Look out!! Here we come!

[stormi]

Hey all, we're planning a vacation from August 8th to Aug 17th. 

The plan so far is to head south.  Most likely parts of Montana and Washington will be invaded.  Anyone have recommended sites to see, or interested in meeting up?  We'll be pulling both the dirt and street bikes with us, the trailer, and our soon-to-be new-to-us truck ( going to sign the bill of sale momentarily) and hopefully will have a little time to visit....

[CWO4GUNNER]

South! For just a second there ahead of my read I though were going to say Arizona. But maybe you'll save that for a winter snow bird trip.

The plan so far is to head south.

[mwheat308]

I can't really suggest any place, but I hope you have a wonderful and Safe time.
Mike

[r_outsider]

South! For just a second there ahead of my read I though were going to say Arizona. But maybe you'll save that for a winter snow bird trip.

The plan so far is to head south.

You know, I've always wanted to get to Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Just not in August. Death by spontaneous combustion worries me.

[orionburn]

Death by spontaneous combustion worries me.

 


Have fun on your trip, Stormi. All I can say is avoid Indiana. A rectangle has more curves than Indiana roads do. I have some buddies that live in WA and they say there are some really good roads out there, but they live more towards the cost. If you see mountains I'm sure you'll run into some great roads.

[Red01]

Hmmm... Just about anything in the BC Kootenays! 
But you didn't say anything about that...

In Montana, the Going to the Sun Hwy thru Glacier NP is beautiful, but not really a road you can make any time on due to low speed limits and high tourist traffic, but if you haven't been, it's worth consideration.

US Hwy 12 over Lolo Pass between Lewiston, ID & the Montana border... home of this famous sign:





And if you take 12 over that route, the Old Spiral Hwy on the north side of Lewiston (the old US 95 route), is another great road to ride!



I don't know much about the off-raod opportunites in MT or E. WA, but in Central WA, there's a huge ORV network that's bordered by I-90 on the north and SR 410 on the south, just a little east of Ellensburg/Yakima.  There's one trail, the Naches Trail, that will take you over the Cascade Crest and follows the original pioneer trail that brought settlers into the Puget Sound region.  Trail maps can be purchased from the Forest Service at ranger stations in the area, or on-line here.

You can also print some of them yourself from here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/cle-elum-orv/orv-maps.html
(This ^^^ is only the Cle Elum District, there's more trails in the Naches District, but they don't have an on-line version.)

FYI - US Forest Service and WA state lands require vehicles be street legal if they are operated on forest ROADS.  If operated on trails only, the machine must have an ORV permit on display.  They do honor permits from other states, but I don't know about other countries.

We are planning a PNW get-together starting Aug 15th...
http://forums.banditalley.net/index.php?topic=10769.0

[andrewsw]

Took Red01 forever to get to the point there, which is... plan on riding Lolo with us! You might have to stretch your dates by a day or two...

If you're into geological sites, there is some very cool (but really hot) spots just west of Spokane: Grand Coulee dam, Grand Coulee itself, Soap lake, Potholes state park, etc. All very cool remnants of the great Missoula flood stuff.

I also know this great bar in Spokane...

A

[stormi]

I can't really suggest any place, but I hope you have a wonderful and Safe time.
Mike

Thanks!  I appreciate that!   It's our first trip in,... like.... ever that's more than a few days.  It should be interesting.   I get home sick, so I'll be looking for things to occupy my mind enough that I don't get too bad.

[stormi]

Death by spontaneous combustion worries me.

 


Have fun on your trip, Stormi. All I can say is avoid Indiana. A rectangle has more curves than Indiana roads do. I have some buddies that live in WA and they say there are some really good roads out there, but they live more towards the cost. If you see mountains I'm sure you'll run into some great roads.

LOL! Thanks!  r_outsider will be driving, and I'll be sleeping.  He's promised to wake me for the "good parts" though.   We've been talking about driving for a day, then setting up base camp, then driving for a day, etc.  Based on that, we should be able to manage Down to Montana, through Idaho, into Washington, up through BC, and home to Alberta, but we've still got a week to plan,.. it might still change. ;)   I've been thinking that a drive through that redwood forest on the West Coast as you get into Washington would be a nice ride, and r_outsider's never been to Washington (unless you count Point Roberts)

[Blade]

South! For just a second there ahead of my read I though were going to say Arizona. But maybe you'll save that for a winter snow bird trip.

The plan so far is to head south.

You know, I've always wanted to get to Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Just not in August. Death by spontaneous combustion worries me.

I would not worry about it, it has not been that hot the past few years. The temps have only gotten to 122 at most for a few days. For a true desert rat like my self, we don't take our sweat shirts off until it gets to 110.

[stormi]

Hmmm... Just about anything in the BC Kootenays! 
But you didn't say anything about that...

True that.  I know that Ryan wants to avoid the BC side of the mountains as much as possible, but we shall see what comes of that

In Montana, the Going to the Sun Hwy thru Glacier NP is beautiful, but not really a road you can make any time on due to low speed limits and high tourist traffic, but if you haven't been, it's worth consideration.

Is there an easy way around this area with the trailer?  For instance, if we made camp at say Rising sun campground, rode the going to the sun hwy, then came back for the trailer, could we reasonably circumvent that road when we moved on?

US Hwy 12 over Lolo Pass between Lewiston, ID & the Montana border... home of this famous sign:
[snip]
And if you take 12 over that route, the Old Spiral Hwy on the north side of Lewiston (the old US 95 route), is another great road to ride!

Oh yeah, that I could enjoy. :)   It looks like if I didn't want tea from the Pike Market, we could stay in Idaho and Montana alone...

I don't know much about the off-raod opportunites in MT or E. WA, but in Central WA, there's a huge ORV network that's bordered by I-90 on the north and SR 410 on the south, just a little east of Ellensburg/Yakima.  There's one trail, the Naches Trail, that will take you over the Cascade Crest and follows the original pioneer trail that brought settlers into the Puget Sound region.  Trail maps can be purchased from the Forest Service at ranger stations in the area, or on-line here.

You can also print some of them yourself from here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/cle-elum-orv/orv-maps.html
(This ^^^ is only the Cle Elum District, there's more trails in the Naches District, but they don't have an on-line version.)

FYI - US Forest Service and WA state lands require vehicles be street legal if they are operated on forest ROADS.  If operated on trails only, the machine must have an ORV permit on display.  They do honor permits from other states, but I don't know about other countries.

Ryan has mentioned that he doesn't think we should bring the dirtbikes.  He thinks it will be hectic enough with just the street bikes.  So this might not be an issue.  I will however make whatever inquiries I have to to find out the rules if we do bring them.  Both are registered and insured.  Mine has head and tail light, and a spark arrestor.  Ryan's being strictly an MX bike is a little less "legal".

We are planning a PNW get-together starting Aug 15th...
http://forums.banditalley.net/index.php?topic=10769.0

I was looking at that.  I'm not sure if we can do that.  Ryan has work booked for the 18th, and I have committed to be back for the 18th for my contract.   That said, I might be able to meet up with some of ya before you leave for that trip. :)

I'm also going to look at the feasibility of reversing the trip I'd thought we would take, which would put us in about the same area when you guys start.

[stormi]

South! For just a second there ahead of my read I though were going to say Arizona. But maybe you'll save that for a winter snow bird trip.

The plan so far is to head south.

You know, I've always wanted to get to Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Just not in August. Death by spontaneous combustion worries me.

I would not worry about it, it has not been that hot the past few years. The temps have only gotten to 122 at most for a few days. For a true desert rat like my self, we don't take our sweat shirts off until it gets to 110.

LOL! the thing is that when it hits about 80-85 most of us start melting up here, and r_outsider gets a little funky,... and not in that "Play that funky music white boy" way...    (oh yeah, he's gonna love that I said that.   )

[stormi]

Took Red01 forever to get to the point there, which is... plan on riding Lolo with us! You might have to stretch your dates by a day or two...

If you're into geological sites, there is some very cool (but really hot) spots just west of Spokane: Grand Coulee dam, Grand Coulee itself, Soap lake, Potholes state park, etc. All very cool remnants of the great Missoula flood stuff.

I also know this great bar in Spokane...

A

I don't think we can stretch, but we should be able to make it to Spokane though. 

You just might have to show us this bar.   

Both Ryan and I like the geological sites, and historical sites.  We once spent a series of weekend checking out the "historic" old coal mining towns around here.  We still have lots to cover though. And his favorite place in Alberta is the "Badlands".

[andrewsw]

Well, for geological stuff, and general outdoor sight seeing, you can just drive through parts of the "channeled scablands" south and west of spokane. The drive through the Grand Coulee area is fantastic to. Include soap lake on that run. If you're headed to Seattle, you can run over on US 2, which runs through some high plains and then dives through the columbia gorge, very nice. A lot of this stuff you can just enjoy from the car (too hot anyway) by driving off the freeway...

[Red01]

I've been thinking that a drive through that redwood forest on the West Coast as you get into Washington would be a nice ride, and r_outsider's never been to Washington (unless you count Point Roberts)

Ummm... The Redwood Forest is in Northern California...