The trip plan was to take a leisurely 3 weeks to motorcycle tour and visit my son in Palo Alto CA and to visit friends in northern California, Oregon and Washington. I had allocated May 14 through June 6 for the trip, but I spent the first day finishing some exterior painting on the house so I didn't get started until May 15.

Sunday, May 15, 1999, 583 miles Denver CO to Delta UT

My initial objective was to take US50 west across Nevada, but I wanted to avoid Salt Lake City (all their freeways are under construction) and I wanted to avoid I70. This resulted in taking US40 through Colorado and into Utah where I took many different roads to angle southwest to pick up US50 at Delta. I left Denver at 6:30 am under cloudy skies and 42 degrees. I turned on my electric vest after 5 miles into the foothills on I70/US40 heading west and kept it on the rest of the day. Sunshine broke through intermittently as I got up into the mountains, which were solid white from recent late spring snowstorms. Frequently low clouds obscured the lower parts of the mountains with the white tops rising mystically from the clouds - Colorado at its most spectacular. The roads were occasionally damp from recent showers. Berthoud Pass was a treat this early on a Sunday morning with no traffic - especially the north side, which has abundant tight and sweeping turns. Kremmling to the base of Rabbit Ears Pass is also an excellent stretch of sweeping turns. The park in Maybell offered a snack stop opportunity. This park is a good fee camping spot with lush grass for tents and restrooms with a shower. At Duchesne UT I turned south on US191 which goes up a narrow valley and over a saddle. I took the cutoff on the south side, which comes out on US6 just south of Colton and then turned south on SR96 just north of Colton. As I started down SR96 a cold wind blowing across Scofield Reservoir was beating at my right side and snow was starting to appear along the road. SR264 over to SR31 from Scofield to Fairview is a steep, twisty mountain road and on this day it was socked in and snowing big wet flakes. The pavement was only wet but there was solid snow right up to the edge of the road. SR31 took me to US89 south to SR116 west to SR132 west. This area is a fertile valley with lots of vegetable fields. I saw several large barns with open ends that were filled with white fluff which I later discerned from billboards that they were turkeys. After a fast food dinner in Nephi I cruised west on SR132 to SR125 south and west through verdant fields arriving at 6:30 pm in Delta where I checked into a $20 motel. A leisurely walk through a residential area at dusk was followed by a short stint in front of the TV before I was overcome by sleep.

Monday, May 16, 1999, 549 miles Delta UT to Woodfords CA

Breakfast, a bath for the bike at the car wash and a fill up at the gas station preceeded my 9:30 am departure under clear skies. US50 west leads into the high desert. I carry camping gear and am always looking for good places to camp. When I came to the Confusion Range of mountains on the western edge of Utah, I wished I had driven on the day before instead of stopping in Delta because of the excellent camping opportunities. There wasn't much on the eastern part of the range, but just after I started down I noticed many dirt roads to both the left and the right, which would have been ideal to set up a camp under the stars away from the highway. I will keep it in mind for the next trip. After gas and a snack in Ely I continued west through Eureka and Austin. The top half of the many north-south mountain ranges that US50 skirts were snow-covered and made an impressive backdrop to the wide barren valleys between them. Up to this point I had been traveling at moderate speeds, but now I was cruising at 85 and may also have been bucking a headwind. I skipped refueling in Austin as I only had about 160 miles on this tank and by a rough calculation from yesterday it seemed that I could conservatively get 300 miles on a tank - meaning I could easily make it into Fallon if I needed to. But I started to worry as I watched the gas gauge plunge after leaving Austin. When the gauge was right at the bottom end of the empty range the engine quit. I had gone 208 miles on this tank. I turned the petcock briefly to prime and then to reserve and the engine would not start. I found that I had to leave it on prime for 20 seconds or more before I could restart the engine. I continued on believing that I had less than 50 miles left. The best possibility for refueling was 15 miles away at the town of Cold Springs. When I arrived there, I was relieved by the "gas" sign but disappointed to see that they were closed. I drove on contemplating what gyrations I would go through when the engine stopped again. 15 miles later at the intersection of US50 and SR361 there is a bar with one rusty gas pump sitting out front in the dirt and gravel. I eagerly pumped three gallons which at $2.00 a gallon, was a bargain. The day seemed to slip away after that, aided by a side trip to Virginia City which was cool and largely deserted under late cloudy skies. By 7:30 pm I was ready to stop but I turned south on US395 to Minden to avoid the high priced motels in Carson City. My target for tomorrow was SR88, which was recommended by a friend as an excellent motorcycle road. When I reached Minden I veered off on 88 without ever seeing any motels near Minden or on 88 out of Minden. When I got to Woodfords CA it was already dusk and getting cool, and the road was heading up into the Sierras. I had plenty of gas, so I could drive for a while, but I didn't want to miss the upcoming scenery by driving at night. I pulled over and put on extra clothes and continued on. Within a mile after suiting up I noticed a campground and then I started noticing pull outs along the road next to a stream. I explored two such pull outs, and took the second one, which was unoccupied. I quickly set up camp and within half an hour I was snuggled in my sleeping bag in my tent listening to the babbling stream and the occasional vehicle on the road. It was 9:30 pm.

Tuesday, May 17, 1999, 150 miles Woodfords CA to Galt CA

After 9 hours in the sleeping bag and a half hour to break camp I was rolling west on SR88 at 7:00 am. The skies were clear but the air was cold and getting colder as I went up and over the Sierra's. As I ascended, comfortably warmed by my electric vest and electric gloves, increasing amounts of snow lay along side the road so that eventually the road was the only area clear of snow. SR88 has spectacular mountain scenery and continuous curves for 56 miles from Woodfords to Pioneer. At this point I was heading for Sacramento to visit a school buddy from my University of Washington days in Seattle. After Pine Grove and a few false starts and double backs I was traveling west on SR16 into Sacramento and the heat. I enjoyed the afternoon with my buddy talking over old times. After a Mexican dinner I was heading south on SR99 with the sun setting and the air getting cool. I pulled off at the first hint of a motel and was busily scattering gear around the room by 9:00 pm.

Wednesday, May 18, 1999, 182 miles Galt CA to Palo Alto CA

By 7:45 am I was proceeding south on SR99 under clear skies and warm air heading for Palo Alto to visit my son in his last few weeks of graduate school. I hoped to avoid as much city traffic as possible by going to the south of most of the bay area. I cut over to I5 at Stockton and turned west on SR130 for 60 miles of twisty, deserted road with an intermediate stop at the Lick Observatory. It was getting quite warm so the walk inside the observatory was pleasant since the interior is kept at the nighttime air temperature to minimize distortion in the mirrors. The road down into San Jose from the observatory was very steep - including the Quimby Road cut off to Hillsdale. The Capital Expressway took me to I880 south to Los Gatos where I caught SR9 to Saratoga. The traffic in San Jose was terrible and made even worse by the heat. At Saratoga I left the traffic behind and took the curvy SR9 up to SR35 (Skyline Blvd) north into a fog bank that was sitting on the crest of the mountains. A short foggy jaunt over to Page Mill Rd dropped me down into the sunshine and Palo Alto where I stayed until Sunday.

Sunday, May 23, 1999, 257 miles Palo Alto CA to Cloverdale CA

At 7:45 am I was cruising north on SR1 under clear skies through San Francisco to US101 across the Golden Gate Bridge exiting on SR1 for a run up the coast. After backtracking from Mill Valley due to a missed turn the road became a continuous series of tight curves down to and along the coast. I was heading for Cloverdale to visit a buddy. My map showed a road from Stewarts Point to Geyserville, which would be a interesting shortcut to Cloverdale. I turned east on an unmarked narrow paved road out of Stewarts point that rose steeply through giant redwoods and intense vegetation. When the sharp elevation rise diminished, the road twisted and undulated like a roller coaster. After an hour of this I came to a fork in which the right fork said "Jenner, 30 miles" - which is south along the coast. I took the left fork to a destination not listed on my map (which I can't remember). I had plenty of gas, so that I could have turned around but I still thought that I could find my way to Geyserville. I passed a total of 3 cars going the other way during this entire escapade. I did pass a couple of guys of in a field preparing a new vineyard. I should have stopped and asked them for directions, but that would be admitting that I was not omniscient. After another hour of roller coastering over sometimes pavement, sometimes what used to be pavement, I arrived in the town of Cazadero, which is south of where I started and not very far from the coast. Finally I knew where I was and it was not where I wanted to be. To get to Cloverdale I headed south to SR116 east to Santa Rosa where I caught US101 north. I arrived at my buddy's place at 5:30 pm where I found him loading up his truck to head south to Mill Valley where he stays during the week. We chatted for half an hour and he invited me to spend the night at his place as he headed out.

Monday, May 24, 1999, 391 miles Cloverdale CA to Tulelake CA

After a leisurely morning of raiding my buddy's kitchen for breakfast and watching TV I was heading north on US101 for Bend OR to see an old friend. At Hopeland SR175 took me east to SR29 south around Clear Lake to SR53 north to SR20 east to I5 north where it started getting hot. At Red Bluff I exited on SR39 east intending to swing through Lassen Volcanic National Park. Since a sign advised that the road through the park was not yet open I backtracked to I5 and continued on to Redding where I took SR299 east. This is a generally flat and straight road that passes through big valleys with intensive agriculture and massive irrigation. I turned north on SR139 and approached Tulelake at 8:30 pm. I checked into a lonely motel on the just southeast of town as the only guest for the evening. After washed down the bike with a spare bucket that they loaned me, I watched a few minutes of TV and was out for the night.

Tuesday, May 25, 1999, 373 miles Tulelake CA to Hillsboro OR

I proceeded north on SR139/SR39 to Kalamath Falls and then north on US97 to SR62. I intended to swing through Crater lake National Park. At Fort Kalamath, a sign advised that the northern section of the road through the park was not yet open. I took the cutoff back to US97 and cruised on into Bend. The lady at my friend's house said that she had moved to Portland. That was my next stop anyway, so I continued north on US20 and SR22 to Salem where I took I5 into Portland. The cool run over the Cascade Mountains had lots of sweepers and twisties with an occasional view of the cone shaped Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson which were completely snow covered. I stayed with my buddy in Hillsboro for 2 nights and got to visit with friend from Bend - now Tualatin, a suburb of Portland.

Thursday, May 27, 1999 386 miles Hillsboro OR to Sequim WA

Yet again clear skies prevailed while proceeding west on US 26. The flat fields turned to rolling hills with mixed forest and fields and then turned to solid forest. Some of the fields were a solid yellow from Scotch broom. US101 took me across the mouth of the Columbia River at Astoria where I took the SR401 cutoff to bypass Long Beach. This section of US101 was not particularly interesting to me except that I could see in the distance the peaks of the Olympic Mountains. Also, for each section of clear cut and replanted trees along the road they had a sign telling when it was cut and replanted. The skies were starting to cloud over and it was getting cooler as I approached Olympic National Park. I stopped at Beach 2 just after entering the park and walked over the trail through the trees and over the driftwood to the beach where a cold wind was blowing in. I also did the 28 mile drive into the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center ($5 charge) and I appreciated the fact that it was not raining. The moss-covered trees indicated that rain is not a stranger here. After retracing my route back to US101 it continued to get cooler as I proceeded on around the peninsula. The skies started clearing during the last hour just as I approached Lake Crescent. The road around the lake was enjoyable with continuous curves and the great view enhanced by the long shadows of the end of the day. I pulled in to Sequim (pronounced sqim) at 8:00 pm and checked into a motel. I called a real estate guy in Sequim that I had met playing racquetball 4 years ago while I lived in Las Cruces, NM. He was there doing a 1 month house exchange with some NM folks who were checking out Sequim. He returned my call and we made a date for breakfast.

Friday, May 28, 1999 121 miles Sequim WA to Monroe WA

I started out the morning with a great breakfast and a tour of the town with my friend. I left town at 10:40 am under clear skies and continued east on US101 to SR104 to SR3 to SR305 to Winslow where I caught the ferry that goes to downtown Seattle. The closer I got to the ferries, the more the traffic was building up coming the other way, as lots of people were getting a jump on the Memorial Day weekend. I was glad to be heading into Seattle. The ferry lets the motorcycles go on first so that they can park in a space that a car wouldn't have been able to use. When I exited the ferry into downtown Seattle, I was totally put off by the traffic, the construction and the heat. After 20 minutes of circling around in traffic I pulled into a gas station and tried to call my 2 Seattle friends that I wanted to visit. I reached the one on Mercer Island, so I jumped on I5 to I90 and was on Mercer Island in just a few minutes. Finding my friend was another matter, but persistence prevailed and I was in her apartment by 3:00 pm. We chatted for a couple of hours and I called my other friend and made a dinner date. So I was off again into the bowels of Seattle. After a great dinner I headed east across the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge and picked up I405 to Bothell where I took SR522 into Monroe. It was getting dark and I was looking for a motel or a camping spot. There was a vacancy in Monroe, but it looked a little high class for me, so I headed west in the dark on US2 hoping to find a motel or camping spot on the way to Stevens Pass. About 6 miles east of Monroe the traffic jammed up and became stop and go. At first I thought it might be an accident but I never saw any flashing lights so evidently it was just the Memorial Day exodus. After 10 minutes of that, I turned around and went back to Monroe and checked into the motel. This was the worst lodging of the whole trip - $55 for a nice room that turned out to be next to a railroad track near a crossing where the trains blow their whistle. The walls would shake when the train rumbled by. The only benefit was that I was settled in by 9:00 pm.

Saturday, May 29, 1999 442 miles Monroe WA to Lowell ID

I got an early 6:00 am start as I wanted to do US2 over Stevens Pass with minimal traffic. It was a cool ride under clear skies with occasional patches of fog lower down and mountain scenery higher up. I stopped for breakfast in Wenatchee and then stopped at a grassy park along the Columbia River just outside East Wenatchee to enjoy the scenery. Since my next objective was Lewiston ID I took SR28 to Ephrata, SR282 to SR17 to SR260 to SR261 with a stop at Scooteney Reservoir to snack and rest. The intersection of SR260 and SR261 marks the start of great motorcycling roads that continued until Missoula MT. SR261 to US12 started out in hill country with lots of up and downs and curves and gradually progressed into bigger hills and then mountains on the other side of Lewiston. I stopped at the Wild Goose campground just west of Lowell ID where I donated $6 for a camping site. I arrived at 6:30 pm and intended to do some hiking after setting up my camp. However, every place I wanted to walk was guarded by poison ivy, so I just read my book till it got too dark and then turned in.

Sunday, May 30, 1999 528 miles Lowell ID to Pocatello ID

At 6:00 am under clear skies I proceeded east on US 12 - one of the finest sections of motorcycle road anywhere. This road follows the Lochsa River, so the road is perfectly flat, but very curvy with a medium smooth surface. From where I camped, I had 117 miles of continuous curves. At this time on a Sunday morning, the traffic was minimal so I had the opportunity to take all these curves just as fast as I wanted. Soon the skies started to cloud up and by the time I crested Lolo Pass, it was starting to sprinkle. At Lolo Hot Springs, a soft rain was falling which was the first rain of the trip with the exception of the mountain pass in Utah. I took US93 into Missoula and then I90 south to Drummond where I turned south on SR1. The rain was intermittent at this point but still a solid cloud cover. This road gains a lot of elevation as it approaches Anaconda, which meant on this day that it was getting colder. Just past Anaconda, I turned south onto Deer Lodge county 274. This road is paved, but just barely. The road started to gain even more elevation and it was still getting colder so I plugged in my electric vest. It was snowing lightly now, but no accumulation on the road - yet. Occasionally I would pass a car coming the other way with some snow on the roof. I was beginning to have my doubts about this road. Within 15 miles after starting down this road, slush was accumulating on the road. I don't know how much farther I had to go to reach the top, but I had gone far enough by that time, so I turned around and headed back down. This moment defined the end of the trip. I had intended to check out the hot springs in Jackson further south on county 278, and generally take a few more days exploring these back roads. But the weather took the fun out of it. I returned to I5 and followed it down to Pocatello, arriving at 5:30 pm. The run down was exciting enough with a strong cold cross wind and intermittent rain. The Pocatello Super 8 with Perkins next door provided a good haven from the storm.

Monday, May 13, 1999 658 miles Pocatello ID to Denver CO

I departed Pocatello at 7:30 am heading for Denver. I had no particular expectations whether I would make it home in one day or not. I took I5 south to US30 east through Lava Hot Springs - a really neat little town with a superb hot springs. I didn't stop this time but I have on a previous trip and I can recommend this town as an outstanding layover spot. The cold wind, clouds and occasional sprinkles continued as I proceeded along US30 into Wyoming. Just before I got to Kemmerer, I took a short side trip to Fossil Butte National Monument. The solid cloud cover and cold wind made this remote park seem even more desolate. The site is beautiful in its own way but there are no campgrounds and only one trail that was closed because of all the recent rain. I felt sorry for the park rangers there who have been banished to the hinterlands. I proceeded east to the Kemmerer bypass to US189 south to WY412 south to Mountain View to WY414 south. By this time there were some breaks in the clouds and the traffic going the other way exiting the Memorial Day weekend at Flaming gorge Reservoir was fairly heavy. SR44 from Manila to US191 is nothing short of magnificent with dramatic cliffs and perfect sweeping curves, and for some strange reason I had it all to myself! And US191 south to Vernal is almost as good as the final set of S curves descending into Vernal are some of the best. Proceeding east out of Vernal on US 40 the skies were still partially clear, but the road was occasionally wet from recent rain. I was following the eastward-moving storm, which I caught just as I was entering Steamboat Springs where I stopped for dinner. I then suited up with the electric vest plugged in and my full rain gear on and headed out for the final leg at 6:30 pm. The skies socked in again as I ascended Rabbit Ears Pass. The road was wet as the rain had just moved through ahead of me. The road was generally dry after descending the other side and once again I enjoyed the nice curves all the way to Kremmling. There I picked up SR9 south into Silverthorne where rain was my constant companion. As I turned east on I70 at Silverthorne at 7:30 pm it was raining heavily. Within a mile of ascending toward Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel the rain turned to large wet snow flakes and my helmet visor promptly fogged up. Also my windshield and all road signs were completely plastered with snow. The only thing I could see were the tail lights of the car in front of me. It took 2 miles before I developed the remedy of raising my visor slightly and running 2 fingers along the bottom edge - one on the inside the shield and one on the outside. Occasionally I would wipe off the top of the windshield until it wouldn't wipe anymore because it was frozen. Fortunately the snow was melting on the highway. When I emerged from the east end of the tunnel the snow resumed. Within half a mile the snow turned to sleet which was quite painful on my face so I had to close the visor, but by this time the fogging of the visor was manageable. Gradually the sleet turned to rain and then it stopped altogether. I arrived home at 8:30 pm exhausted.

Touring Strategies Attempted and Results

Equipment

Packing

-- Pete Skaates, Littleton Colorado