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16 days
4742 km / 2969 miles
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This ghost town/historic town motorcycle
trip in September of 2022 was panned as a 2-week trip
together with my wife Jayne. We didn't have a exact
route planned and looked at the map each night and
picked a road towards the next planned point.
For the second half of our trip we didn't have any plans
at all and were actually a little worried that it would
get boring. It did not, at all. We rode some new to us
roads in eastern Oregon, found some nice spots and
enjoyed this part of the trip at least as much as the
first part.
Some of the abandoned, historic houses we saw along the
way are on private property and it is advisable to stay
away if you see any "No Trespassing"signs. We nearly got
shot at for looking through a window of an long
abandoned house.
We rode our motorcycles from Portland, Oregon north
through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to Windy
Ridge, the east side of Mount Saint Helens.
Further north to visit friends and then on to Govan,
Washington and the Grand Coulee Dam. Even
further north to Bodie, Washington and Molson.
From there we went east all the way to Garnet Ghost
Town in Montana.
We rode west again and south, over SkalhalkoPass
and LoloPass before heading south, back into
Oregon. There we did a bit of a zigzag route going
further south to Crane Host Springs and on to
the Alvord Desert. After that we rode back
north-west towards home.
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The best time for such a trip is
probably early September. We still had temperatures in
the 90's, but also some very cold nights, so don't do
this with just a summer sleeping bag. If you go in
Spring you will likely encounter snow and ice on the
high mountain passes. Some passes may even still be
closed. In July to October you'll have to deal with
wildfire smoke, which the wind may blow in from other
states.
The road conditions are generally good. Some of
the small side roads were pot holed, but it wasn't too
bad. One big exception was the road south out of Garnet,
MT. This road I would recommend only to experienced
off-road riders.
In terms of safety wild animals and wildfires
are probably the greatest thread (besides other
drivers). Not only bears can be dangerous, but mountain
lions and even raccoons can be dangerous. I always
leave my food in locked aluminum panniers when camping. In
regards to wildfires it is advisable to ask at ranger
stations about current conditions and expected fire
direction. There are also many phone apps out there to
show wildfires, but cell coverage in the middle of
nowhere is spotty at best.
Some people in the remote areas want to stay away from
other people and may be armed. If you respect "No
Trespassing" signs you should be okay. |
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The weekend before the trip we wanted to
go for a short ride, BUT after just a few miles Jayne's
bike acted up and we returned home. I worked every night
to locate and fix the problem. The night before the
planned departure date I had the bike ridable, but not
really fixed. We took off and the KLR held out through
the entire trip.
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| We love the Gifford Pinchot
National Forest in Washington State and
rode our motorcycles through it on our way
north. Some sections of the roads urgently need
repairs. |
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| We hadn't been on Windy Ridge
on Mt. Saint Helens in many years, and
since it was on the way we took the little
detour. I remember having lots of fun on this
windy road, but with the current, bad road
condition we had to ride much more carefully. |
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| Since it was Memorial Day weekend
we had pre-booked a campsite in the national
forest, but when we tried to get to it the
road was closed. I rode past the signs to
see if we could get through on the bikes - big
no, there was a 10 feet drop-off where they were
putting in a culvert. To get to the campground
from the other side would have been a 3-4 hour
detour, so we decided to camp rough. Due
to the steep hillsides we couldn't find a spot
other than along a gravel road. At least it was
a dead end, so there was no traffic. |
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Motorcycle
aluminum
panniers and top cases
Made by an experienced
motorcycle traveller.
Panniers available in 47l, 40l and 33l
Top boxs available in 20l and 36l
Silver/Grey or Black
Quality is essential,
not only on a RTW tour.
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