Washington BDR: Back to the Start

 

Jonathan was doing well at the helm.  And I was having fun in the tub.  It's kind of like being in the front car of a roller coaster - OK, not the smooth steel ones, but more like the old wooden-framed ones.

It was nice to be able to point the camera in any direction, at any time, for action shots.  Getting photos that weren't completely blurred out was the hard part. 

There, I finally got my hand in the frame.  Best to hold on for the corners!

My pilot seemed to be enjoying himself as well - getting more confident as the miles clicked by.  The road had been fairly smooth since he took the reins (yes, I know I'm switching metaphors here) so I realize that my stint in the chair may not have been representative of the entire range of a monkey's experience off-road.  But still, it wasn't as rough or terrifying as I'd thought it might be.

Jonathan said he was up for the challenge, so he continued driving after we joined the paved US Forest Route 23.  As speeds increase, so does the effort required to muscle the big rig around the corners.  He got a little close to the white line the first couple of times, but kept me out of the ditch!

Just before we dropped into the valley, I leaned back behind his shoulder and caught this last view of  snow-covered Mt. Adams.

Back in the town of Trout Lake, I pointed out the way to a great old restaurant that another friend had shown me years ago - but it was closed.

Plan B, we decided, was to head back into the Columbia Gorge and look for a place to eat in White Salmon.  As it was still a bit chilly, we couldn't pass up these open tables in the sun!  

As we waited for our food, I answered questions from passers by about our rather strange form of conveyance.  In nearly 30 years of motorcycle touring, I've never had a machine that garnered so much attention - and nearly all of it positive!

We didn't know it when we pulled up, but we'd chosen another Mexican place.  And that turned out to be just fine!

On our way back to the Vancouver area, there's a place where the road hugs a rocky cliff-side, high above the Columbia.  It makes a great stop for end-of-trip photos.

I was back in the driver's seat by this time, but Jonathan wanted some quality mementoes of his first extended Ural adventure.  Hope these do the trick, my friend.  Very happy to have had you along!

Pulled up again to where we'd started about 24 hours ago, we transferred Jonathan's gear back into his pick-up, relayed a few road stories to his friends, and said our goodbyes.

We both agreed - that was about as perfect as a two-day mini adventure could get!  We'd ridden over 100 miles together each day, much of it off pavement, and gotten a good start on the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route.  Hopefully, sometime after the long winter, we'd be able to pick up were we left off and keep heading north.

Of course, there are a couple of things I need to do on the bike before then.  But I think I'm getting it fairly well dialed in!

Washington BDR: My Turn!

 

After a good night's sleep, we went outside to find the Ural covered in a rather photogenic layer of frost!  With the third wheel, however, I did not have nearly the concern that I do when this happens on my two-wheeled journeys.

Trout Lake has about 600 residents, so finding the best place to fill up was not hard - this is the only one.  Finding the lake is a lot harder.  There really isn't one, we were told.

After about seven miles on the pavement, I turned off onto a gravel road that I thought should be the next section of the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route.  Jonathan consulted his GPS, and soon confirmed my decision.  

At this point, I'll highlight a new addition to the Ural's sidecar accessories.  The windscreen came with only a thin steel bar to hold on to for support, while careening around mountain curves.  I approached my personal leatherworker (Rich) with this problem, and soon we had a prototype designed and constructed to provide a padded, larger diameter grab bar.  The plan was to test it on this trip, make any changes necessary, then Rich would tool it up to match the bike's handlebar cross bar pad and saddlebag, that he had done for me earlier.

So far, so good - according to the expedition's official test monkey!

It was still cold when we began the day's first climb, but being designed and built on the fringes of Siberia, the Ural was in its element!

That first gravel section had been close to ten, bone-chilling miles.  At the end of it was another paved road that would have taken us back to Trout Lake.  A quick glance at the clock revealed that we still hadn't passed the half-way point of the morning, however.  Between here and the next option for returning south looked like about 15 miles on the map.  If those roads were reasonably well maintained, like the last part had been, we would have plenty of time.

Is it just me, or is that road ahead completely covered with ice? 

Oh yes, it was!  Had to get a shot of the tracks we were making in the frost, before briefly joining FS 88, en route to the next unpaved section.

I did take it a bit slower than normal, but it was nice not to worry about sliding over on the ice.  A third wheel has its advantages!

Turning off onto Forest Service Route 8810, the concrete slab bridge over Trout Lake Creek was not all that photogenic.  But I took a picture of it anyway!  You all know, I have a thing for bridges.

The creek itself was much more attractive - only enhanced by the front end of my Russian steed.

You can see here that the frost on the nose of the sidecar is finally melting off, and the promise of riding in the sunlight spurred us on.

Mid-way up the next climb, we broke free from the shadows and rejoiced in the energizing warmth of that flaming orb in the sky.  Hey, I'm not a poet.

But soon, we were back in thick forest, and our glasses began to fog up - Jonathan's more so than mine, for some reason.  Probably a difference in helmet design.  We had been about to swap positions on the rig, but decided we'd better wait until Jonathan could see!

On the other side of the ridge, things improved dramatically, and I relinquished the driver's seat.  Jonathan had driven the Ural before - even on gravel.  But never with someone in the sidecar.  Well, he did take me for a short spin around the block in my neighborhood once.  But I don't think he got it out of first gear that day.

This would be my first real ride in the "tub" as well.  I was eager to see how rough it actually was on backroads - and how terrifying it might be!  Had my friend just been too kind to tell me the truth?  So far, I was enjoying taking pictures in every direction without needing to concentrate on driving.  

Guess I should be a little concerned about how Jonathan was doing.

Can you tell?  

Are his glasses still clear?