Arising early we headed for a special breakfast in McMinnville.
Breakfast was fabulous. The pork meat loaf definitely had the cow's approval.
We then plotted a course for Bingen, WA where we hankered for a Sausage / Cherry Pizza that we had missed on an earlier trip. The route took us through Forest Grove and up I-84 to Multnomah Falls where for the first time we stopped and played total tourist. We've ridden or driven by the Falls many times but have never stopped. That would change today.
We hiked in our full m/c gear up to that upper bridge.
Of course, one can look down from that upper bridge.
We crossed the Columbia at Hood River and ended up at the Solstice in Bingen to savor our cherry sausage pizza treat.
Our course then took us to White Salmon and Trout Lake and then to Forest Service (FS) 23 which is a very cool paved road through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. It has a great scenic pullout to be able to photograph Mt. Adams, but the mountain was clouded over at the pullout. Fortunately I had taken a photo of the mountain from a few mintues earlier in the ride.
FS23 then connects with FS90 for a 25 plus mile ride through the forest to connect up with FS25 which runs north to Randle. FS23 can also be used to get to Randle but there is a lengthy gravel section that I didn't want to ride 2up on a Wing pulling a trailer. FS90 does have one section of about a mile of hard packed gravel and two smaller sections, but that was fine for me.
Mt. St. Helens was obscured, but FS25 was a delight to ride. One has to be a bit cautious as there are lots of frost heaves that affect the road quality (particularly the edges). There's also a "temporary" bridge that's been in place for 2 years over a significant landslide area.
After a brief bio-break at the intersection FS99 (Windy Ridge road), we rode on into Randle and then pointed ourselves for a direct route home with a quick stop in Orting tro visit relatives.
We arrived at home around 9pm after logging 5,200 miles, 8 dams, 14,260 feet in high elevation, multiple passes over 9,000 feet, sea level, and many twisty roads in between. It was a great 16 days of which 13 were riding days which translates into around 400 miles per day. It's not an Iron Butt pace, but it was a pace we could comfortably sustain and still take lots of pictures, visit dams and cafes, visit with people and be safe.
Here's a link to the picture library: http://tinyurl.com/24c3cun
Where to next?
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