Ernst Goes Camping in the Great Smokies

[melville]

Not those Great Smokies! Just a three day tour around the fires we've got going here on the west coast. Muriel and I sent the boys East on an airplane to see all the grandparents. We stayed here, on the ground. After a couple days of knocking the bottom out of each other, Muriel said, 'Why don't you take a few days out on the moto? I'll stay home and get going on Book #4.'

She didn't need to ask twice. I'd always wanted to see Crater Lake and there are many interesting roads between here and there. So here's the Day 1 plan:



Here's Ernst, loaded up for camping:



There were some geocaches to find on the way. Here are the Day 1 caches:

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC45V7V_two-madrones

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4REMK_lemon-hide-1

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2D5EN_signed-in

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2HTZX_tree-grass

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2N ... nal-forest

Beyond the fun of geocaching, they make a good break from riding every once in a bit.

It was a smoky day, particularly as I went inland and gained elevation. The sun was just a wee red dot:



Until I was well north of Weitchpec. Then things cleared up a bit. I got to Happy Camp and took a left onto the Greyback road which would get me to Oregon. The road is maintained over its length by three entities. The local CA authorities for the first half of the CA miles, the US Forest Service to the Oregon border, and then the local OR authorities on the other side. The USFS does not particularly mark the road with any driving advisory signage. This is the usual thing with USFS roads, but there is a left turn near the border that's a lot sharper than it looks. I ended up standing the bike up, nailing the brakes and having a wee tip over in the gravel trap. I was feeling quite sheepish, but in inventorying my bike and checking the ground, I found my bike was only a bit dusty. But the gravel was littered with Other People's Motorcycle Parts! Footpeg rubbers, ends of grips, all that stuff that flies off during an incident. Here's a sample:



Here is that same corner when the WRC ran on that road:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiIYEmpWaaQ

The bike uprighted and the mirrors straightened, I continued on. More to come.

The usual 'right click on the pic to see the whole thing' applies if things appear cropped out. Enjoy!

[melville]

Continuing! I eventually crossed the border:



And continued on to Cave Junction, where the very professional gas attendant let me run the filling operation. 199 in Oregon is not nearly as nice as the preceding roads. Lotsa traffic, straightish, and no shade. I got to the old 99 and took that toward Medford and a bit past, to Hansen's:



It was an interesting stop--a bike shop run by adults, for adults. I bought a pair of gloves for the non-coastal portion of the trip. Otherwise, I had just a pair of winterish gloves which are great where it's 58 and foggy all the time but are a bit much in 90 degree sun. The guys at Hansen's recommended a lunch stop just a little ways down the road:



Crashing always makes me hungry. A Pollo burrito and a coupla fish tacos:





Feeling much better, it was onward to Crater Lake. Had my only mechanical of the trip:



The screws backed out, but so long as the shield was in the bracket they were captive. 'Twas a quick fix at the side of the road.

Back on the Great Smoky theme, the smoke did get a lot thicker as I climbed out of Medford and I was concerned for conditions near the park. Thankfully, things cleared up dramatically about 20 miles from the park. Leaving off here for now.

[ME 109]

Good stuff Melville.

Looks like Aus in summer with the smoke haze.

[Zombie Master]

Must get back down there. Thanx for posting!

[melville]

Continuing on--Hwy 62 grows more pleasant as the commuters pull off and only the tourist traffic is left. I caught up to a couple riders from Colorado who were stuck behind some of that tourist traffic. We exchanged pleasantries while waiting for the flagger at some road work. They were on their way back to Colorado, having come up the coast from where I'd started. Eventually, I made it to the park where I found that all the camping and lodging was reserved and sold out. Gas is available in the park, but it's 87 octane only. Probably no big deal in the park itself as the elevation is all well over 5000' even if you usually use premium fuel. I paid my park fee so I'd be good to go in the morning and hustled about 15 miles back down Hwy 62 to Farewell Bend campground. A pleasant place, with plenty of space available at 6pm.

Got all set up:



And then took a walk around. There were some people running generators:



But no one was obnoxiously loud, nor did anyone run them after dark. Talked to the Tesla guy--he was a classic Early Adopter. I was unable to cadge a test drive, though. I kinda want one because they look so darn good.

Here's what's going on with Farewell Bend--the Rogue River has dug itself a channel over the millennia:





That's about five feet wide. Water is coldish and running fast.

For Father's Day, after I'd teased the boys a week before about not being able to keep up with me even though I'm Short, Old, and Fat, the boys bought me a FitBit to deal with the Fat bit of it. Apparently, the great dividing line between the fit and the not is 10,000 steps per day. I've found that between walking the dog in the morning and whatever project or other activity I have during the day, that 10K steps is my baseline. I was happy to find that the FitBit registers riding the moto as activity--here's the Day 1 total:



So if your well meaning loved ones got you an activity tracker for whatever reason, be sure to wear it whilst on the moto.

[Zombie Master]

I hate when they run generators when you are tenting. NFG. Whey don't they just stay home if they didn't want to camp?

[Duane Ausherman]

Great report. We have two huge fires near my favorite hot springs resort, but the fire is moving away, not towards it. I was there only one hour when the Rocky fire started. I was only gone a day when the Jerusalem fire started up, even closer to the resort.

[bbelk]

I hate when they run generators when you are tenting. NFG. Whey don't they just stay home if they didn't want to camp?

Right. If you can't rough it - why go camping.

[bbelk]

I shouldn't distract from Melville's excellent post. Thanks - I enjoyed that a lot.

[melville]

I shouldn't distract from Melville's excellent post. Thanks - I enjoyed that a lot.

Not to worry--you and Ms. bbelk are somewhat our heroes. Here's our next project: