Pic Heavy Ride Report - MS to Bella Coola & Back 11,000 Miles Heat, Hail & Bears

[DK Custom Products]

"I apologize if I'm boring you with so many pics..."

Not boring at all Kevin, Mary takes amazing pictures! Looking forward to seeing many more documenting your travels!

Cool! Thank you.

Great photos!! But,,, That is a Wiley Coyote.. Not a Wolf. There are hundreds of them living in Yosemite.. Maybe thousands.. But no Wolves... yet... You can see a Wolf here in Idaho though if you know where to go..! If I had known you were kicking around Yosemite, I could have mentioned to go over Sonora Pass, which is north of the park. You would like the 25% grades and 1st gear hairpin curves on that route. It is all paved and a great road with amazing views of the back side of the park. And zero tourists. There are 4 passes that go over the Sierras up there. We have done 3 of them.. gonna do the 4th next year.

Yeah, I thought it might be a coyote, but all the ones we seen down in our area are mangy, dirty, ugly & a lot thinner...we concluded, erroneously, this must be a wolf. Thank you for the correction.

Yeah, most definitely Sonora Pass is in our future!!!

NEVER too many Pics!!!!!!

I am enjoying this ride with ya'll through Mary's Pics and your commentary.
What a great trip, I really hope ya'll are enjoying it as much as I am!!

Be Safe and enjoy!!

Can't wait for your next post...

Nope, NOT too many pics Kevin, the Misses and I are thoroughly enjoying your vacation.

Thank you! Sometimes I lose a bit of perspective from so much riding and looking thru so many pics!

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Day 10

Leaving the Lake View Lodge this morning, Mary got a pic of the Country Grocery & Market we hit last night for supplies. Very nice town!






Pic of the lake across the street from the motel.






Heading north on the 395, the road is nice riding, with great views!






Mary looking back at where we've ridden.






Yesterday was an amazing day! It was a bit long, but invigorating, & at the same time it was a bit overload on how much great riding and scenery we experienced. Today we are enjoying some amazing views, & a smooth, fun road at a brisk, but relaxing pace.





We stopped in Bridgeport at a Napa because I realized I did not pack any electrical tape in with my tools. Have not needed it, but don't want to need it and not have it.

At the Napa we met John, working on his VTX1800 "Harley Killer" (his words). Got to talking to him, he had been there awhile and was a bit frustrated trying to replace some bad wiring to his main harness. Without it being fixed, it would run only on one cylinder.

We were there about 45 minutes, getting him back running. We had some tools that made the job easier, and two pairs of hands made the work easier also. The wiring we were working on was under his tank, so we had the tank halfway off the bike.

After getting it running on both cylinders, and all back together, he was a happy guy and ready to go outrun a bunch more Harleys.







Before leaving the little town of Bridgeport we stopped for gas. WHOA! Gas in Cali is High!






Even though the terrain is desert like, we are still seeing the snow on some mountains, and the temp is nice, in the low 70's.





Not sure what it is, even though I have slowed down a bit in the curves (sometimes ), and really enjoy a leisurely pace, appreciating the scenery...






...there is something in me, must be some sort of addiction, that just lights up when there are curves in the road. I don't need to always hit them as hot as I used to, but I sure do enjoy them!




More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 10 Continued-


Pic of Topaz Lake, right near the Cali/Nevada border. You can see how it got its' name.






The 395 took us into Nevada for awhile, before crossing back into CA.






This is a section of road right near Reno that is quite a bit different/newer. It is wider, and everyone is doing 85-95 mph...the posted speed limit seems irrelevant to 95% of the cages.

I mentioned earlier that I like to hit curves hot...but as far as straight line riding, I rarely go more than the speed limit. Straight line speed hold no appeal to me at all.

Anyway, I rode this section mostly around 85-90 mph, just to stay out of all the cages way.






Here's a little car we saw...I think it is probably smaller than the Tri-Glide.






Pulled off at an exit in the suburbs of Reno to call the shop. Ended up having to spend well over an hour on the phone going over some time sensitive decisions with Devin. Mary took a pic of me in the only shade I could find in the parking lot. lol






We've seen a lot of dried up lakes today. This is a huge one near the NV/CA border.






Passing Bordertown, and back into California.






Some long straight road, and some great clouds for Mary.





Another huge lake that is dried up...



...I did a quick google search. It appears most of the dried up lakes we saw today went dry many years ago.



Our leisurely pace today, along with helping John out, and spending quite a bit of time on the phone, we ended up stopping in Susanville for the night after only 240 miles.





A perfect relaxed day after the sensory overload day yesterday!

Kevin

[Trent]

The Coyotes in Yosemite are so healthy looking because they eat a lotta human food that they find or gets thrown to them. Surprised you didn't see any while on the valley floor, because a large number of them hang out there and beg for treats along the side the road.

Good job helping the broken down Honda guy out. One of my ridin' Buds has an 1800 VTX, and it is indeed a very effective Harley killer. Can effortlessly out run me anytime he wants and disappear over the horizon. Then he hides and sneaks up behind me down the road.

Recognize some of the locations in your great photos from our many trips on those roads. One of the fun things about riding in Nevada is that no one pays much attention to speed limits including the Cops. I have been going way over the speed limit down there several times and have been startled to be overtaken by State Police who just kept on going. More important things to worry about I reckon, like finding some shade.

[consitter]

Waiting to be bored again.

If you are holding true to schedule, your next post should be coming up right about in the middle of my shift tonight.

[DK Custom Products]

Simply AWESOME!!

Thank you!

The Coyotes in Yosemite are so healthy looking because they eat a lotta human food that they find or gets thrown to them. Surprised you didn't see any while on the valley floor, because a large number of them hang out there and beg for treats along the side the road.

Good job helping the broken down Honda guy out. One of my ridin' Buds has an 1800 VTX, and it is indeed a very effective Harley killer. Can effortlessly out run me anytime he wants and disappear over the horizon. Then he hides and sneaks up behind me down the road.

Recognize some of the locations in your great photos from our many trips on those roads. One of the fun things about riding in Nevada is that no one pays much attention to speed limits including the Cops. I have been going way over the speed limit down there several times and have been startled to be overtaken by State Police who just kept on going. More important things to worry about I reckon, like finding some shade.

Coyotes down our way are the mangiest stinkiest animals in the woods. We put seeing a wolf in the wild back on our bucket list.

Yeah, I've heard stories of the VTX1800's before....glad I don't like to race...might bother me. Sounds like you guys have some fun!


Talking about Nevada...I remember now about 5 years ago when we were headed from Las Vegas to San Diego...people were driving crazy fast. I just tried to stay out of their way in the right lane...doing 80-85 and continually being passed like I was going way too slow.

Waiting to be bored again.

If you are holding true to schedule, your next post should be coming up right about in the middle of my shift tonight.

Taking a break for a couple of days from the ride report...will start back up tomorrow night.

Kevin

[consitter]

Taking a break for a couple of days from the ride report...will start back up tomorrow night.

Kevin

I be here.



Waiting....

[DK Custom Products]

Day 11

Leaving out of Susanville, we are headed to Lake Shasta.


Almost immediately we are in the perfect riding zone...






...70's, smooth, traffic free road, beautiful scenery.






We passed more than a couple dried up lakes today, here's one-






Another good road with elevation changes thrown in with some nice curves.






We don't have to be anywhere at any particular time for a while about a week...so when we see the Lassen Volcanic Park, we make about a 100 mile sidetrip to explore part of it!






The roads in the National Parks are usually very nice, this one is no exception.





We get to where you can view the volcano, and a bunch of info on it...



...turns out it last erupted almost exactly 100 years ago. Huge river of lava flowed for miles. The story on how it occurred and how the locals in the lava flow path survived is quite interesting.



Here's just a small section of where the river of lava flowed.






Back winding thru the forest on the asphalt ribbon...just a perfect day for riding on a great road!






After leaving the National Forest, we made our way north west toward Shasta Lake...




This was our first view of it.


More in next post.

[DblTrbl]

I'm at work but you got me itching to ride... Loving the pics and storyline. Keep them coming!!

[DK Custom Products]

Day 11 Continued-

It's a nice climb from the Town of Shasta Lake up to the Lake. We went up via Shasta Dam Blvd, and back down the other side via WhiskeyTown.






This is where we parked...walked down just a ways toward the lake to a picnic area for lunch.

You can see the lake is down from its' normal level...looks like 50-60 feet lower than normal.






Really nice picnic area. Lake is beautiful. All is quiet except for some squirrels and birds. We spent about an hour, just exploring around after eating.






Headed back down the other side of the mountain. This pic is the downriver side of the dam.






Now we're on the 299, headed west. This is a pic of Whiskytown Lake, where the 299 crosses over a small section of the lake.






Another shot of Whiskeytown Lake...toward the west end of the lake. It's a pretty good size lake. 3-4 mile long. There are a LOT of Trees in this part of the world.






That was the last of the great riding for the day. We soon came upon a construction zone.



We waited in that line for a solid 45 minutes...stopped. We got a chance to talk, listen to some tunes, and wait.


Finally all the traffic from the other direction passed, and it was our turn. This is a fantastic road....some steep hills & curve combos... I definitely want to ride it again sometime. Today was at a crawl. It took us about 45 minutes to get thru the construction zone and out the other side.






We had a bit of a nice ride between the end of the zone and Weaverville...





...Mary got a great shadow pic.




We decided to stop in the little town of Weaverville. We got a nice room at the quaint little Trinity Motel.

If you look at the map, from Susanville to Weaverville is not much more than 150 miles, but with our detours to the Volcanic Park, up to Shasta Lake and down the other side. It was a very scenic 300 mile ride with a high ratio of smiles to miles.


Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Day 12-


Before leaving out of the motel, this morning, we were talking to our neighbors. They are in their 30's and have been considering getting a Tri-Glide or Freewheeler...they had a lot of questions and were pretty excited to hear about our trip, and how much fun it is to travel on. I have a feeling that the high dollar SUV they were driving is going to be sitting unused a lot in the near future.


Leaving out of Motel Trinity. An Old Skool Motel. Just the kind we like. Can park the bike right at the room door.






Cool shop on the outside...we should have stopped to see if inside was just as interesting!






The last few days we've sort of been podunking along, taking our time, enjoying the sights.

Today is no different....



Great road, interesting clouds...



We're just enjoying the road.





We are still on the 299. The weather is perfect, in the mid 70's, the road is fun, there is very little traffic...





...the scenery is great...






...and Mary took over 500 pics. So today Ride Report is going to be a two parter. 20 pics tonight and another 20 tomorrow.







299 is a great road, we are thoroughly enjoying following it to the coast!






There were a few very short construction zone...but hardly any wait and not a lot of traffic.




Did I mention yet, we are really enjoying the road and the sights!




More in next post.

[DK Custom Products]

Day 12 Continued-


Right about now I'm wishing the coast was another couple hundred miles of these curves, hills and sights!






Just WOW!






Kicking back for a few minutes at a "traffic-free" construction zone.





Back on our way...






...299 is now one of my favorite roads! Just the right mix of sweepers, sharp curves, hills, fantastic scenery, and hardly any traffic!!!






We reached the coast! From Weaverville until we crossed over the last mountain it has been in the mid 70's. By the time we got to the 101 it had dropped to the low 50's.

Heated jacket liners sure are nice!





The Pacific Ocean!






Crossing over a lagoon, and heading into some very low laying cloud cover.






This looks interesting...another little exploration coming up.






Just beautiful!





There is a lot more of Day 12 coming tomorrow.

Kevin

[Mrmri]

Really enjoyed the pictures. Thank you!

[consitter]

We are still on the 299.

See?? Told ya.....


You Californian, you!!

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Another fantastic ride report ... keep up the good work Kevin.

[Gorilla]

Love it Kevin and Mary be safe

[DK Custom Products]

Day 12 - Continued.


So we get to the dry lagoon, and that is what it is.






But then on the beach we walk around some. It is foggy, but still quite a sight. This "piece" of driftwood....






...is the biggest I've ever seen! Must have been a crazy big tree!






Back on the 101, entering the Redwoods....enjoying the views and the ride.






We came up behind this Ultra pulling a Lee-SureLite Pop-up Tent trailer.





It was nice to po-dunk along behind them and the truck for awhile, but the TG (or me?) likes to go faster thru the curves.

Passing over Klamath River...every now and then we hit spots with no fog/overcast.






There were so many great pics from today....






...and so much good riding...







...and breath-taking beauty....






...it boggles the mind everytime we ride the NorCal coast.






Day 12 concluded in next post.

[DblTrbl]

what are you and Mary using for a camera? My friend took her Kodak with us to Nova Scotia and it crapped out on the 2nd picture. I'm trying to figure out if I want a gopro or a still camera.
Yours takes very nice pictures while riding.... could be what I'm looking for.

[DK Custom Products]

Final Post for Day 12 -


Entering Oregon via the coastal route. Previously we have always turned a bit east and traveled thru some of the mountains, like Crater Lake. This time we've decided to check out some of the Oregon coast.







Hey, a fellow triker! Those are index fingers, not "the" finger.






We saw a turn-off for some tide-pools, pulled in, locked everything up and took this pic of Mary (I know it's sorta foggy/blurry, but I really like this pic of her ) before starting the 1/2 mile walk down to the...





...Tide-pools. We did not see any critters...






...but we enjoyed exploring around...






...checking out the deserted beach. (If you click on any of the pics, they should all be bigger...but for sure click on this one, it is a panoramic shot that Mary took)






Back on the TG, just a bit down the road, we stopped to get a pic of this amazing sight!





Back rolling now. We decided to go to Gold Beach, OR. Used the POI on the TG to find a motel. Got a room with a balcony, looking out over the coast.





After unloading, we went to the local grocery store. Lo and behold, right across the street is the Backwoods Home Magazine office. (this is a mag we subscribe to, and read each issue) They were closed, we will be stopping there tomorrow.


After getting back to the motel, we got a couple of pics, from the balcony, of the lighthouse with...




the sun setting.





Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Been short on time these last few days. Should be back on track tomorrow.

Kevin