Member Contributer Belfry Posted August 14, 2011 Member Contributer Share Posted August 14, 2011 I just got home yesterday from a 1,500-mile round trip to southern Oregon. (Since the profiles are temporarily out of service, I'm in B.C. and ride a black 2006). The idea was to make Ashland, OR the midpoint, meet up with a buddy from Denver, and do some hiking in the area as well as catch a play (Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival). The weather was questionable (overcast, chilly) on Day 1 and it took an hour and 20 minutes to cross the border at Blaine, WA. (The border was packed with crazy bargain-hunting Canadians armed with a $1.05 USD Canadian dollar looking to help support the US economy. ) So I just slabbed it down I5 to Salem, OR. The next day I headed out to 101 on the coast, which was nice, but also socked in, so views were limited. As expected, there were plenty of campers and motorhomes on the road and lots of 30-40 mph sections through small towns. It was also 53 F at one point, so I had to stop and gear up to stop my teeth from chattering! I packed for a summer ride and 53 F taxed the ability of the gear I brought to keep me warm (without putting my rain gear on). While packing, I focused on the the 85-90 F in Ashland! (I suppose I should stop and apologize at this point for a lack of road pics. I have pics from the hikes, but I hate to stop to take pics while riding! I guess it's something I'll have to work on if I want to play here .) Had a nice five-day stay in Ashland, good hikes (Upper Table Rock, Mt. Scott at Crater Lake, etc.), caught Love's Labour's Lost on the Elizabethan stage (decent interpretation), and tried many of the local restaurants. Standing Stone Brewery earned a few repeat visits. The best day of riding was the first day of the trip back: clear skies, sun, and cooler temps. (A nice feature of the area is that while it gets up to 90 F in the afternoon at this time of year, it drops into the 50s overnight, making for pleasantly cool mornings). I took Hwy. 66 to Klamath Falls. It's a twisty two-lane highway through the Siskiyou National Monument with elevation changes mid-corner, nice scenery and little traffic. There are a couple of cautions though: critters abound. There were some kind of little chipmunks running across the road all over the place (with their tails straight up in the air). I didn't hit one, but there were plenty of dead ones on the road. I suspect they'd be a bit slippery if you hit one at an inopportune moment, like in a corner.I also spotted a deer in mid-road--which wouldn't be so bad except she was being followed by two of the tiniest fawns I've ever seen. One stopped in my lane to watch the VFR approaching! On the upside, I discovered that the feeble-sounding VFR horn (particularly with earplugs in place) is actually a fairly effective deer frightener at close range. I encountered a new-to-me sign: "Sunken Road" before a couple of corners. Since I didn't know what to expect, I slowed down almost to the posted corner speed (instead of my usual X2 ). Half of the lane (the lane, not the road) had sunken at least 4-6 inches. What was weird was that it looked as though it had melted, since the transition was smooth. It would, however, have overwhelmed the VFR suspension had I been leaned over and unable to carefully choose my line. In both cases where I encountered "Sunken Road" I was able to stay on the high, "unsunken" part of the lane, but I had to ride a wider line close to the center line. Still, a great road if ridden in good weather with care. From Klamath Falls I rode 97 north for most of the day (nice road, nothing special), until switching to Hwy. 26 at Bend, OR and finally Hwy. 35 as I made my way to Hood River, OR for the night. The weather held up all day and Hwy. 35 through the Mt. Hood National Forest was a nice ride, despite more traffic and some road work (single lane controlled by a light). The scenery was great, however, and at some points the road is so close to the base of Mt. Hood that the snowy peak takes up your entire field of vision (I really should have stopped to take a photo...). The second day of the ride home rolled in overcast, cold and misting (not really raining), so I slabbed it home via I84 and I5. Temps were in the high 50s, low 60s all day until I broke out from under the clouds north of Seattle, WA. and the temperature rose to 68 F. All in all, a great trip with a couple of noteworthy roads. Just to prove I was there, I'll include a shot of Crater Lake from the Mt. Scott trail. The lake is incredibly blue and there is still a lot of snow from about 7,000 feet up. (Sorry, no bike that day ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Nice! I'm surprised there's still that much snow up at Crater Lake. The roads all around Mt. Hood are pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. Any other pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted September 20, 2011 Member Contributer Share Posted September 20, 2011 Nice loop. We certainly had a record year for snowpack in the Cascades - some roads did not open until mid-late July. I did a coast loop 2 weeks ago and had the same thing - fogged in, 53 degrees and you couldn't tell where the fog ended and the ocean began. Once I got further inland, it was in mid to high 80's - (mid 20's C). There are lots of good secondary roads through Oregon. If we have a PNW meet in Bend, we'll have to make some loops through the Sisters area - some spectacular scenery and fun twisty roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VietHorse Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Just seeing the icy mountains with the clear sky facing beautiful lake... not seeing any road for VFR riders... Any more photos, please... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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