A Panoramic Journey

[shortBoarder]

There's not much in Lee Vining other than reasonable access to Yosemite and a saline lake named Mono Lake. After a little bit of off-roading on the Busa, you get to a alien shoreline with salt pillars rising up from the water. Ever weirder are the millions of tiny flies that sit at the edge of the water and look like black sand...until you step near them and the sand comes alive

The second pic is a seagull who stopped by the fly-buffet...

 

[BusaWizard]

You have some beautiful scenery where you ride.

 

[shortBoarder]

Next stop, a bit more off-roading down washboard roads to get to a ghost town called Bodie:

 

[mike1180]

Incredible!!
Thanks!!

 

[shortBoarder]

After about an hour in Bodie (you could easily spend far more time), it was back down the dirt road toward pavement...and lots of mountain passes

The roads up here are stooopid. Make sure yer not too hung-over at the Stampede to miss 'em...

 

[shortBoarder]

Stopped at a lake at the top of one of the passes; I shot the water first, then turned around and my girl was hiding in the trees:

 

[shortBoarder]

Forgot to post these earlier in the thread: we stopped by the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite for lunch. Here's the lobby and the dining room:

 

[shortBoarder]

Three more shots at the end of the second tour day:

 

[shortBoarder]

I broke off the next day and headed North on my own, not really stopping too much in order to make time. The first stop the following day was Lassen National Park. Lots of volcanic activity up here (and lots of signs warning you of potential death if you go off the trails...something about thin ground breaking through, plunging you into scalding water.....I stuck to the roads.)

 

[shortBoarder]

Crashed in Klamath Falls, OR, then headed up to Crater Lake the next AM. I had been warned about the green flies around Klamath Lake that time of year, but wasn't quite expecting this:

 

[shortBoarder]

Crater Lake. Damn.

 

[shortBoarder]

There are points along the road around the lake that feel like you're in a plane, looking down.

 

[shortBoarder]

This was a long day - destination was Hood River, OR (on the Columbia River / WA state line)...so I basically had to ride up the entire state, taking only back roads of course

Oregon's a tough state to plan, since there's a bazillion little forest roads on the maps...and it's hard to tell which ones are actually paved. After a bit of research and expert help, most of the day was spent on lightly trafficked back roads through the mountains. It's possible to travel a good portion of Oregon from North-South without seeing many cars at all. Google "Aufderheide"...then go ride it.

 

[teamorion22]

wonderful pics

 

[shortBoarder]

Then, everything went green. Really green. Did a lot of forest roads up toward Mt. St. Helens, hitting the first rain of the trip. Alone on the roads nearly all day. Straight up Lord of the Rings-type forest action going on.

 

[shortBoarder]

Wanted to see Mt. St. Helens, but the weather wasn't having it. Still, the gray weather and storm clouds gave an eerie place even more character.

 

[shortBoarder]

From there, I made a bee-line through the rain toward Seattle. Took this one pic of a logged field on the way:

 

[shortBoarder]

Got to Seattle, and my wife and dog were waiting for me

 

[shortBoarder]

Chilled in Seattle for a week, then headed back, straight down the coast with my wife in the car as a sweeper. Stopped my St. Helens on the way back to see it in the sun:

 

[shortBoarder]

That's it for now...I haven't gone through the pics from the trip back...mostly Cali coast stuff. Until next time...