Day 1 was from Boise to the
Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno. (1) Boise. (2) Jordan Valley (gas). (3) McDermitt (gas). (4) Paradise Valley jct (gas). (5) Mill City (Taco Bell). (6) Lovelock (gas). (7) Fernley (butt break). (8) Reno (motel).
Puckerbrush is actually Mill City, NV. It's 28 miles west of Winnemucca via I-80. We had Taco Bell at this
TA Travel Center after riding 289 miles since 8 o'clock that morning. Reno was only 140 miles away on the monotonous stuporslab loaded for bear with crosswinds, bug splatters, semi-trucks wakes, and road construction. About the only highlights for the day was the route from Marsing to Burns Junction (95/78), and grabbing suds and grub with friends from Santa Cruz, CA at the
Claim Jumper restaurant that night. Fortunately, temperatures were in the 70s for most of the day until we hit Reno.
Day 2 was from the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno to Mike Plant's digs in Gridley, CA. (1) Reno (gas). (2) Mt. Rose Highway. (3) King's Beach (breakfast). (4) Truckee (gas stop for Kurt). (5) Sierra Valley Scenic Overlook (butt break) (6) Downieville (gas) (7) Bassetts. (8) Quincy (gas). (9) Belden Town (suds). (10) Durham-Pentz Rd. (11) Chico (supper). (12) Midway Rd. (13) Gridley (crash pad).
Lake Tahoe from Mt. Rose Hwy. It was a gorgeous 34 mile ride over Mt. Rose Hwy, which was noticably colder and windy at the higher elevations that morning, to the Cafe Biltmore in Crystal Bay for breakfast. We headed out to downtown Truckee for gas after breakfast as Kurt wasn't sure he had the range to make it to Downieville.
After Truckee, we followed Hwy 89 north to Sattley, and cut west on Hwy 49 to the Sierra Valley Overlook just east of Yuba Pass. Left to right are Dianna, Kurt, Kent, and David. I've known Kent since 1970 from my Santa Cruz days.
Sierra Valley Overlook offers a panoramic view of the largest valley in North America. My camera just couldn't capture all of it.
We were just about to depart from Sierra Valley Overlook for Downieville where Mike and his brother, Richard, were waiting. Left to right are Judy, David, Kent, Kurt, and Dianna.
A much relieved Kurt fills his thirsty steed at the Downieville Union 76. It was only 107 miles from our gas stop in Reno to Downieville so we didn't really have to stop in Truckee. We resolved to plan our gas stops out better on our next trip. Behind Kurt are David, Mike, and Richard.
Mike and Richard were watching for us from the Riverview Pizzeria. It's a popular stopover for motorcyclists, and has patio overlooking the Downie River in back.
The Durgan Bridge, on Nevada Street, goes over the Downie and Yuba Rivers. It's a single lane bridge as is the Jersey Bridge for Hwy 49 traffic.
View of the Downie River with Jersey Bridge and Riverview Inn at the left fork, and Yuba River to the right.
We arrived at the Chevron gas station in Quincy 56 miles later. Original plan was to take Bucks Lakes Rd up here from Downieville, but it was getting late so we took Hwy 49 back to Bassetts, cut north on Gold Lake Rd, and followed Hwys 89/70 to town. After filling our tanks and chilling in the shade awhile we got back on Hwy 70, and headed out to Belden Town.
This red bridge goes over Feather River into Belden Town Lodge & Resort some 28 miles from Quincy. That small structure across the bridge was the old gas station.
View from red bridge of Feather River to the northeast. Have always had an affinity for shooting a pic of my ride parked on bridges going over rivers. No traffic that day. ;^)
Southwest view of Feather River from red bridge. Hwy 70 otherwise known as Feather River Canyon Hwy is to the right. It's killer road at least until nears Oroville Dam to the west.
The lower patio area in back of Belden Town Lodge & Resort is where we enjoyed some cold ones.
Clockwise around the table are Kurt, Dianne, David, and Judy relaxing with the Feather River in background. Out by the railing is Mike, Richard, and Kent. Grumbler was busy taking pics. In fact, they actually opened up the bar for us that Monday. It's usually closed during first part of the week.
Main building for Belden Town Lodge & Resort has small store to left, saloon in middle, and restaurant to the right. Dianne and Kent are out in front.
We parked our scoots in front of the building for photo ops just before Kent and David, along with their SOs, backtracked to a motel in Quincy for the night as they had to return to Santa Cruz the next day via Bucks Lake and I-5. The rest of us continued 56 miles onwards to
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co in Chico only to find out that it's closed on Mondays. Fortunately, my niece met us there, and had us follow her to an excellent Mexican restaurant. Done, we rode 30 miles south to Gridley for the night where Richard split home.
Day 3 was from Mike's digs in Gridley to the Comfort Inn & Suites out in Fortuna. (1) Mike's digs. (2) Gridley Rd. (3) Colusa (gas). (4) Clearlake. (5) Lakeport (breakfast). (6) Hopland. (7) Boonville-Ukiah Rd. (8) Boonville (gas). (9) Mendocino (gas). (10) Fort Bragg (suds). (11) Leggett (gas). (12) Fortuna (motel).
Our scoots spent the night in the backyard shed at Mike's digs in Gridley. Mike, while loading up his system with nicotine and caffeine that morning, snapped this shot. We rode 105 miles from here to Lakeport for a hearty breakfast at a cafe near end of town.
We pulled over onto the turnout by the 2495' summit of Hopland Rd to take in the views of Clear Lake. This sure was one twisty road!
Clear Lake from Hopland Summit. We stayed here awhile drinking in the view before resuming our journey to our next stop in Boonville, 49 miles from Lakeport, where Kurt could get gas while we rested our arses. Hwy 128, as it careemed through the redwoods, was terrific at least until we fell behind a pack of cagers although we blew past them before reaching the coast.
In Fort Bragg, 49 miles from Boonville, Mike repaired his cracked exhaust bracket with bailing wire and hose clamps. No biggie as we all split a cold pitcher of Acme Brown Ale at the
North Coast Brewing Co. Kurt got himself the Old Rasputin sweatshirt.
We stopped here at Leggett Patriot for a butt break. Man, the route from Rockport to Leggett was twistier and steeper than my memory banks could recall. This is where Kurt needed gas as it had been 92 miles since he last filled his tank in Boonville. Quite a few other motorcyclists stopped here.
The famous redwood tree located in Founder's Grove that doesn't make your ass look fat unless yours happens to be a bark shredding 13' wide. =8^).
It was starting to get dark here in Founder's Grove, but this vertically challenged photo came out looking fairly decent. It's a totally different experience when there's no other tourists about.
Here's a pic of Kurt on his thirsty, uh, trusty steed parked in front of a redwood tree in Founder's Grove. This was his first visit to
Avenue of the Giants.
Plenty of parking available at Founder's Grove as we were just about the only ones there that evening. We then blasted north to Fortuna where we got a room at the Comfort Inn overlooking our scoots in the parking lot. We had a great time at the
Eel River Brewing Co that night after doing at least 319 miles of backroads for the day.
Day 4, after waking up with a hangover and bloodshot eyes, was 307 miles from Fortuna to the Cimarron Motor Inn up in Klamath Falls. (1) Fortuna (gas). (2) Willow Creek (gas). (3) Happy Camp (lunch). (4) Yreka (gas). (5) Living Memorial Sculpture Garden (butt break). (6) Klamath Falls (motel).
We pulled over at the 2830' Vista point of Lord Ellis Summit on CA-299 between Blue Lake and Willow Creek. Mike uses his handlebars as a coat rack.
Way down below is CA-299 to the southwest from Lord Ellis Summit. Got to say that this route seemed to climb almost endlessly to the summit, and felt more like 8830' rather than the much more modest 2830'. This is a very pictureque road to say the least. No fog bank this time around.
Native Californian at Lord Ellis Summit describing the sights to a native Idahoan. Pics don't do this area justice. It has to be experienced. Duh!
Stopped here in the small town of Orleans, 37 miles north of Willow Creek, for a minute to snap this Bigfoot Highway road sign.
Just beyond Dillen Creek noticed some whitewater rafters on the Klamath River as we rode north to Happy Camp on CA-299.
We had a good lunch at the Frontier Cafe in Happy Camp. Kurt can be seen outside the cafe applying suntan lotion to his mug as it was getting warm. Great view of Mike's improvised coat rack. ;^)
Indian Creek comes out of the Siskiyou Mountains to the north, and empties into the Klamath River just beyond the CA-299 bridge in Happy Camp.
We stopped at the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden near jct of A12 and Hwy 97 for awhile. Mt. Shasta can be seen in the background although clouds covered the crest. We first spotted Mt. Shasta a mile or two south of Klamath River on Hwy 263 to Yreka.
Mike snapped this cool underhanded pic while droning northbound on Hwy 97 to Klamath Falls where we grabbed a suite at the Cimarron Motor Inn, and had roast beef dinner at the
Elmer's Restaurant next door with the 10% discount coupons from our motel.
Day 5 was from the Cimarron Motor Inn in Klamath Falls to Boise. (1) Klamath Falls (gas). (2) Bly (rest stop). (3) Lakeview (gas). (4) Highway Well Rest Area. (5) Riley (gas). (6) Burns (lunch). (7) Vale (gas). (8) Boise.
Just 51 miles east of Klamath Falls on Hwy 140 we stopped at this Rest Area in Bly to empty our swollen waterbags. Road construction and queued-up traffic just outside of Klamath Falls kept us on the road longer than anticipated. It's around 42 miles from Bly to Lakeview.
This pic was taken by Mike in Lakeport which shows Grumbler, followed by Kurt, turning onto northbound US-395 from Hwy 140. Boise is 329 miles from Lakeport via Hines/Burns. We stopped for lunch at the Apple Peddler in Hines. There was quite a bit of bridge construction btw Riley and Vale. Mike returned home by going south over Janesville Grade and Bucks Lake. It had been a great ride, and we plan to get together again next year. No tickets, and Kurt didn't run out of gas thanks to making *20* gas stops on this trip. :-)
Day 1 was from Boise to the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno. (1) Boise. (2) Jordan Valley (gas). (3) McDermitt (gas). (4) Paradise Valley jct (gas). (5) Mill City (Taco Bell). (6) Lovelock (gas). (7) Fernley (butt break). (8) Reno (motel).
Puckerbrush is actually Mill City, NV. It's 28 miles west of Winnemucca via I-80. We had Taco Bell at this TA Travel Center after riding 289 miles since 8 o'clock that morning. Reno was only 140 miles away on the monotonous stuporslab loaded for bear with crosswinds, bug splatters, semi-trucks wakes, and road construction. About the only highlights for the day was the route from Marsing to Burns Junction (95/78), and grabbing suds and grub with friends from Santa Cruz, CA at the Claim Jumper restaurant that night. Fortunately, temperatures were in the 70s for most of the day until we hit Reno. 
Day 2 was from the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno to Mike Plant's digs in Gridley, CA. (1) Reno (gas). (2) Mt. Rose Highway. (3) King's Beach (breakfast). (4) Truckee (gas stop for Kurt). (5) Sierra Valley Scenic Overlook (butt break) (6) Downieville (gas) (7) Bassetts. (8) Quincy (gas). (9) Belden Town (suds). (10) Durham-Pentz Rd. (11) Chico (supper). (12) Midway Rd. (13) Gridley (crash pad).
Lake Tahoe from Mt. Rose Hwy. It was a gorgeous 34 mile ride over Mt. Rose Hwy, which was noticably colder and windy at the higher elevations that morning, to the Cafe Biltmore in Crystal Bay for breakfast. We headed out to downtown Truckee for gas after breakfast as Kurt wasn't sure he had the range to make it to Downieville. 
After Truckee, we followed Hwy 89 north to Sattley, and cut west on Hwy 49 to the Sierra Valley Overlook just east of Yuba Pass. Left to right are Dianna, Kurt, Kent, and David. I've known Kent since 1970 from my Santa Cruz days.
Sierra Valley Overlook offers a panoramic view of the largest valley in North America. My camera just couldn't capture all of it.
We were just about to depart from Sierra Valley Overlook for Downieville where Mike and his brother, Richard, were waiting. Left to right are Judy, David, Kent, Kurt, and Dianna.
A much relieved Kurt fills his thirsty steed at the Downieville Union 76. It was only 107 miles from our gas stop in Reno to Downieville so we didn't really have to stop in Truckee. We resolved to plan our gas stops out better on our next trip. Behind Kurt are David, Mike, and Richard.
Mike and Richard were watching for us from the Riverview Pizzeria. It's a popular stopover for motorcyclists, and has patio overlooking the Downie River in back.
The Durgan Bridge, on Nevada Street, goes over the Downie and Yuba Rivers. It's a single lane bridge as is the Jersey Bridge for Hwy 49 traffic.
View of the Downie River with Jersey Bridge and Riverview Inn at the left fork, and Yuba River to the right.
We arrived at the Chevron gas station in Quincy 56 miles later. Original plan was to take Bucks Lakes Rd up here from Downieville, but it was getting late so we took Hwy 49 back to Bassetts, cut north on Gold Lake Rd, and followed Hwys 89/70 to town. After filling our tanks and chilling in the shade awhile we got back on Hwy 70, and headed out to Belden Town. 
This red bridge goes over Feather River into Belden Town Lodge & Resort some 28 miles from Quincy. That small structure across the bridge was the old gas station.
View from red bridge of Feather River to the northeast. Have always had an affinity for shooting a pic of my ride parked on bridges going over rivers. No traffic that day. ;^)
Southwest view of Feather River from red bridge. Hwy 70 otherwise known as Feather River Canyon Hwy is to the right. It's killer road at least until nears Oroville Dam to the west.
The lower patio area in back of Belden Town Lodge & Resort is where we enjoyed some cold ones.
Clockwise around the table are Kurt, Dianne, David, and Judy relaxing with the Feather River in background. Out by the railing is Mike, Richard, and Kent. Grumbler was busy taking pics. In fact, they actually opened up the bar for us that Monday. It's usually closed during first part of the week.
Main building for Belden Town Lodge & Resort has small store to left, saloon in middle, and restaurant to the right. Dianne and Kent are out in front.
We parked our scoots in front of the building for photo ops just before Kent and David, along with their SOs, backtracked to a motel in Quincy for the night as they had to return to Santa Cruz the next day via Bucks Lake and I-5. The rest of us continued 56 miles onwards to Sierra Nevada Brewing Co in Chico only to find out that it's closed on Mondays. Fortunately, my niece met us there, and had us follow her to an excellent Mexican restaurant. Done, we rode 30 miles south to Gridley for the night where Richard split home.
Day 3 was from Mike's digs in Gridley to the Comfort Inn & Suites out in Fortuna. (1) Mike's digs. (2) Gridley Rd. (3) Colusa (gas). (4) Clearlake. (5) Lakeport (breakfast). (6) Hopland. (7) Boonville-Ukiah Rd. (8) Boonville (gas). (9) Mendocino (gas). (10) Fort Bragg (suds). (11) Leggett (gas). (12) Fortuna (motel).
Our scoots spent the night in the backyard shed at Mike's digs in Gridley. Mike, while loading up his system with nicotine and caffeine that morning, snapped this shot. We rode 105 miles from here to Lakeport for a hearty breakfast at a cafe near end of town.
We pulled over onto the turnout by the 2495' summit of Hopland Rd to take in the views of Clear Lake. This sure was one twisty road!
Clear Lake from Hopland Summit. We stayed here awhile drinking in the view before resuming our journey to our next stop in Boonville, 49 miles from Lakeport, where Kurt could get gas while we rested our arses. Hwy 128, as it careemed through the redwoods, was terrific at least until we fell behind a pack of cagers although we blew past them before reaching the coast.
In Fort Bragg, 49 miles from Boonville, Mike repaired his cracked exhaust bracket with bailing wire and hose clamps. No biggie as we all split a cold pitcher of Acme Brown Ale at the North Coast Brewing Co. Kurt got himself the Old Rasputin sweatshirt.
We stopped here at Leggett Patriot for a butt break. Man, the route from Rockport to Leggett was twistier and steeper than my memory banks could recall. This is where Kurt needed gas as it had been 92 miles since he last filled his tank in Boonville. Quite a few other motorcyclists stopped here.
The famous redwood tree located in Founder's Grove that doesn't make your ass look fat unless yours happens to be a bark shredding 13' wide. =8^).
It was starting to get dark here in Founder's Grove, but this vertically challenged photo came out looking fairly decent. It's a totally different experience when there's no other tourists about.
Here's a pic of Kurt on his thirsty, uh, trusty steed parked in front of a redwood tree in Founder's Grove. This was his first visit to Avenue of the Giants.
Plenty of parking available at Founder's Grove as we were just about the only ones there that evening. We then blasted north to Fortuna where we got a room at the Comfort Inn overlooking our scoots in the parking lot. We had a great time at the Eel River Brewing Co that night after doing at least 319 miles of backroads for the day.
Day 4, after waking up with a hangover and bloodshot eyes, was 307 miles from Fortuna to the Cimarron Motor Inn up in Klamath Falls. (1) Fortuna (gas). (2) Willow Creek (gas). (3) Happy Camp (lunch). (4) Yreka (gas). (5) Living Memorial Sculpture Garden (butt break). (6) Klamath Falls (motel).
We pulled over at the 2830' Vista point of Lord Ellis Summit on CA-299 between Blue Lake and Willow Creek. Mike uses his handlebars as a coat rack.
Way down below is CA-299 to the southwest from Lord Ellis Summit. Got to say that this route seemed to climb almost endlessly to the summit, and felt more like 8830' rather than the much more modest 2830'. This is a very pictureque road to say the least. No fog bank this time around. 
Native Californian at Lord Ellis Summit describing the sights to a native Idahoan. Pics don't do this area justice. It has to be experienced. Duh!
Stopped here in the small town of Orleans, 37 miles north of Willow Creek, for a minute to snap this Bigfoot Highway road sign.
Just beyond Dillen Creek noticed some whitewater rafters on the Klamath River as we rode north to Happy Camp on CA-299.
We had a good lunch at the Frontier Cafe in Happy Camp. Kurt can be seen outside the cafe applying suntan lotion to his mug as it was getting warm. Great view of Mike's improvised coat rack. ;^)
Indian Creek comes out of the Siskiyou Mountains to the north, and empties into the Klamath River just beyond the CA-299 bridge in Happy Camp.
We stopped at the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden near jct of A12 and Hwy 97 for awhile. Mt. Shasta can be seen in the background although clouds covered the crest. We first spotted Mt. Shasta a mile or two south of Klamath River on Hwy 263 to Yreka.
Mike snapped this cool underhanded pic while droning northbound on Hwy 97 to Klamath Falls where we grabbed a suite at the Cimarron Motor Inn, and had roast beef dinner at the Elmer's Restaurant next door with the 10% discount coupons from our motel.
Day 5 was from the Cimarron Motor Inn in Klamath Falls to Boise. (1) Klamath Falls (gas). (2) Bly (rest stop). (3) Lakeview (gas). (4) Highway Well Rest Area. (5) Riley (gas). (6) Burns (lunch). (7) Vale (gas). (8) Boise.
Just 51 miles east of Klamath Falls on Hwy 140 we stopped at this Rest Area in Bly to empty our swollen waterbags. Road construction and queued-up traffic just outside of Klamath Falls kept us on the road longer than anticipated. It's around 42 miles from Bly to Lakeview. 
This pic was taken by Mike in Lakeport which shows Grumbler, followed by Kurt, turning onto northbound US-395 from Hwy 140. Boise is 329 miles from Lakeport via Hines/Burns. We stopped for lunch at the Apple Peddler in Hines. There was quite a bit of bridge construction btw Riley and Vale. Mike returned home by going south over Janesville Grade and Bucks Lake. It had been a great ride, and we plan to get together again next year. No tickets, and Kurt didn't run out of gas thanks to making *20* gas stops on this trip. :-) 
