Day 17 - A lot of Everything!

WOW - What a day!

Everyone knows that the Pacific Coast Highway is a scenic drive, and it can be one teriffic motorcycle road too - if conditions are right. Well, today, we had it all. But I'm getting ahead of myself here...

We arose at a reasonable hour again this morning, packed the bikes, had breakfast at the hotel and tried to get some cheaper gas (less that the $3.75 + close by) before we got on our route. I had found an ARCO station that listed $3.61 a gallon, but when we got to the pumps it turned out that they took ONLY cash, or a debit card which they wanted to add a .35 fee onto. We elected to pass, though later we weren't sure we made the right call... We got onto US-101 headed south for Monterey which would be the start of our PCH segment. We got to Monterey easily enough, but we did have some considerable difficulty locating a place to take photos documenting that we were in Monterey. Usually we would use a city sign, but there were none in a place we could safely stop and get a photo. We drove around in the tightly packed community looking for a place, when we drove by the police station. Even their sign out front wasn't suitable because the part that said "Monterey" was in very small print. We did see a bunch of police cars parked in the lot though so we went in there and used them for our photo op.

Once the documentation photo was complete we got onto Highway 1 and the fun began. First off, the views all along the coast here are stunning. To top that off, the weather can help that, as sit did today with some foggy sections, that from a scenic standpoint added to the visual experience, but from a riding perspective made visibility problematic from time to time. Traffic was pretty light, though we did run up behind cars often enough. In some cases the drivers were very courteous and used one of the copious turnouts to let us by. Others however were sometimes oblivious and we would be "stuck" behind them for some miles before a suitable passing opportunity presented itself. We did run into one such situation - a Toyota Prius which was slowing to a veritable crawl around some of the curves. It didn't help that the driver behind him was not "pressing" him to clue him in that he was holding up a line of over 10 vehicles (before we finally got by him). Eventually, there was a passing zone where we were able to pass him and 4 other cars behind him all in one fell swoop. Um, yeah, I had hit 80+ to get by, but it was that or spend the entire day behind this driver. I have to say too, that many of the California drivers, though somewhat aggressive, were for the most part pretty courteous too. One can tell that this IS the state with a love affair with their vehicles.

When we had the open road it was wonderful twisty motorcycle riding. Except for the fog in placed that limited visibility, and because we were there so early in the day we had to deal with coming in and out of shade to sun that also limited visibility at times. Despite all of that it was still a heck of a lot of fun!

Note the fog bank offshore

Fog covering the ocean

Same place, different angle of view

Since we hadn't gotten gas before the day's start I was running low so we stopped in Bug Sur, along the PCH. I pulled up to the pump and almost had a coronary - $5.24 a gallon! Needless to say, I didn't fill, only added $10.00 worth, enough to make it to the end of the PCH and hopefully cheaper fuel prices.

We finished out the PCH, encountering more traffic as we got closer to Morro Bay. When we got to Morro Bay we got fuel again (for "only" $3.75/gal) and decided to get some lunch. We went right down to the coastline and found a quaint little place, the Blue Skye Diner where we had a nice brunch overlooking Morro Bay.

View at lunch of Morro Bay

The Intrepid Travelers

From there, I had thought it was going to be just a boring ride up some major roads, but Larry (who did the routing for most of this trip) had some surprises up his sleeve. We got onto CA-41 which took us some 15 miles up through the San Gabriel mountains and OMG - this was actually BETTER than the PCH from a motorcycling perspective because there was virtually NO traffic to contend with and the road was just as twisty! Eventually though it got hotter and hotter as we headed away from the coast. By the time we got out to Atascadero, it had already gone for the mid to upper 60's of the coast, up to the upper 70's. We stopped and shed our liners and off we were again. The temps continued to rise, eventually hitting a high of 98 degrees, which we rode in for a few hours. We drank a lot of fluids, and stopped periodically for breaks and by the time we got to our overnight destination in Sonora CA it was down to a bearable 89! Oh, and we could see the smoke from the "Rim Fire" which caused the closure of our intended route - 120 through Yosemite.

Smoke from the Rim fire as we approach Sonora, CA

Stats for today: 414.6 miles in 8:09 moving, 10:16 elapsed time.

Added GPS Track for the day:

Day 16 - Mixed Bag

Today we had planned a transit day - just to get into position to run our next scheduled road - the Pacific Coast Highway from Monterrey to Morro Bay. We executed our plan, though it was not totally smooth sailing.

We awoke at a reasonable hour, only to hear the distinct sound of rain on the window! A check on the weather radar showed  small front moving through our location (Grants Pass, OR) that looked like it might clear the are in an hour or so, leaving us with a dry start to the day.

Not what we like to see to start the day!

We took our time at breakfast, had an extra cup of coffee and by 7:45 local time, the rain almost stopped. We packed up the bikes, and geared up for rain just in case and left the hotel at 8:15 AM. It was barely sprinkling and we thought we might get lucky.... Just a few miles down I-5 and the rain picked up and we ran in a moderate rain for about 30 miles with another 30 or so of in and out sprinkles. We didn't get to dry pavement until 135 miles out. As rain goes this really wasn't too bad, especially since we were geared up for it from the start. At 150 miles, we stopped at a rest area and the sun was shining so we took off all the rain gear. The temps had come up from a low of 58 to now 73 so it was quite comfortable.

Lakehead Rest Area where we shed the rain gear

If you look closely t the above photo you will note that there are still some clouds around. This was at the head of Shasta Lake, just about 40 miles south of Mt Shasta - which was so socked in by the clouds that we couldn't see it when we went by.

The mornings ride wasn't without some fun though. As we were still in the Cascades, we went up and over several passes (mountains) which meant some nice twisting turning and elevation changing roads, and the road surfaces were quite good making it a very enjoyable experience. Traffic was fairly light to boot which further contributed to the fun times.

Eventually though we exited the mountains and got into California farming country. We stopped for lunch in Corning, CA which it turns out bills itself as the "Olive City". I had seen some trees that went on for miles just before we got there so I surmise they were, in fact, olive trees.

Eventually, we exited the I-5 for I-80 and then I-680 to get around San Francisco. That made for some excitement. When we merged onto I-80 there were 5 lanes of traffic, very nearly bumper to bumper, travelling at 75 MPH (the "normal" ones). Some were weaving in and out to try to maintain 80+ ! It was a bit of a "white knuckle ride" to keep together and on route with these California drivers running like they were the only ones on the road that mattered. Anyways, we made it through and eventually got out onto US-101 where things calmed down a lot and before long we were at our hotel destination for tonight in Gilroy, CA. We even got there early enough to have time to do some laundry :-)


Stats for today: 451 miles in 7:41 elapsed time

Added GPS Track for the day:

Day 15 - Dealing with change - and weather

We actually slept a bit later than normal today, so when we got up we were kind of rushing to get packed, fed and out the door. I did my usual weather check on my Ipod, and it said current weather was mostly cloudy, with clearing expected later today, Temp was 61. When we went to pack the bikes however, the parking lot was wet - meaning it had rained over night, so right away we knew we would need to start out in our rain gear.

Wet start to the day

Our plan for the day had us taking the interstate south a ways, then getting off on some scenic road that would take us by Mt Ranier, then back out to the interstate, then south a couple exits, then back off for a 50 mile run up to Mt St. Helens. Well, as soon as we got on the interstate, it began to rain - lightly, but steadily. When we got off onto the scenic route we were in and out of rain, but then Larry's GPS alerted us to a road closure - the road we were intending to take. We weren't able to figure out exactly where the closure was so we continued on until we came to the detour. By this time it was raining harder and steady. Even though we were pretty close to Mt Rainier we couldn't see any of it. We continued on and followed our route back out to the interstate where we gassed up, and stopped for lunch. The sky was clearer here so we also got out of the rain gear. After lunch we went down the I-5 but when we came to the exit for Mt St. Helens, I decided it just wasn't worth a 100 mile detour to hope the weather would be better, so we skipped it and continued on down I-5.

Since we are running a bit behind schedule we figured to press hard today to try to make up some time. We ran 500+ miles and made it to Grants Pass, OR - just 60 miles north of the California border.

So we had to deal with weather and changing plans which isn't all that unusual on a trip like this. Looking ahead another route we planned to take was CA-120 through Yosemite Park, but that is currently closed due to wild fires so we may well have to make further route revisions in the coming days.

Tomorrow's plan is to continue south and get close to the start of our Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) route, and than start that on Monday.

Added GPS Track for the day:

Day 14 - WA-20 Omak to Concrete WA

We must be getting better acclimated to the time change because we actually slept until 6:00 AM local time today! We loaded the bikes as the sun came up to reveal a heavily smoky sky. While eating breakfast, we watched the local news - the primary story was the local wildfires, the road closures (US-12 - Lolo Pass included), and the air quality status - Hazardous! We were also watching the weather, with a rain front mowing in from the south west we would have a close call getting out of town on I-90 to the west before the rains came in.

We got 40 miles down I-90 before we started to see some drops of rain, and decided to stop and don the rain gear - not only for the potential of rain, but also because the temps had dropped to 54 degrees and the rain gear would help keep us warm. As it happens, putting on the rain gear scared away the rain, but we kept it on and were more comfortable for it. Now normally interstates aren't too much fun for motorcycling, but there was a stretch on I-90, just before we reached the Idaho border where there was a really nice set of high speed sweepers (wide sweeping turns that can be run at the speed limit). That provided about 5 minutes of entertainment, and then we crossed into Idaho and climbed over a descended a couple of passes which also made for some fun riding. We also gained another hour when we crossed into the Pacific Time Zone at the Idaho border. We decided to stop for a break in Couer D'Alene having some coffee at a Burger King where we also removed our rain gear as it had warmed up some.

Back on the road and soon we were crossing into WA at Spokane. The speed limit drops to 60 here for about 15 miles - and we saw a Police ST1300 enforcing the limit with a driver from the eastbound lanes so we minded our speed well through here. We finally exited the interstate onto US 2 just on the western edge of Spokane.Eventually this turns into a 2 lane road through the grain fields - exactly what I think of when I hear the "amber waves of grain" from the National Anthem.

Note the "amber waves of grain" as far as the eye can see on either side of the road!

Soon after the above photo, we turned more northerly, still on US-2 but the road starts to stop being so flat and we get some steep descents and a climb as we approach the Grand Coulee Dam, where we stop for fuel. After fueling we off again and the road begins to really be fun, with hills and valleys and twists and turns. We were stuck for a few minutes behind a group of three Harley riders, but as soon as we got to a passing zone we left them behind and pretty much had the road to ourselves. It was just another 50 miles to the start of our target for today - WA-20 from Omak, WA to Concrete, WA - AKA the Northern Cascades Scenic Highway.

The road from Omak to Mazama WA, about 60 miles, includes on mountain pass of 4000 ft which was a nice ride p and over, but the really best part of the days ride starts just after our fuel stop in Mazama as we run up and over two Northern Cascades mountain passes, Washington Pass at 5477 ft, and Rainy Pass at 4875 ft. After cresting Rainy Pass, we start a steep descent dropping over 2000 ft in less than 20 miles, and then, after a brief ascent we drop another 1767 ft in just 16 more miles.

This section of road is by far, hands down, the most fun stretch of road we have run on this trip. And whats really amazing is that this same road was CLOSED a few weeks ago due to landslides from heavy rains. We saw the remnants of the cleanup in several places along the road, but I have to say a Big Hats Off to the WA state DOT for getting the road cleaned up and re-opened in such a short time.

There's a lot more information about this road on Wikipedia at the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Route_20

I ran my GoPro Camera for much of this route, but today it was in video mode, and because of the size of the videos I just can't post them here at this time. Stay tuned and I hop to post some of them in the future.
Here is one video of our run up to Washington Pass:

We finished the required route in Concrete WA, and then continued on to Burlington WA where we found a hotel and are in for the night.

Today's stats: 512.1 miles in 9:00 Hrs moving time, 10:47 Hrs elapsed time

Added GPS Track for the day:

Day 13 - Going to the Sun and beyond

Well, we just can't seem to get adjusted to the time zone changes. Today was no different with us awake before dawn. Breakfast in the hotel and on the road by 6:45 M! It was 51 degrees when we left so we had liners in but after we got out of Great Falls northbound on I-15 the temp dropped to 45! We did enjoy another full moon though.

Moon still showing in the early morning NB on I-15

We weren't on I-15 too long before getting off onto a nice 2 lane - US-89. We did encounter one 6 mile stretch of construction where the "road" as very poor. Larry's GS was right at home, but y ST struggled in the loose gravel and mud. After that section it was nice riding u into Browning MT where we stopped for a coffee break. Then we turned onto US-49 through the Blackfeet Indian reservation. This was a pretty twisty road though it did have a lot of cattle near, and on the road. At one point we had to stop to wait for some cows to cross in front of us, and a few times we were dodging fresh cowpies in the turns! (sorry, no photos)
Next thing we knew we were at the east entrance of Glacier National Park and the start of the Going to the Sun road. Despite getting there at 10:23 AM, there was already a lot of traffic on the road, and there was also a lot of construction on the eastern approach to the summit.

East entrance to Glacier National Park

Vier starting in the east side

One of th mny construction zones on the east side

Spectacular views

I have MANY more pictures but no time to sort them all out. Hope to post more later so stay tuned.

After exiting the park, we fueled the bikes and ourselves and headed south. A real treat was a long stretch of riding along the eastern shore of Flathead Lake. This is a HUGE lake (reminded me a lot of Lake Winnipesaukee in NH), but one difference was all the fruit orchards along the shoreline, especially Cherries.

Another notable item was the ever increasing smoke in the air as we worked our way south. By the time we got down to Missoula, the sky was thick with a haze of smoke from the several large forest fires in the area - including one that we found has caused the closure of our next assigned road - Lolo pass. As a result we have to re-work our routing so I am out of time for todays post.

Stats for today: 377 miles in 8:00 hrs riding time, 10:46 elapsed time.

Added GPS Track for the day:

Day 12 - Chief Joseph Hwy and Beartooth - almost

We got off to a very early start today from Powell WY at 6:32 AM! There was a nice full moon still showing, but the sun was rising fast. It wasn't too cold at 58 degrees, but as soon as we got away from the toen it dropped another 4 degrees so we were glad we had out liners on. We ran the 25 miles over 14A to Cody, WY where we fueled up and headed on up he road towards out intended roads of interest today - the Chief Joseph Hwy and Beartooth Hwy the latter of which would cross us over the WY/MT border.

We made it to the start of the Chief Joseph highway by 7:30 AM and after getting the required photos we headed in. Neither Larry nor I had ever ridden these roads before so were were peaked with anticipation. It was so early there would be little or no traffic to impede our ride so were were psyched. But even at that, there were sections that were almost freshly paved so overall a huge thumbs up!

Start of the Chief Joseph Hwy

 We stopped at an overlook near the start and here's a sample of what we saw -

View off to the left

View off the right

View straight below - check out that twisting roadway!

 So after taking the above pictures we ran the Chief Joseph Hwy and it was every bit as much fun as it looks and we anticipated! Even after we got to the bottom it still meandered through and around quite a bit and it was never a dull moment as the following photo shows:

Yes, that is a COW and shortly after I took this photo, he and a few of his friends sauntered leisurely across the road

The above photo was taken when we stopped at the end of the Chief Joseph and the start of the Beartooth Hwy.

Intersection of the Chief Joseph and Beartooth highways

From ther we headed up the Beartooth highway. We made it about 13 miles until we came upon a major construction site. The road was down to one lane only with a pilot car leading cars back and forth. It was here that we were told by a forest service worker that the Beartooth was closed in both direction just a mile after the construction zone due to forest fire. Rather than drive across a 3/4 mile of unpaved construction just to have to turn around anyway, we opted to reverse here and head back the way we came. We did stop at Beartooth Lake on the way back down for an awesome scenic view there.

Beartooth Lake

So the GOOD news of this scenario was that we got to run the Chief Joseph Hwy twice - once in each direction. Yahoo!

We ended up getting back out on WY 120 which turns into MT 72 when we crossed the state border and then we turned up 308 to take us up to Red Lodge MT which is where we would have ended up after crossing Beartooth Pass had it not been closed. As soon as we turned up the road we could see what was causing the road closures.

Smoke tells the story!

After taking the above photo we continued up to Red Lodge. Immediately upon entering town we saw up 212 where it was closed at that end so we rode up to chat with the officers there, and to get photos documenting that the road was, in fact, closed.

The "other end" of the closure just south of Red Lodge MT

After chatting with the police and knowing the road wasn't going to re-open anytime soon, we stopped in town for another fuel stop and also stopped for lunch as well. From there we headed on out towards our planned overnight destination in Great FAlls, MT which was still another 258 miles away. We pressed on running mostly secondary roads, with the exception of a 30 mile stretch of I-90. We arrived in Great Falls by 4:15 PM Having run 465 miles for the day in 8:00 Hrs moving time and 10:15 Hrs elapsed time.

Tomorrow - Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National park, with a planned overnight in Missoula MT.

Added GPS Track for the day:

Day 11 - Half a day

We had intentions of riding a full day today, but one of us wasn't quite feeling so well as we started to mount up in the morning. I'll spare you all the details, but ultimately, we determined it was a combination of dehydration, aggravated further by the altitude, that was causing the problem. Once that was figured out, copious amounts of liquids resolved the issue and we finally were off at about noon. We ran down I-90 for 120 miles then got off onto 14A at Ranchester.

Today's ride

This brought us up into and over the Bighorn Mountains and is in it's own right an absolutely spectacular motorcycle ride. I had been over here once before with Larry on our way up to Hyder Alaska in 2009 so it was great to get to ride this road again this year. This section is highlighted below, and amounted to 57 miles of up and over and down a mountain range that saw our altitudes go from 4000 ft to 9482 ft, and temps from 92 at the start of the climb, down to 70 at the peak and back up to 97 down in the valley again!

57 Miles of Motorcycle Heaven in the Bighorn Mtns

A look back at part of the plateau near the top

View near the top

Heading down the back side

More on the way down

Still more on way down...

I have a LOT of photos from the GoPro, too many to post here.

We ended up overnighting in Powell, MT.

Stats for the day:

230.2 miles in 4:11 moving time, 5:33 elapsed time.

Tomorrow is our next scheduled Top 15 roads - Chief Joseph and Beartooth pass. We should make Great Falls, MT if all goes well.

Added GPS Track for the day: