On the road again!

After we left Portland we stayed with friends until Saturday morning. I rode down the coast to Brookings. The best part of the Oregon coast is from Banden to Brookings.


Chuck left from Corvallis, Ron left from a campground someplace, and I left from Brookings. We met at a restaurant in Grants Pass. Around 1pm we were back on the road.

The area between Oregon and Napa is a motorcyclist's playground. The roads are smooth, curvy, scenic, and with a few exceptions, traffic is very light. To top it off, the summer weather nearly always cooperates.

From Grants Pass we rode south on 238 to bypass Medford, then I-5 south to highway 96.

This road follows the Klamath river through canyons and valleys for about 150 miles. While very scenic with constant corners, the road does not rise up high enough to expansive views. Since we're always on the hunt for new roads we decided to try the road from Steelhead to Scott's Bar. This isn't on many maps, but the one we found indicated it was paved, so we took it. True enough, it was paved. It was also narrow and very windy for 18 miles. In some places it went down to a single lane. This was not a road for high speeds - it was too twisty! There constant left/right/left/right etc. transitions which were a lot of fun! At some point we ended up in Etna, Then took some road west. I don't remember the name of that... It too is only on a couple maps. It passes through Sawyer's Bar and terminates at Somes Bar. The first 9 miles took us up and over a 6000 foot mountain pass, the next 9 miles down the other side of the mountain. The pavement was perfect, and it was very curvy. Granted, in some places it went down to one lane, but that's ok. It was fun!

It was getting late and it was increasingly difficult to see with the sun in our eyes, so we found a campsite in the national forest. There was no water, and all but one toilet was closed. It was also free!

Ron decided to ride the 6 miles to Sawyers Bar to see if he could find some dinner and beer for us. There was nothing in Sawyers Bar, and decided to try the next town over. Instead he found 14 miles of destroyed pavement, and then nothing in that town. So he backtracked to camp, again covering those14 miles. So we had soup and an mre before retiring.