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2 weeks
3914 km / 2446 miles
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At beginning of September 2012 Jayne
and I rode from Portland, Oregon south. Our first goal
was Lava Beds National Monument right after the
"border" from Oregon to California. From there we went
further south through Lassen Volcanic National Park
and to Lake Tahoe. On to Jackson, CA where we visited
Friends at their self built weekend house. From there
we rode on south along Mono Lake and June Lake to the
Devils Postpile National Monument. Then we rode east
to Tonopah in Nevada and then north again. Back in
oregon we visited the Alvord desert and rode through
the Malheur und Ochoco National Forest. A short side
trip over the McKenzie Pass before we had to head home
again.
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The best time for such a trip is
spring and fall, since in summer it is too hot,
especially in Nevada. But in spring some passes can
still be closed due to snow, best it up before you go.
The road conditions are generally good, but
on this trip we did some gravel roads too, which were
all in good conditions too.
In terms of safety I have to say that there
are many bears in the forests of northern California,
therefore one should put all food items into bear
boxes at camping sites. But other animals, e.g.
Racoons, can become dangerous too. Therefore we always
left our food in locked panniers when camping rough.
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| Lava Beds National Monument
is, as the name states, a large area with many
different lava flows, absolutely impressive. |
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| Only a few miles away one can also
see prehistoric Petroglypes. No entrance
fee. |
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| Lava Beds is so special for it's
many lava tubes, which are ranked from
easy to difficult and can all be visited. A
strong flashlight is highly recommendable, our
head lamps were a little weak. A helmet is a
good idea and depending on the tubes ranking
knee and elbow pads too. We only visited the
easy tubes. |
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| There was extreme fire danger
for most of the trip due to lack of rain and
high temperatures. Therefore most camping sites
didn't allow fires. We passed some forest fires
and fire camps on the trip. |
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| We rode to the Lassen
Volcanic National Park. the road over the
pass is twisty and offers beautiful views. |
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