Death Valley Adventure
Back to Camas - March 23-25, 2009
After getting back to Vegas from Death Valley, I spent time with family there; so I didn't leave for home in Camas, WA until Monday, March 23. I decided to take the coastal route back north, so I left on Monday morning to head west towards the California coast.
Monday - March 23
I left Vegas heading west and directly into Red Rock Canyon, a beautiful National Comservation Area just outside on Las Vegas.
Red Rock Canyon has a great scenic drive that runs through it. I've taken it before so I didn't bother to ride it this time, but if you haven't been there before then I would recommend it. It has a lot of great photo opportunities and some great hikes.
I hit Hwy 160, and turned west towards Pahrump but again took the Old Spanish Trail towards Tecopa Springs.
Just past Tecopa Springs, I hit Hwy 127 and turned south so that I could pass by the Dumont Dunes OHV area (it brings back good memories from my younger dirt biking days in SoCal); then hit I-5 in Baker and turned south towards Barstow. In Barstow, I took Hwy 58 and headed west towards the coast. On Hwy 58 I rode through the desert, then over the Tehachapi Mtns, down into the valley and through Bakersfield. Continuing west on Hwy 58, I went through the oil patch areas towards McKittrick. Somehow, just past McKittrick, I missed the turnoff to continue on Hwy 58 and ended up on Hwy 33 which took me further south then I wanted - but oh well. Eventually, I reached Maricopa and headed west again on Hwy 166. This was a very pretty and twisty drive through the Los Padres Forest, and eventually to Santa Maria and then Guadalupe, where I reach Hwy 1.
Heading north, I pass through Oceano and Pismo Beach and finally stop to take some pictures of the ocean in Shell Beach.
I continue north again past Morro Bay to Cayucos, where I need to get gas and decide to spend the night. I stayed at the Shoreline Inn which was was right on the beach. Here is a picture of the Cayucos Pier at sunset from my room.
Tuesday - March 24
Woke up Tuesday around 7am, got packed up and ready to leave by 8.
A picture of the Cayucos Pier first thing in the morning.
Going to keep riding north along Hwy 1 and hit Ragged Point for breakfast (upon the recommendation of my DV roommate Vern).
Stopped plenty of times to take some pics of the coast - it's just beautiful.
The lumps on the beach in the pic above are elephant seals. Unfortunately I didn't get a good close-up shot.
I finally arrived at Ragged Point to eat breakfast. The Ragged Point Inn is located in Big Sur about 15 miles north of San Simeon. Looks like a beautiful place to spend the night, but I just eating - had a great breakfast of French Toast and bacon.
The weather was beautiful, but surprisingly all along Hwy 1 I saw very little traffic, and almost no motorcycles. I basically had the road to myself.
Finally made it to Fort Bragg to spend the night.
Wednesday - March 25
Going to make it home today, but also knew that I'd probably run into some weather. Once again I was up early, had a quick breakfast in Fort Bragg and hit the road a little after 8am.
Took a few more pics of the coast from Hwy 1.
Eventually, Hwy 1 starts turning inland to meet up with Hwy 101. It's very pretty as the road winds through the coastal mountains and forests. Then I take Hwy 101 north, and decided to ride part of the Avenue of the Giants through the Redwood forests.
That was the last of the pics I took, as I was now concentrating on making the miles pass by.
I had two close calls after this. Coming into Eureka, I came around a corner and spotted about 3 deer in the southbound lanes of Hwy 101. I slowed right down and moved to the right. Sure enough the deer jumped over the barrier between the lanes but luckily right behind me instead of in front of me.
Then I had a much closer call just north of Klamath, CA. There's an attraction just north of Klamath called the Trees of Mystery, and right along the highway are giant statues of Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox.
I wasn't planning to stop so I was in the leftmost northbound lane to keep heading straight. I noticed that there were quite a few cars in the southbound turn lane to turn across my path into the attraction so I slowed a little bit, and thought I actually made eye contact with the driver of the first car in the left turn lane so I was pretty sure she was waiting for me to go past. But at the very last moment, she decides to turn left directly in front of me. Brakes on, sharp dive to my left to miss her (probably my less than a foot), and then another sharp dive to my right to get back into the northbound lane and miss the other cars in the southbound turn lane. It was the closest call I've had in years!
Just north of Crescent City, CA, I turned onto Hwy 199 heading northwest towards Grant Pass, OR. This is another very beautiful road for motorcycles, but unfortunately this is where it started raining and I would spend the rest of the day riding in the wet - from sprinkles to a few short downpours, but mostly just a light rain.
In Grants Pass, I jumped onto I-5 and basically slabbed it north to Portland, and onto home in Camas, WA.
It was a great couple of weeks from leaving in the snow to head south, some great riding days in Death Valley with a bunch of new friends, and ending up riding in the rain to home!
Getting to Death Valley Friday's DV Ride Saturday's DV Ride DV to Vegas Back to Camas