I got a day off today, so I thought I'd see if I remembered how to ride my dual-sport after almost three months of idle time off it. Lots of pics (fair warning).
I rode back roads 20 miles or so to the National Back Roads Byway of Cow Creek Road.
Along the way I tried to explore some dirt and logging roads. This one was a little to deep to cross the spring-melt swollen Cow Creek. Turning the pig around on sand and a slope of rocks was a *****.
I know the paved sections well. When I came to the turn for the bridge that leads to Glendale, I continued on to 20 miles of gravel, dirt and mud mountain logging roads, pleasantly getting lost as I hit 3000 feet or so (cold). I stopped at a log pile and drank some water, so I shot a few pics. Check out the enormous Madrone logs from one tree: must have been hundreds of years old to be that big.
I finally hit pavement again and figure I must have gone further South to Glendale. Wrong! I went 1/2 mile or so and this is what I see:
<_<
So I start over and pretend the bug-eyed pig is a supermoto. I ride to Glendale but stop to take a dump (I HAD to)! After the logging truck driver almost ran off the road when he caught me with my pants down, I zipped up and saw this neat 1890's retaining wall built by Chinese laborers. It still stands and works fine for the railroad. This was also the location of "The big slide" of 1890 when 40 acres were covered by 150 feet of dirt, rocks and trees. Railroad tracks were buried. Rumor has it dozens of Chinese perished, but nobody knows because nobody cared at the time.
I hit I-5 for a couple exits and went for lunch at the Historic Wolf Creek Inn. National Geographic Magazine named it one of the 200 places in America you should see. Originally a stagecoach stop just before an 1800 foot pass, it has been in continuous operation since the 1890's. Jack London wrote a novel while staying here, Clark Gable, Carol Lombard, Mary Pickford and others regularly stayed here. Robert Redford stayed here while filming "A River Runs Through It" as the fishing scenes were filmed on the Rogue River nearby. Lunch was a turkey sandwich on marble rye baked on the premises, pickle, salad and iced tea --$9.90 and it melted in my mouth. Yes I broke my diet today.
The view from my seat:
Pictures of the dining room and a shot into the adjoining dining room and a diner who convinced me to buy an Inn sandwich:
Lunch done, my original plan of riding along the Rogue River down to Grants Pass was requiring modification because the kids would be home from school soon. But I had time to make reservations for two rooms and four dinners off their menu for Friday at $225, and time to check out the ghost town of Golden. 3.5 miles from the Inn is Golden, a gold mining town where Hydraulic Mining wiped out most of Coyote Creek and the valley. It is a reclamation area and the buildings are a national historic site:
The church door was held in place by a wooden peg through the lock... I snuck in. It seems the church and the adjacent cemetery (some of the headstones are real, some now-rotted wooden ones made for TV) were used in Ponderosa TV episodes.
Across the road are the wetlands that are being restored. A cool fence borders the road and frames the creek and ponds. There are hiking trails through the reclamation area, but no time to explore today...
Wildflowers dotted the field between buildings:
Some flowers no doubt were fertilized in years past by this two-seater (I think RadioHowie and Bustanut would fit tight in there, don't ya think (Wish I had photoshop). Note the handmade wooden terlet paper holder.
Beemerdon must have had an unholy turd and subsequent explosion to cause this much damage to a single-seater:
More pics of the General Store, old picture of yesteryear, a mining cart, etc.
Wonder if they gave out S&H green stamps too...
Well, it was time to slab home to the kids. I was surprised the temperature guage was rock steady and in the middle with the installed Thermobob. I even hit 80+ mph for the first time. Then I remembered to stop at Heaven on Earth at exit 86. More food! Los Robustos Heaven! I recommend their strawberry lemonade in a mason jar.
Famous for their cinnamon rolls the size of three layer cakes and turnovers the size of a small dinner plate. Yummy!!
Outside was a couple from Kamloops, BC on a 1983 Honda Goldwing Interstate. It seems they were on the Rose Tour. Heaven On Earth restaurant and bakery was a checkpoint. They had just come down from 6500 feet elevations yesterday and were amazed they saw snow. They love Oregon and its diverse beauty. Hah! Wait till it rains... but good people.
And as they say, the rest is history.
I rode back roads 20 miles or so to the National Back Roads Byway of Cow Creek Road.
Along the way I tried to explore some dirt and logging roads. This one was a little to deep to cross the spring-melt swollen Cow Creek. Turning the pig around on sand and a slope of rocks was a *****.
I know the paved sections well. When I came to the turn for the bridge that leads to Glendale, I continued on to 20 miles of gravel, dirt and mud mountain logging roads, pleasantly getting lost as I hit 3000 feet or so (cold). I stopped at a log pile and drank some water, so I shot a few pics. Check out the enormous Madrone logs from one tree: must have been hundreds of years old to be that big.
I finally hit pavement again and figure I must have gone further South to Glendale. Wrong! I went 1/2 mile or so and this is what I see:
So I start over and pretend the bug-eyed pig is a supermoto. I ride to Glendale but stop to take a dump (I HAD to)! After the logging truck driver almost ran off the road when he caught me with my pants down, I zipped up and saw this neat 1890's retaining wall built by Chinese laborers. It still stands and works fine for the railroad. This was also the location of "The big slide" of 1890 when 40 acres were covered by 150 feet of dirt, rocks and trees. Railroad tracks were buried. Rumor has it dozens of Chinese perished, but nobody knows because nobody cared at the time.
I hit I-5 for a couple exits and went for lunch at the Historic Wolf Creek Inn. National Geographic Magazine named it one of the 200 places in America you should see. Originally a stagecoach stop just before an 1800 foot pass, it has been in continuous operation since the 1890's. Jack London wrote a novel while staying here, Clark Gable, Carol Lombard, Mary Pickford and others regularly stayed here. Robert Redford stayed here while filming "A River Runs Through It" as the fishing scenes were filmed on the Rogue River nearby. Lunch was a turkey sandwich on marble rye baked on the premises, pickle, salad and iced tea --$9.90 and it melted in my mouth. Yes I broke my diet today.
The view from my seat:
Pictures of the dining room and a shot into the adjoining dining room and a diner who convinced me to buy an Inn sandwich:
Lunch done, my original plan of riding along the Rogue River down to Grants Pass was requiring modification because the kids would be home from school soon. But I had time to make reservations for two rooms and four dinners off their menu for Friday at $225, and time to check out the ghost town of Golden. 3.5 miles from the Inn is Golden, a gold mining town where Hydraulic Mining wiped out most of Coyote Creek and the valley. It is a reclamation area and the buildings are a national historic site:
The church door was held in place by a wooden peg through the lock... I snuck in. It seems the church and the adjacent cemetery (some of the headstones are real, some now-rotted wooden ones made for TV) were used in Ponderosa TV episodes.
Across the road are the wetlands that are being restored. A cool fence borders the road and frames the creek and ponds. There are hiking trails through the reclamation area, but no time to explore today...
Wildflowers dotted the field between buildings:
Some flowers no doubt were fertilized in years past by this two-seater (I think RadioHowie and Bustanut would fit tight in there, don't ya think (Wish I had photoshop). Note the handmade wooden terlet paper holder.
Beemerdon must have had an unholy turd and subsequent explosion to cause this much damage to a single-seater:
More pics of the General Store, old picture of yesteryear, a mining cart, etc.
Wonder if they gave out S&H green stamps too...
Well, it was time to slab home to the kids. I was surprised the temperature guage was rock steady and in the middle with the installed Thermobob. I even hit 80+ mph for the first time. Then I remembered to stop at Heaven on Earth at exit 86. More food! Los Robustos Heaven! I recommend their strawberry lemonade in a mason jar.
Famous for their cinnamon rolls the size of three layer cakes and turnovers the size of a small dinner plate. Yummy!!
Outside was a couple from Kamloops, BC on a 1983 Honda Goldwing Interstate. It seems they were on the Rose Tour. Heaven On Earth restaurant and bakery was a checkpoint. They had just come down from 6500 feet elevations yesterday and were amazed they saw snow. They love Oregon and its diverse beauty. Hah! Wait till it rains... but good people.
And as they say, the rest is history.
