  Next up Ely, Nevada along the Loneliest Highway.  Some straight road will be fine - I got my twist fix - for now....

Dam Tour SW Day 2

Today I got off to a late start leaving at 9:30 or so.  This worked out great for my route was from Burns Oregon to Delintment Lake Dam along a high mountain forest service road suffering from an overpopulation of Forest Rats.  I try to avoid travel in morning and late evening in Forest Rat county and the cold weather this morning also gave me a second excuse.

The road was paved all the way to this dam and I was dam grateful for that.   On the way I had a Forest Rat run out in front of me and spotted two others.  I missed the rat with ease but it served a reminder to continue to keep the speed to 40 to 45mph.  Rats.

My dual sport riding buddy Curtis enjoys gravel roads provided there is some scenery.  There was a bit of scenery along this road, scenes of vast open spaces of nothing.  After gaining elevation and leaving an old burn area I followed a tree lined road for 20 miles.  This road would have put a frown on Curtis' face.  Once I reached the lake I smiled because the scenery improved.

The fellow who shot this photo was fishing from the dock in the background.  He had not got a bite all morning.  This is when I realized I had found the middle of nowhere.  This became a theme for the rest of the ride today.

Here is my Delintment Lake Dam Tour photo.

Photo below Central Oregon High Country.

My Garmin 550 GPS was completely worthless even from Burns, Oregon.  I went entirely on my memory of the web page directions.  That is dam dangerous.   All in all the ride was a down and out of 90 or so miles.

Here is my route for the day.


View Larger Map

I gassed up for the second time in Burns, Oregon once again today, knowing not where gas might be had again.  It was miles of mostly uninteresting road.  There was a rest area explaining the geology of the area.  Some areas line Summer Lake and Albert Lake shown above a sinking will other area remain in place.  Very interesting.

At the rest area I traded ear plugs for the Ipod.  Before leaving home I created a playlist by selecting all rock music and dragging to the playlist.  My Ipod is mostly rock, jazz and classical.  With this little trick was listen to hundreds or rock songs randomly as I Ramble On.

Below is a photo of  Ana River Dam.

Twenty miles or so after leaving Ana River Dam I left Hwy 31 for the Silver Creek road leading to Hwy 97.  This was the best road all day long and as a bonus the forest was cut back improving vision for wayward Forest Rats.

I considered ending the day in Yreka.  My route is west along Hwy 66 to Ashland a road yet unroad by moi.  I want to take some photos using my 35 DSLR instead of the point in shoot I used today.  The best photo opportunities will be on Monday morning with the sun in the east.

Monday is a big day.  California Hwy 96,  to Eureka and Hwy 36 to Red Bluff.  Whoo hooo

Dam Tour SW Day 1

It was an excellent day to be out on the Feejer.  Left Seattle about 6:30am and skeddadled down I-5.  Smokey, Leo and all his friends were out in force from Seattle to Chehalis.   My mind wandered.  How is it us normal schmucks get hammered for doing 5 or 10 over while the greedy investment bankers on Wall Street get off scot free.

I blew down I-5 at 75 where allowed - damn this is one nice machine. Not one for freeways I did this to get out of dodge.  Today was a go day.  Go to get out of Washington where I have road the Feejer endlessly.

At Washington Hwy 14 I head east.  Along the best twisty parts I was hung up by a car - well maybe not the car itself but the desire to obey the double yellow line.  I could have been around this chump in 5 seconds or less......  I quell my jets to enjoy the scenery and was rewarded.

Here is a photo near Cape Horn along the Columbia River Gorge on the Hwy 14 side.

On the Oregon side is I-84.  By riding the Washington side you get view an interesting and distant view of the grand water falls on the Oregon side.

My first dam on this trip is Upper Green Point Dam in Oregon, near Hood River.  I had to walk the last 150 yards to get a photo as it was too muddy to ride to the end on full size street machine.  Trade rags say a Vstrom is a street machine in drag - well I would have been happy to have my old Vstrom on the last 1/4 mile here!  I would have made it all the way.

Photo:  Where I will not take an FJR.  It was slick and muddy.

An alternate photo spot should have been provided as it is with other dams. Oh well on to the next dam point and the upcoming route is s a good one, I-84 to State Hwy 216 and 218.  Woo hoo!


View Larger Map

Today it was mostly gas n go especially after the first dam stop.  The photo below is Hwy 218 near Shaniko  Oregon and the road is this good all the way to Fossil Oregon.

This is a photo of me at the next Dam Tour stop. Lordy I need some Grecian Formula.

Observant readers will note there is no dam in this photo.  The dam is near here on a gravel road and DamTour allowed an exception.  This is the Clarno Unit Rest Spot on Hwy 218 my favorite road in the Pacific Northwest.  This road is even better than the North Cascades Hwy - a little Chubby Checker while riding would be perfect.  Common baby let's to the twist....

Hwy 218 ends in Fossil Oregon where you might find gas and you will find this sign.

Old Fossil's home in Fossil - who'd a thunk.  At 56 I am not far behind those who live here.

I had gassed up at the Dalles Oregon and went all the way to John Day Oregon a distance of 225 miles. If there is no gas in Fossil and you don't have decent range well you maybe out of luck.  I love the range on the Feejer.

I could have stayed in John Day but it is only an hour to Burns so on a went and arrived at a Days Inn for $57 per night on the AARP rate.  Total miles for the day is about 550.

Right now it is Sunday morning at 7:00am and I am finishing up the blog.  Outside it is about 30 degrees and I am waiting a bit for it to warm up.  Yeah I got my heated jacket, heated grips but no heated socks or pants.  It is time to shower and start packing.

PS my sore right hip is doing great!

SW Wash Loop

The park for motorcyclists in the State of Washington is the entire state and the weather last 3 weekends has been exceptional for enjoying the park.  Flowers are blooming, the trees have leaves once again and life is returning to the lofty expectations most Northwestern's expect.

My friend Brian and I decided to go for a ride as the forecast called for glorious sunshine.  We both are struggling with keeping riding fresh and interesting as both of us have rode the same roads too  many times.  To combat been there done that fatigue I am riding DamTour this year while Brian is riding the lows and highs in the State of Washington a set of ride targets organized by Brian for the Washington State BMW club.

I was a member of the BMW club the past few years but this year decided to let my membership expire as my shaft is spinning a different direction.  With DamTour and activities on the FJR Forum there is only so much time as I am still doing the 9 to 5 at a well known aerospace company in Seattle.  I sold my BMW a few year ago. So it goes.

One of the BMW club low points destinations is Westport, Washington along the coast.  Westpoint is certainly not on my bucket list or any other list I am keeping, so it is really low point for me. Before the 1980's Westport was a salmon sport fishing mecca, these days there are fewer salmon so bottom fishing is popular.  My Dad used to go out on Western Charters back in the 1960's and often caught is limit.  Bottom fish back then were considered garbage.  When I was old enough to go out, I caught 25 lb salmon too, along with sea sickness every time out.  It was four for four and I don't go out there no more, well except for Brian to catch his target.

So Westport it was and we included the Little Creek Casino for they have a fantastic buffet lunch.  With inspiration at hand the route was set.


View Larger Map


We met at a McDonald's in Renton, Washington where I had heart happy oatmeal with coffee for the paltry sum of three dollars.  Take that Starbucks!  Heck the coffee alone at Starbucks will cost three bucks.  We shoot the breeze for a while before getting started at 7:00am.

The fog started to lift just south of Orting, Washington along the Orville Road so I stopped to snap a few photos.

The Orville Road is a road we ride often.  It is the best way to get south of Seattle provided you want to avoid the I-5 shuffle.

Being creatures of habit we find our way to state Hwy 7 near La Gande, Washington to enjoy a very fine set of curves cut in to a cliff.  Brian wanted some photos of him riding so we did.

While waiting for Brian I shot a photo of my Feejer.

Then here comes Brian.

Hwy 7 follows Alder Lake to Elbe, Washington home of  Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad where tourist can ride in an old fashion steam powered rail car.  Elbe is also home to the historic Little White Church.

Back in the 1950's through 1960's our family drove through Elbe every two weeks to visit my grandfather in Ashford, Washington.  Grandpa was a financially very poor man, despite owning 100 acres of land.  Spending time there as a young boy I learned to love the outdoors.  Grandfather would, in season, hunt for deer and elk and had a garden for food.  Sometimes he didn't have to go far to hunt deer, they would come to him.   Once he befriend young deer and named it Bucky.  We have an family photo of me riding Bucky.

My Dad shot Bucky, in season, for food.  Not much sense in having a tame deer running around for somebody else to shoot.  My Grandmother was furious.   Bucky tasted good!

Continuing with my Grandfather stories, in the late 1960's an elk fell through the wood cap covering the well for the household water supply.  They never did get the damn critter out of the well and life got harder after that.  Grandfather died in 1969 and the place was sold.  Aside from the elk messing up the well life was good in the 1960's playing in the hay barn, learning how to use a rifle and how to fish in the surrounding creeks in the high country. And I remember Elbe well.  The church was there and not much else.

 If you arrive in Elbe early, say 8:00am, you may get a photos like this one I shot in September 2002.

These days Elbe is a destination for tourists.  Dining and overnight lodging is available at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad - you can stay the night in a sleeper car.  Across the street from the railroad is several fast food joints and a gas station.  New this year is a rest area.  The business owners must be thrilled.

Brian and I continue on Hwy 7 toward Morton.  About 5 miles after Elbe is a terrific photo op of Mt. Rainier at point B on the map.  Here are some shots I have taken over the years.

This photo is from April 2011 - early season.

This shot is from September 2011.

And this photo with a cloud cap is from April 21, 2012.

Brian and I play photo tag.  Here is a shot of Brian on his 2003 ST 1300 with about 110,000 miles.  Damn fine machine!

At Morton we stop for gas before heading west on US Hwy 12 to Chelalis, Washington then on to Curtis, Boisfort and Pe Ell by way of Pe Ell - McDonalds road a road neither of us has every traveled.  A good road I might add.

Onward to Raymond for a break then to Westport via Hwy 105 a road Brian has not road before and my not again due to traffic after Tokeland, Washington.  We arrive at Westport and get the photo he needs to prove he was in Westport.

Without a break we head to the Little Creek Casino, near Shelton, Washington, for a fine buffet lunch.  The senior discount begins for those age 50 or better and the buffet is excellent, especially for about $11 each.  Brian picked up the tab.  Thanks Brian!  Everyone enjoys the ice cold Dungeness Crab and Shrimp.  Yum!  We purposely land here often after a ride through Soutwest, Washington.  Gas is also priced competitive with Costco and does not contain ethanol - a double bonus better mileage and low cost.  I could go off on ethanol but for now I will bite my lip - ouch!

Crab and Shrimp feast!

After our feast we head up Hwy 101 to Quilcene enjoying the smooth pavement and and great scenery along the Hood Canal.  I posted a Hood Canal a ride report earlier this year on the FJR Forum.

Arriving at the ferry dock at Kingston.  We found our bus waiting for us.

This ferry was not wearing boots which I thought was odd.  Ooops a flashback.......













In the ferry queue we parked next to a Wee Strom with a sidecar, this was not a flashback and I hope it does not become one!  The design and installation of the side car is impeccable.  But on a Wee?  It goes to show how versatile a Vstrom is.

After the ferry ride we head home.

The End

Baker Lake

Looking at the weather reports I noticed the weather was coming up from the south this morning.  The FJR was once again ready to go and so was I after the aborted trip to Oregon on Friday.  While eating heart happy Quaker oatmeal for breakfast I looked at the temps around Western Washington.  North seemed like a good direction to go.  But where?

Years ago I spent a weekend camping at on Baker Lake likely named Mt. Baker one of the Cascade Volcanoes.  I remember it was very scenic, with views of Mt. Baker and I had never road a motorcycle on the Baker Lake Road.  It was past time to put this  milestone behind me.

For sake of conversation this ride starts and ends in Arlington, Washington for this is where good motorcycling starts, well north of the Seattle to Everett cosmopolis shuffle.


View Larger Map

Riding from Arlington to Darrington is mostly is a non-event.  On Hwy 530 the pavement is smooth and easy with few turns.  Whitehorse Mountain demands your attention just before entering Darrington.

This is a very challenging mountain to photograph as the sun is usually behind the mountain.  Today the sky was slightly overcast with high contrast conditions as you can see in the photo above.

There is a Shell station in Darrington where the road t-bones.  To the right is the Mountain Loop Hwy leading to Granite Falls on a gravel road.  Great for dual sports, all though my buddy on a K1300GT road it once, only to find snow nearly at point where pavement resumes, forcing a retrace of his route.  Bummer.

Hwy 530 continues to Rockport the gateway of the North Cascades Hwy.  Along the way there are views of the Sauk River.  My favorite is the canopy of trees along Illabot Creek creating a visual treat in a park like setting in season.

At Rockport you cross the Skagit River with a grand view of the North Cascade Mountains to the east. To the left is the Howard Miller Stealhead Park where I stop for a brief break.

Howard Miller Stealhead Park along the Skagit River in the summer.

Today the North Cascades Hwy will have to wait for the passes are closed.  One can ride to the Ross Dam in winter, thus catching some great twisties on the pre-1972 section of the road where the turns are tighter than the grand sweepers east of Colonial Creek.

I find my way to the Baker Lake road via the Burpee Hill road, a twisty road, hanging on a cliff, as it climbs upward with less than ideal pavement, and today it also has lots of sand and gravel for good measure.  Soon I am on the Baker Lake Road where the mountain views are simple spectacular.

Typical view along the Baker Lake Road on a more photographic friendly day.

Below Mount Baker on the day of the ride

And Mt. Baker on a different day.

The Baker Lake Road itself was not remarkable at all until I hit the Watcom County line where the speed limit dropped inexplicably from 50mph to 35mph.  Arg!

This miserable speed limit reminds me of riding in Colorado.

The paved road ends a Park Creek. On this day there was snow along side the road at 1100' elevation.  I turned around at paved roads end and headed to Sedro Woolley via Highway 20 on the north side of the Skagit River.  Often I ride on the South Skagit River road, but today I wanted to enjoy the smoother pavement and sunny sky instead of the tree lined rough pavement on the other side of the river.

Reaching Hwy 9 I turned south to return to Arlington on a road traveled too often.  It is much more interesting than the freeway with views of lake, valley and interesting turns.  An example of the pavement is below.

It was a wonderful day for a ride with temps in the '60s.  Balmy by Washington standards.

The End.

No Dams!

Dam.....

My motorcycle battery gave out.  Road 360 freeway miles.

I decided to return home at about 6:00 pm on Friday night 30 miles into Oregon on I-205. After all where in Oregon are you going to find a Motel 6 and a motorcycle dealer with a FJR battery at 6:00pm on Friday night?  In the end I could not trust the bike to even idle well.

Lesson Learned: The batteries ability to spin the engine is NOT a good indication of a good battery.  By that time it is too late, way too late.

Here is the sequence of indications or not – keep in mind this battery is on a Battery Tender 24x7 and the bike lives in my garage.

1)      Friday morning bike fires up – my thought upon starting was the crank speed was a bit slow – wonder about that battery.  Soon the thought is gone.

2)      Leave work Friday at 2:00pm, no problem – crank speed just fine.

3)      Get gas in Centralia, restart bike.  No problem, crank speed just fine.

4)      Pull over to don rain jacket.  Bike nearly stalls at idle, ABS light comes on, GPS which is hard wired to the battery says, “Continue on battery power or shut down in 15 seconds?  What the…..  Bike fires up no problem no slow crank either.

5)      Resume ride all the while my mind is not happy about 4) above.

6)      Pull over at last rest stop on I-5 before I-205.  Bike idles fine, bike starts fine – more than once even - no problem no slow crank either.

7)      ABS Light comes on and stays on.

8)      Traffic on I-205 slows to stop and go.  I do a quicky test, go to neutral, kill engine while rolling, hit restart, nearly no cranking.  I know now I am screwed.

9)      Pull over on I-205 to call Days Inn to cancel my Hotel by 6:00pm.  I have 10 minute to do this otherwise I pay.  T-moble phone says no service.  Lordy, I am in the middle Portland Oregon on the east side.  Reboot phone.  Service established – this very well could have been T-mobiles last straw.  Call 411 and cancel.  A guy on a bike pulls up behind me with a fellow in a hot Nissan sport car.  He needs a wrench.  This is an opportunity!  I say yeah I got a wrench and if needed perhaps you can help me if this bike don’t start.  I had the right wrench he was is thrilled, my bike starts and I am thrilled.

10)   With a ½ tank of gas I will not make it home, meaning I must stop one more time.  While cruising up I-5 the instrument cluster is not happy.  I got an orange light subtly flickering once or twice – I don’t know what the hell that is – at the same time the tack and speedo needles bouncing from zero to normal twice, all the while the ABS lamp glows red.  I remove the GPS, put it away in tank bag.  It is 42 degrees, no heated grips and no electric jacket.  Mission is to get home.

11)   Stop in Woodland, for there is a gas station, motel and a place to eat all in close proximity.  Choose the gas station closest to the hotel and it has a slight hill – bonus!

12)   Gas up, call Linda, if you don’t hear from me I am ok, fire up the bike.  It seems to spin pretty well but at this point I don’t care.  Pull up slight hill, wait for traffic, at idle bike stalls. Shit.  Most of the precious elevation is lost turning the bike around, so much that I can’t bump start it.  A stranger kindly gives me a push the bike fires and I am estatic with many thanks to the stranger.

13)   Ride home no more problem, put bike in garage, hook up the Battery Tender which immediately goes to green lamp meaning this battery cannot accept a charge. 

14)   Saturday morning write this report.  It is a nice day today to go find a battery.

I am glad this thing died when it did rather than the half way between Winnemucca NV and Lakeview Or.  No harm no foul, I made it home safe and sound.  I will be looking for better options to know when the battery is toast like this little gem right here.

I know I didn’t get a lot of years out of this battery but it had a hard life.  The bike sat for a while new before I bought it, then the voltage regulator went south during my first year of ownership.  It was an overcharge condition.  While the problem was fixed under warrantee the battery likely suffered for it.

Post Script:  Oh the pain of it!

I had a loose battery terminal screw. In over 40 years of motorcycling this has never happened to me. It would have taken 10 minutes to fix it on the side of the road. I didn't want to stop because I was convinced I had a dead or near dead battery. Sure hurts to admit that. 

More Dams!

It is about dam time to get some dams in Oregon.  I am am taking off on Friday afternoon and return on Saturday evening in time for spending Easter with my wife.  In about 36 hours I will bag the following dams:

• Mompano
• Lebanon
• Tarheel Creek including the bonus photos.

Along the way I get to ride a road I have not been on before - most excellent.  The Oregon Motorcyclist is a great resource.

Here is my route down on Friday this includes the dam at  Mompano reservoir, point B on the map.

Here is my route my route back home.

Happy Easter and thanks for reading my blog.