Tour De Twisted, wait until THE END

[TwistedGRAY]

I rode up to Ben Lomond area to meet Aaron for our Tour. We left sometime around 630am Thursday, 24th for Ferndale area.

We tried to recruit some riders, but seemed like an empty lot.


A small amount of slabbing was involved on the first day


But the rest was corner carving happiness


A short break along Highway 1 (around Stinson Beach area)


How would you like to run into this tree?


I was going to climb it to get a better view; however, the branches don't begin until a couple dozen feet up


Found decent parking on Avenue of the Giants.
*Sorry for the blur, but wanted to show the size of these trees*


Thursday Mass anyone? Yes, a church...


Had to make some small road changes


Little People

[TwistedGRAY]

Thank God for Honeydew gas station, if you call it that. I wrote or misread some mileage information and Aaron would have ran out of gas had we not made it here with 5 minutes to spare, until they closed.


So 9 miles on Matolle Rd turned into nearly 50 miles on Matolle Rd. It was worth it!

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Day 1 ended in Eureka at a Motel 6


In that case...


End, Day 1
431 Miles

[TwistedGRAY]

Day 2 was to be Redwood National Park and then heading to the Crater Lake area. Well, plans changed and I needed to get a rear tire, so we were still going to do Redwood NP anyways. However, we planned to head to Ashford, Oregon via I-5 and get a rear tire and double back to Dead Indian Memorial Rd. From there we were going to head over to Klamath Falls and stay the night rather then Prospect, Oregon.

Even on Day 2 we tried to recruit some riders; however, we found nothing but another empty lot


The park sign though a bit sooner then expected; we still needed to find Bald Hills Road.


Twas a bit foggy...


Bald Hills Road, the smooth portion


Nice view from a vista point


Then it became...less smooth (for 20ish miles)
However, the smell of the flowers made it a perfect road

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AHHHH pavement again!

[TwistedGRAY]

Then we found the northern California version of Rossi's Driveway


But right after that we found, what I think is one of California's BEST Highway, SR-96


This road runs for about 125 miles along Klamath River


If you're having a bad day, visit Happy Camp...or if you need gas!


Someone called the Sheriff and complained about some squids.

So, we denied everything!


Aaron had no idea we were going to Germany on this ride, what a surprise.


So we slabbed it up Interstate 5 to Ashford, Oregon.


Then we doubled BACK down Interstate 5 to Dead Indian Memorial Rd

[TwistedGRAY]

Heading to the hotel in Klamath Falls, we ran into a breeding season

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Dropped our stuff off in Klamath Falls and decided that we had enough time to go ahead and run up to Crater Lake National Park and come back and stay in Klamath Falls. This was to allow us to sleep in the next day, Day 3.


Was a bit wet


Wizard Island


Aaron reflecting on stuff


Trying to get a better picture

[TwistedGRAY]

Panooooooooramic shot SCROLL >>>>


The drifts are this deep, and it's MAY!


You're lying...then again...maybe not


After soaking in the rewards of Crater Lake National Park, we headed back at sundown. This is by far the HIGHLIGHT of the whole trip. If you have a chance to go there, DO!

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End of Day 2
455 Miles

[TwistedGRAY]

Day 3 we decided to go from Klamath Falls and head into Lava Beds National Monument and also Lava Beds National Park. From the first day, we had to improvise on directions so I had some overtime to put in to make it a worthwhile day.

So, we headed south to Lava Beds National Monument


Hill Road runs right through the park

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Lava Beds is famous for having caves everywhere so we stopped to check out Merrill Cave


From there we were to take some roads that led us high into the elevation and then over to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Multi-purpose sign


This is not a mirage, the road is red...Pittville Road


Then we ran into a problem, more dirt/gravel roads. Aaron opted to double back and head around the loop to where Primary Route 22 met SR-89. However, I wanted to be a bit adventurous.

I was; however, someone was a bit confusing with the signs and my 28 miles turned into about 50 miles to pavement and another 15-20 to the meeting spot. Fun roads though...


We met along SR-89 about an hour and a half later and headed to Lassen Volcanic National Park


Another snowy park ride with elevation over 6000 feet (mountain over 10000ft)

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[TwistedGRAY]

SR-89 is a HOOT!

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At the top, Visitor's Center


Pannnnnoooooooramic Scroll >>>>


SR-89 heading south from the park


Toward the end you get a wiff of putrid sulpher


From there we flew down another FAVORITE road, SR-32. I forget how long we were on that but we headed to Schott Road and then planned to stay in Oroville.

We found a shooting range?


Heading on Schott Road was fun because it went along the mountain's ridge


However, we doubled back to SR-32 and headed to Chico because it was MILES and MILES of this crap (gravel)


Chico was $100 a night! Screw that, we took a jaunt West to Orland and ran into this whole-n-the-wall for $50 a night.


End of Day 3
354.5 Miles

[TwistedGRAY]

At this point we had covered 4 of the days already. So, we weighed the option of heading to Yosemite and decided that would be a zoo of tourists so we would make day 4 our last day. However, we stayed in the middle of nowhere. We could head to the coast and head back the same way we came the first day, but I convinced Aaron that we shouldn't ride the same roads twice. So, we opted to rely on my mapping skills.

I decided to go through Jackson, on foot, to try and find a belated Mother's Day present, no luck!


When I met back up with Aaron, at Subway, I found his bike behind bars!


I figured I need to come bail him out


Sutter Creek on SR-49, we happened to pass Tyler's group through SR-49 that day

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[TwistedGRAY]

My mapping ran us into this great road!


Then we got some rolling hills


Then Aaron was too Cool to hang around for the last leg. He split off, slabbing it home; whereas, I decided to end the day the correct way...


So, I ran over DPC to the junction where there was a MC down. He was fine though...


Headed up to the Observatory


And then back down to the other side


The end of a long journey!



439 Miles

[TwistedGRAY]

Some pictures that I took that didn't fit into the story, persay...

Sums up the trip: Tight turn, Lava rocks, Redwoods, Snow, and Mountains


Thomas the Tank Engine


Too many options


At Lassen Volcanic National Park


Some cool clouds


Crater Lake shots

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Some resemblance, both along Highway 1

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Slow down?



THE END!

[aszrael1266]

Great pictures. Looks like it was an awesome trip.

[Map8]

Great report.

[Hoologan]

Awesome trip! I was up in the Eureka HWY36/HWY299 region myself this weekend. Awesome roads up there!

Great photos too, I love the one of the overturned bike with the curvy road sign in the background. The railroad track one was sweet too.

[Hoologan]

Haha, my neck of the woods! I pwn that road, you know, LOL.

Originally posted by TwistedGRAY