Just back from a COLD 660 mile ride through Central and Eastern Oregon. https://jasonjonas.org/spot/tripViewer.do?id=4263 But, it was a bright, sunshiny day!
I departed before sunrise and had plans for the 4 dams in Eastern and Central Oregon....plus The Dalles in Washington. I had about 40 mile to decide whether to do it clockwise or CCW and figured riding into the morning sun and colder Deadman's Pass was probably less sensible than riding the Columbia River first, but it still go down to about 20 degrees as the sun peeked over the horizon.
Dalles was tough to get a good photo of. I bagged an ugly one to meet the rules, but like this one better from the Oregon side.
South I had never been through Maupin before and enjoyed the warming morning to Madras and snuck in behind a couple fishermen having coffee for this shot.
Once I fueled up in Prineville (also a first visit for me) I REALLY enjoyed the road to the next dam. It was like my own private road on the cool Sunday morning. Mainline #1 is a bit of a bummer since it's private property and all, but I tried to stretch with my telephoto to bring it closer.
And the stretch east through Paulina and Izee gave way to a 5200 foot pass that got a bit sketchy. I had to extend my size 14 outriggers on a couple spots.
And this particular shot just summed up the day. I'd always wanted to ride this road and it was fast, crystal clear, cold, and sunny. The FJR just loved gobbling up this particular stretch of blacktop before turning North on 395. In fact, I'd ridden 395 many times before as it's a gateway to many points south in Nevada and California, but never in the Winter and it's a completely different world!
Mindful of the suggestion to find good places to eat while riding to dams...the Austin House serves a very good Blue Mountain Cheeseburger (think some good ripe blue and bacon). It's about 15 miles West of the Mason Dam where 7 and 26 join. Closed Monday through Wednesday I believe...they are open Saturday and Sunday. Also, for those that love antique bars.....the carving on this one is phenomenal.
Austin House on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/search/?q=austin+h...9.1158738789..1
https://%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Ca%20href=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source...234589&z=10
Mason Dam was interesting more for the blinding white snow cover that photographed poorly. Pictures didn't do it justice with the sense of distance and scale....so I'll leave that one out. Here's a picture from the bottom showing the spillway.
One interesting thing is that I did reach an odometer milestone. 111111 miles. Half what my good buddy Greg just got on his bike.
However, I shot this towards the end of the bright part of the day at Wolf Creek...the 5th for the day. This ride felt good and the bike's dialed in for a fresh season of rally riding. And for those looking at the clipped on laminated page with my rider number....the lower left picture is our forum's own OCFJR. Woot Eric!
Got home about dark and think I saw 52 degrees as a warm point during the day. 7 dams down, 13 to go. It was a good day.
I departed before sunrise and had plans for the 4 dams in Eastern and Central Oregon....plus The Dalles in Washington. I had about 40 mile to decide whether to do it clockwise or CCW and figured riding into the morning sun and colder Deadman's Pass was probably less sensible than riding the Columbia River first, but it still go down to about 20 degrees as the sun peeked over the horizon.
Dalles was tough to get a good photo of. I bagged an ugly one to meet the rules, but like this one better from the Oregon side.
South I had never been through Maupin before and enjoyed the warming morning to Madras and snuck in behind a couple fishermen having coffee for this shot.
Once I fueled up in Prineville (also a first visit for me) I REALLY enjoyed the road to the next dam. It was like my own private road on the cool Sunday morning. Mainline #1 is a bit of a bummer since it's private property and all, but I tried to stretch with my telephoto to bring it closer.
And the stretch east through Paulina and Izee gave way to a 5200 foot pass that got a bit sketchy. I had to extend my size 14 outriggers on a couple spots.
And this particular shot just summed up the day. I'd always wanted to ride this road and it was fast, crystal clear, cold, and sunny. The FJR just loved gobbling up this particular stretch of blacktop before turning North on 395. In fact, I'd ridden 395 many times before as it's a gateway to many points south in Nevada and California, but never in the Winter and it's a completely different world!
Mindful of the suggestion to find good places to eat while riding to dams...the Austin House serves a very good Blue Mountain Cheeseburger (think some good ripe blue and bacon). It's about 15 miles West of the Mason Dam where 7 and 26 join. Closed Monday through Wednesday I believe...they are open Saturday and Sunday. Also, for those that love antique bars.....the carving on this one is phenomenal.
Austin House on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/search/?q=austin+h...9.1158738789..1
https://%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Ca%20href=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source...234589&z=10
Mason Dam was interesting more for the blinding white snow cover that photographed poorly. Pictures didn't do it justice with the sense of distance and scale....so I'll leave that one out. Here's a picture from the bottom showing the spillway.
One interesting thing is that I did reach an odometer milestone. 111111 miles. Half what my good buddy Greg just got on his bike.
However, I shot this towards the end of the bright part of the day at Wolf Creek...the 5th for the day. This ride felt good and the bike's dialed in for a fresh season of rally riding. And for those looking at the clipped on laminated page with my rider number....the lower left picture is our forum's own OCFJR. Woot Eric!
Got home about dark and think I saw 52 degrees as a warm point during the day. 7 dams down, 13 to go. It was a good day.
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