Motorcycle camping: Salt Point

Motorcycle camping: Salt Point State Park

We loaded up the motorcycle last weekend for an overnight trip to Salt Point State Park. Admittedly, the motorcycle's been a bit neglected lately, especially during the rainy winter, but we've been trying to remedy that with weekend rides and camping trips.

The campground at Salt Point is rather nondescript — we've been multiple times and neither of us could remember what it looked like before we arrived. The real reason we go is for the drive. The stretch of Route 1 between Jenner and Salt Point is one of our favorite parts of California coast, with dramatic cliffs and mostly empty stretches of road. Plus it winds through a number of cute coastal towns. I left my camera at home, so I don't have photos of the drive, but I took a few last year.

Russian River in Jenner

Live music at Cafe Aquatica in Jenner

Table Top farmstand in Point Reyes Station

- Steph

Camping trip: Sonoma Coast

For our first camping trip of the summer, we took the motorcycle up the Sonoma coast and camped at Salt Point State Park.

- Steph

Weekend trip: Dry Creek Valley

Over President's Day weekend, we made a snap decision to hop on the motorcycle and head up to wine country. I booked a spot at Liberty Glen, one of the only campgrounds with sites available. It turned out to be nearly empty and beautiful, with wide open sites and views of the surrounding hills. I never would have found it if I hadn't been booking at the last minute.

We spent Sunday exploring the vineyards in Dry Creek Valley and crashed the wine club party at Truett Hurst Vineyards. Their Zinfandels were excellent and they encourage you to explore the grounds with your wine. We sipped ours while sitting by the river.

We took the scenic route home along Route 1, driving in and out of the fog. The area around northern Sonoma/Mendocino is one of my favorite parts of California, and this trip made me like it even more.

- Steph

Road trip: Crater Lake

Mount Shasta

Start from the beginning of our Oregon trip.

We woke up in Bend, where we watched the U.S. lose to Germany in the World Cup. Before hitting the road, we grabbed a pizza at the Old Mill District. Even though the road to Crater Lake is called the Cascades Lake Scenic Byway, the scenery was monotonous and not that scenic — a few lakes hidden behind trees and remnants from a fire in 2003.

Cascades Scenic Byway

The highlight of this section was the town of Chemult. Ben loves to tell the story of the time he ended up in Chemult on his motorcycle trip in 2006. He asked his waitress how to spell “Chemult” so he could locate where he was on a map. She had no idea had to spell the name of her own town.

Our destination for the day was Crater Lake, where we had planned to camp. But when we pulled up to the ranger station at the north entrance to the park, the ranger warned us that the weather was nasty up near the lake. There was still snow on the ground and the temperature was forecast to drop to 39 degrees overnight. Initially we decided to persevere but I was afraid that I’d never warm up after driving an hour in freezing rain, so we turned around and headed for Diamond Lake, a bit north of Crater Lake and at a much lower elevation. This turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trip because this is where we spent the night.

We stopped at the general store for beer, milk and firewood, then set up camp with a nice fire and ate pasta with sausage for dinner. Then we watched the sun set over the lake from our campsite. It was magical.

The next morning, we attempted the drive to Crater Lake for a second time. It was cold, rainy and foggy and there were no guard rails protecting us from the steep cliffs on either side of the road. We were very glad we hadn’t attempted it the previous night. The fog cleared a bit after lunch to give us a better view of the lake, but I still struggled to adequately capture the lake in photos.

Scroll to the right to see

At this point, we had reached the part of the trip for which we had done no planning. We had two days to travel from southern Oregon to San Francisco and we knew nothing about the roads or sights ahead of us. Route 92 featured mountains and cows and we were pleasantly surprised by Route 97, which had looked boring on a map. Even I-5 was fun.

Once we reached California, we had the chance to admire Mount Shasta (see photo above), as the views kept getting better and better as we approached. We didn’t have time to stop but want to return this summer.

The next day, Ben finally got to return to Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. We toured the brewery on our first-ever California road trip and it’s largely responsible for my appreciation of beer. Ben had been wanted to return for months, but the ride from San Francisco to the brewery on the motorcycle is unpleasant so I had been resisting making a special trip out of it. Fortunately our itinerary took us right past it. Though we both agreed that we aren’t big fans of their beers, their brewpub is a lot of fun and it seemed like a fitting last stop on our beer-themed vacation.

After that, it was a pretty miserable slog through 100-degree heat, but we didn’t care. We had just spent 16 amazing days on the road in Oregon. It’s easily one of our favorite vacations ever and one that will be tough beat in the years to come. We intend to try though.

- Steph

Road trip: Bend

Start from the beginning of our Oregon trip.

Day 12: Beacon Rock State Park to Bend, via Mt. Hood (185 miles)

Our notes for this day began with this observation: "Only 4 more days," followed by a sad face. After we returned from a somewhat lackluster Thanksgiving camping trip, we commented on how much better our Oregon trip was. It was basically the most awesome vacation ever.

At this point in the "most awesome vacation ever," we had hung out on the Oregon/Washington border for several days and were starting to make our way back to California. We had heard a lot of great things about the city of Bend, an outdoor mecca on the eastern edge of the Cascades. Plus it made geographical sense to stop here on our way to Crater Lake.

After hanging out in the vineyards, fruit farms, rivers and waterfalls of the Columbia River Valley, the ride to Bend provided a beautiful change of scenery — an arid desert, with the snow-capped Cascades hovering off in the distance.

Bend is located in the high desert, at an elevation of 3,623 feet. 

Along the way, we took a detour to the Cove Palisades State Park, with its incredible canyons and rivers. About 10 million to 12 million years ago, alternating layers of stream sediments, volcanic debris and basaltic lava flowed into a huge basin in this area, creating the “Deschutes Formation.” Over time, water erosion and volcanic activity eroded the formation, creating the canyons and vertical cliffs that exist today. [1] The Deschutes and Crooked rivers run through the park, and in 1964, Lake Billy Chinook was created by damming the Deschutes River. The lake offers 72 miles of shoreline, drawing fishermen, campers and boaters to its waters. One of the most popular activities in the park is to rent a houseboat and float through the park. We didn't have the time on this trip, but it would be fun to vacation on a boat one day.

Our picnic spot, on the left. Picturesque, right? Unfortunately lots of gnats thought so too. Provisions: fresh cherries.

We continued on to Bend, where we checked into our hotel, grabbed dinner, then drinks at one of Oregon's many breweries (10 Barrel Brewing), before ending the night in the hotel hot tub.

Day 13: Bend (0 miles)

Half the reason for stopping in Bend was I wanted to float down the Deschutes River. When I was a kid, my family would go to Water Country every summer and one of my favorite attractions was the lazy river, in which you float down a river in inner tubes. You were supposed to stay in the tubes, but we never did. It's a ton of fun to get pushed downstream by the current. And happily it turns out that river floating isn't limited to water parks. Floating down the Russian River in northern California is a popular summertime activity but we've never down it because the logistics seemed complicated with the motorcycle. When I learned you could float down the Deschutes River, which flows through the center of Bend, I was set on doing it.

And guess what happened? It rained. Now you might say, it's the Pacific Northwest, weren't you prepared for that? Well, Bend enjoys almost 300 days of sunshine per year. So no — this was the one day of the trip we were assuming would be sunny. The rain meant no river floating for us. Instead, we visited the High Desert Museum.

The museum, which includes both indoor and outdoor exhibits, explores the wildlife, culture and history of Oregon's high desert region. We got there just in time for a show about the "raptors of the sky" (we literally had to run a half mile across the grounds to make it in time). In the show, the handlers brought out several birds, including a barn owl, hawk and vulture. The birds flew from perch to perch, sometimes flying directly over our heads, which always elicited ooo's from the crowd. All of the birds in the show were either unable to fly or too comfortable around humans to be released back into the wild. The one fact that struck with me from the program: Vultures are a valuable part of the ecosystem because of their ability to digest harmful bacteria without getting sick, yet they're getting poisoned by the lead bullets used by hunters. Our presenter said he was a hunter and urged any other hunters in the audience not to use lead bullets.

On the subject of guns, when I was looking for a place to stay in Bend, I came across an AirBnB listing that included this among the house rules: "Please declare any firearms you intend to have on the premises and if you have a Concealed Carry Permit. We are firearm friendly and do allow firearms on the property we just want to be aware of them."

The museum includes a recreation of a 1904 homestead and sawmill. One of our favorite parts was an exhibit on the history of the area called the "Spirit of the West." This is how the museum describes the exhibit: "Your journey starts with a stroll past a Northern Paiute shelter and a French trapper's camp where all the historic details are depicted in incredible detail. Continue through the Hudson's Bay Company fort, alongside an Oregon Trail wagon, through a hard rock mine, past a settler's cabin and into the boomtown of Silver City." We took part in a (free) guided tour of the exhibit, which was surprisingly great. It was much more engaging to listen to the guide than to read the plaques. He seemed to really enjoy giving the tour, which made it a lot of fun to listen to.

After the museum, it was time for dinner at the Deschutes Brewery and Public House. Deschutes is based in Bend and is one of the larger craft breweries in the U.S. We had visited their brewpub in Portland and enjoyed the experience so much that we couldn't help but try the Bend location as well. Somehow, we had an even better time the second time. My food was mediocre (ribs at the brewpub maybe wasn't the best decision) but the beer was delicious. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a beer as much as I enjoyed their Doppel Dinkel Bock. Their description of the beer: "This imperial spelt beer features a generous amount of dinkel (spelt) malt in place of the traditional wheat malt. The result features aromas of bubblegum, banana, clove, citrus, and a slight spiciness. Smooth, full bodied and drinkable, Doppel Dinkel Bock will make the Bavarian in you proud!" After writing this post and remembering how much I loved that beer, we ordered some from an online craft beer shop.

If you read our Portland post, you may recall that our visit to the McMenamins in Portland didn't live up to our expectations. We had a much better experience at the Bend location, where we watched "The Grand Budapest Hotel." McMenamins converted the former parish hall of an old Catholic school into a theater, with comfortable armchairs and couches. It projects the movie onto a large screen and it's a super-comfortable way to watch a movie (affordable too). And the movie seemed quite fitting for the setting. (And we highly recommend it.)

And a few more photos...

Leaving the Mt. Hood area

Driving through Oregon's high desert

Deschutes River, in Bend

- Steph

Sources:
[1] Lake Billy, Chinook, Oregon State Parks

Road trip: Oregon coast

Start from the beginning of our Oregon trip.

We made it to Oregon! Next we spent three days exploring the coast before heading inland to Portland.

Day 3: Crescent City to Oregon Dunes (170 miles)

Goodbye California, hello Oregon! If I had to pick one disappointing day of the trip, this would probably be it, though I don't want to speak too badly of it, it just had a lot of amazing days to compete with. I had read all sorts of good things about the southern Oregon coast, particularly the stretch between Brookings and Gold Beach, which includes Samuel H. Boardman State Park. The problem was that I hadn't realized how different the riding is between Route 1 on the California coast and Route 101 on the Oregon coast. Route 1 literally hugs the coast. It's one lane in each direction with lots of sharp curves that freak cars out and scare away most RVs. You could never get off your bike and you'd still have a beautiful view all day long. In contrast, Route 101 is set slightly inland. It's a multi-lane highway with an average speed of at least 60 mph and the only curves are long sweeping ones. If you don't get off your bike, your view mostly consists of a lot of trees. You're rewarded with stunning vistas if you stop at the many turnouts, but this isn't ideal on a bike. Each time we stop, we have to take off our gear and either lock it up or carry it with us. We had a beautiful view at one of the few turnouts we stopped at, but we had a lot of miles to cover and couldn't afford to stop every few miles. The RVs on the other hand seemed to be in RV heaven.

Which brings me to a few thoughts on the differences between the California and Oregon coasts. When we planned the trip, I debated how much time it was worth spending on the Oregon coast, because I didn't know how it differed from the California coast. Overall, we decided we prefer the California coast, but that's largely because we travel by motorcycle. As I said, the California coastal road has tighter turns, with slower speeds and beautiful views. The Oregon road is faster, with long sweeping turns and minimal views. Oregon definitely wins for having the best beaches. California's coast is much craggier, so the beaches are usually small enclaves tucked between rock-faces. These beaches are often difficult to access and sometimes dangerous because of the risk of a sudden large wave. In contrast, Oregon boasts long, wide open beaches. And finally, the two states seemed to have come to different conclusions about how to regulate public vs private access to the coastline. California has protected thousands of acres of land along the coast from any further development. This means the coast is less inhabited. And there aren't many oceanside houses (at least in northern California, I imagine southern California is another story). Oregon declared that all beaches are public, which is a lot of land. But the land beyond the beach is private, and thus usually occupied by private homes. The road is more of a way to access all these communities, than it is a way to see the coastline, which is what it is in California.

None of which is to say that the roads in Oregon aren't fun for motorcycling. Ben liked one stretch so much he drove it twice. I, on the other hand, had clung on tightly the first time and preferred to be left on the side of the road rather than drive it a second time.

Passing through Coos Bay

And if the morning had been a bit disappointing, the evening definitely wasn't. We were set to camp at the Oregon Dunes that night, which was one of the destinations on the trip I was most looking forward to visiting. What can I say, wide open expanses appeal to me. I had carefully chosen among the many available campgrounds — the dunes stretch 40 miles along the coast — to avoid those popular with ATVs. Our campsite turned out to be both private and quiet. We picked up some steak and corn at a local supermarket, where we were amazed at the ginormous shopping carts.

Most campgrounds have hosts, who live at the campground for the summer and help tend to the area. The host at this campground was a retired couple from Texas who come up for the summer in their RV. The husband also rides so he came over with his boxer to chat with us for a while. He was telling us about the riding in Texas, where they sometimes ride 600 miles in a day through west Texas because it's boring and flat and they don't want to spend any more time there than necessary.

Eel Creek Campground in the Oregon Dunes

This camp host was at least the third person on the trip to come over and strike up a conversation with us because of our motorcycle. Earlier that day, a elderly vet had started talking to me about how he used to ride a motorcycle all over the country. He'd just drive with no destination in mind, stopping wherever he pleased. And he would bring along his small dog, who would sit in front of him, without a harness or anything. Throughout the trip, whenever we stopped somewhere, other riders would come up to ask where we were headed and inquire about our bike (which isn't a model you see very often). Before I started riding, I hadn't realized how much of a sub-culture there is around riding that extends far beyond the stereotype of leather, Harleys and bad boys.

Day 4: Oregon Dunes to Yachats (56 miles)

When we pared down our trip itinerary, we added in a few extra days in the places we were already going. We upped our stay in Portland from two days to three and we gave ourselves five days to make it up the coast, rather than three. With 56 miles to cover, day 4 was one of those days that got added in, which gave us lots of time to enjoy ourselves. We started out with a hike along the dunes. I had been envisioning a nice hike to the ocean, but the ocean turned out to be three miles away. So instead, we hiked the John Dellenback Dunes Trail until we saw the ocean, which was good enough.

See a panorama view from the dunes.

These are the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America, with some dunes reaching 500 feet above sea level. Says the U.S. Department of Agriculture: "The sand comes from sedimentary rock uplifted 12 million years ago in Oregon’s Coast Range Mountains. Rivers moved the rock downstream, tumbling and grinding it into sand. The present shoreline stabilized about 6,000 years ago. The strong elemental forces of tides, waves and winds have been constantly moving the sand for centuries—up to two and a half miles inland in places!" It was drizzling when we started hiking, which we think actually made it easier, as it made the sand a bit firmer. And we were the only people crazy enough to be out there.

We enjoyed just letting go and running/falling down the dunes (recorded as snapshots in continuous-shooting mode):


After the dunes, we pulled into the very cute oceanside town of Florence for lunch. Then we went in search of the Hobbit Trail, which had been recommended by our friends. The problem was we didn't quite know where it was. This is what we were going off of for directions: "Six miles north of Florence on the left side of 101 just south of the sign for Carl G. Washburne State Park." And: "About two miles from Washburne, you'll find an easy-to-miss parking lot on the east side of the highway, with signs pointing to different trails, including the Hobbit Trail." Left side of the highway is hardly helpful as left is a relative direction. And while the parking lot is on the east side of the road, the sign is on the west side. So we actually pulled into the correct parking lot without realizing, then backtracked to a state park to ask a ranger. As a reward for not knowing where we were going, we got to witness this view:

The ranger gave us clearer directions and we eventually located the Hobbit Trail, so named because of the twisty trees and overhanging canopy that make you feel small like a hobbit? Or something? I'll have to rewatch Lord of Rings to give you any better explanation than that, but it was a easy hike with nice scenery. At a few points you had to limbo under branches blocking the trail.

Hobbit Trail. Same photo here, in brighter colors.

After not too long, the trail deposits you on a secluded beach that was empty when we arrived. We sat and read a bit and enjoyed the scenery. California is beautiful too, but the best spots near San Francisco are usually crowded. The beautiful spots in Oregon were much more deserted.

No other people on Hobbit Trail beach

The Pacific Ocean is cold.

Along the way, we stopped for ice cream in Yachats, which seems to be everyone's favorite coastal Oregon town. Absolutely everyone we asked for Oregon recommendations mentioned Yachats (pronounced YAH-hots). The local ice cream shop carried Tillamook ice cream, made farther up the Oregon coast in the town of Tillamook. I enjoyed black cherry and Ben ate something that was probably equally yummy but more chocolate-y, all of which reminds me that we need to find Tillamook in San Francisco, because it was seriously delicious.

We planned to camp that night at Beachside Recreation Area, which I had also been looking forward to because you can camp right next to the beach (I have a thing for beaches). But when we arrived, we learned the only remaining campsites were not next to the beach, but next to the highway. To make things worse, as we were touring the campground, it started raining. Now we're not idiots. We know it rains a lot in Oregon and we had waterproofed all our stuff. But it had been sunny all day and at that very moment we weren't wearing our rain gear. So we were getting wet and we had to decide whether to camp next to a highway or continue in the rain in search of a better option. We opted to try Tillicum Beach, just a few miles away. And again, most of the remaining campsites were near the highway. Except for one. I saw its potential right away but Ben was skeptical. It was right next to the walkway to the beach and he thought we'd have no privacy. I apparently sounded so sad at the prospect of not getting to camp next to the ocean that I won out, luckily for both us because this is where we got to spend the night.

We had plenty of privacy and after slicing some onions in the tent, the rain even let up for long enough to eat dinner and sit by our campfire. The next morning, we walked the beach without the storm clouds.

Day 5: Tillicum Beach to Portland (150 miles)

We had been planning to grab some breakfast on the way to Portland. I was texting with our AirBnB host in Portland to coordinate our arrival and mentioned we were near Yachats, to which I received this reply: "Yachats is my favorite town. Hope you're having breakfast at the Green Salmon!" Good enough for us, off to the Green Salmon Diner we went. Ben is still talking about how good his lox sandwich was. And our latte was big enough to caffeinate several giants.

Espresso and lox at the Green Salmon Diner

We detoured along a scenic byway to a lookout with some nice views, which you can see in the photos below. Then we headed inland and didn't see much along the way, except for a bunch of trees. The Willamette Valley (pronounced wil-LAM-it) outside of Portland is famous for its wine, but we arrived too late to do any tastings. We did pop into a coffee shop in McMinnville, where we shared a Mexican hot chocolate and played Uno. By late afternoon, we pulled into our AirBnB place in Portland, more than ready for a real bed, some clean clothes and a break from riding.

 

Keep reading to follow along as we explore Portland.

- Steph

I tried to include only the very best photos in these posts, but we took many more. I included a few more favorites in the slideshow below.