The scent of fall: decaying leaves, camp fires. The sighting of a black bear, the deep resonance of a sporting twin under power, getting a set of corners just right and hanging off a bit for style; these are a few of the memories that will sustain me over the next few months when the days are cold and dark. In a few weeks the rains will come. The leaves are already changing. Combine this with traffic and the result will be a slimy leaf paste that builds up in the center of the lane. Sporting moto season will be over.







So I took last Friday off and took my first overnight ride in a long time. There is just something about getting away. My Dad used to hunt, I used to hike. And here it is nearly October. Time to go.







Wednesday I looked the bike over. Tightened the chain, plugged the hole in rear tire and snapped on my new throttle widget. The Superhawk is a lot of things, but it is not a good long-distance mount. I picked up the throttle aid with hopes of curing the primary limitation to comfort: throttle hand fatigue. Previously the bike was good for about an hour before the digits started going numb. I’m pleased to say that, with the device installed, the numbness is dramatically reduced.







The only negative is that the “paddle” portion of the rest naturally rotates upward as the throttle is released which has the effect of putting your front brake hand in a somewhat unnatural position. Not a bad trade off. When you turn off the highway to run down some twisties, the unit comes off in two seconds. The best of both worlds.







Thursday afternoon raced by as I crammed to get my work done. Later than I hoped, but finally, I am on my way. Detroit is my first destination. Never been there. The road is reputed to be a slice of heaven and I’m not disappointed. Good fun to be had while winding through the forest and following the river. The air is clear. The Honda running well. I top off in Detroit and head south on 22. A bigger road, but smooth and curvy. As I turn to head west on 20 the sun will be setting soon. I stop for dinner in Sweet Home at a local Mexican place. Good food, good service.







The lighting on the VTR is adequate. I had my tinted faceshield on, so with the high beam on I could maintain a reasonable pace. In the curves I would flip the shield up and hope that no kamikaze bugs smacked me in the face. (Note to self, bring clear shield next time.) Anyway. If you can find a motorist to follow, it’s really nice to have his lights illuminate the road ahead and just follow his tail lamps. Much easier.

So it was that, with a full belly and a tired body, I chose to “slab” it the balance of the day’s trip to my hotel. In my haste to depart, I forgot my moto alarm. This left me no choice but to put my baby in a secure location.






On the road at 6:00, I asked the desk clerk and the filling station attendant about my proposed route for the day. Surprisingly neither were motorcycle enthusiasts. As a result I got strange looks when I traced a small, squiggly line on my Mapquest print out that ran through the forest. Both respondents indicated that they “always take the highway to Crater Lake.” Grr. Decisions, decisions. I took the highway. It was cold and boring. “Dang, I should have stayed with my plan.” I thought to myself. And then consoled myself that I was going to see a beautiful National Park and had a full day of riding ahead of me.

The sun was coming up as I turned east on the secondary highway that would take me to the lake. Here at least the scenery improved, though the road was still a bit lame. Here is also where the smoke from the forest fire really made itself apparent. If you ignored the scent, it looked like a morning fog in places. At the gate, the ranger advised me that the visibility is limited. That’s OK, I’m just doing reconnaissance for a family vacation.











The lake is neat. Being at 6000 feet, the park roads are lined with 20’ poles to guide the snow plows. Beautiful country. I’d love to spend a few weeks hiking, biking and canoeing in this area.

 

Plan is to have pizza with the family at 5:30. Time to go. East to 97 then north. But this is more interstate and my heart’s not in it. I stop and pick up a map to reevaluate my plan. I find that, if I cut diagonally northwest for about 50 miles, I could take one of those little paved forest roads, like I abandoned that morning, back up to the fun road I had ridden the night before. Lunch in Oakridge at 11:30. The “Hotshot” teams have a camp across the street. Very smoky. I do a little riding around and find “North Fork” road that will run me to 126. The route is awesome. Complete with covered bridge, old growth trees, zero traffic and a black bear. Grinning ear to ear, life is good. Very good.















Back to Detroit, I top the tank again at the only station in town, down a bottle of water with a home-made blue berry bar and check the GPS. According to Garmin I should arrive home at 4:45. Perfect. Feeling somewhat refreshed, I clip off the throttle rest and rail a few sweepers. Hanging off, letting her rev; zoom, zoom.







Over Pizza that night I let the laptop show the photos in a slide show as I regale the family with tales of my journey. Approximately 750 miles and my tire repair held.

 

awesome write up! Ive never been west and Im dying to go. Crater lake was one of my places I wanted to stop.

I suggest anyone interested in this watch Ken Burns special on the national parks. Its absolutly fantastic.

Apparently Crater Lake is the clearest water in the USA and possibly more. You can view an 8" disk 140 foot underwater.

looking forward to more.

 

Nice ride, great report. It's so nice to go out on solo trips.

 

Awesome!! Starting out with all the descriptions made me feel as if I were back in Gatlinburg Smoky Mountains(which I miss already and have only been away 2 1/2 months) The fall smells colorful leaves and beautiful mountain roads. Didn't think I would miss it as much as I do but thankfully it's only 250 miles away and will make for a good day trip here soon no dount. Guess it would only be right to run "The Dragon" a couple times while I'm there for ole times sake.

Good write up and yes fellows the days of fall are def. upon us. In the 40's at might and 70's during day. Won't be long b4 the white stuff starts falling.

 

nice right up, I was out that way earlier this summer, Crater Lake is amazing!

 

I really envy you west coast guys. I have been to the area and it is amazing. We just don't have that stuff on the east coast. Absolutely amazing. Great report! Keep em coming.

 

I grew up in Michigan. Very flat. Love the PNW.

 

Excellent write up. You should reply to that "writers wanted" post. I once took off on my usual 100 mile loop full of twisties with the intention of doing a similar post w/ pictures. After stopping @ the first 2 turns for pics, I wondered why in the hell aren't I blasting through these wonderful roads. I arrived home w/ 2 pics on the camera.

Thanks for sharing.

 

That is so true. Several spots I zipped by, did a U-turn and snapped the shot. Others I just kept on rolling.

 

Beautiful pics! I'd do way more road trips if I could see sights like that instead of desert and dirt,
________
NEW MEXICO MEDICAL MARIJUANA

 

Man, great pics. Thanks for sharing them.

 

That is really cool; I used to live 30 minutes from Crater Lake. I would “try very hard” to obey the speed limit through there. In fact; the long straight stretch before you get into Prospect is where I found out that my bike could do *** mph. I absolutely love Oregon and I have traveled far and wide…