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Posts Tagged ‘Sean McDermott’

Riding is a creative outlet for me. It takes creativity to come up with new places to explore. Sometimes it takes a bit of planning to get the wheels turning, but then something unravels the best laid plan and real adventure begins. Other times riding without a plan is the ticket to new discoveries. I often open topographical and road maps for inspiration. The roads that I enjoy discovering are ever changing. Some forest service roads change so quickly that even a two-year old map is now out of date. New gates aren’t always present on old maps. That is why, even well thought out rides can become sans plan.

Inspiration for motorcycle rides can come from seemingly odd places. Recently, I have found inspiration for motorcycle rides while flying. The flights out of Seattle’s SeaTac airport typically fly past Mount Rainier and over the Cascade Mountains. Upon take off, I scan the ground below for possible roads and trails. This allows a very broad picture of the road characteristics below. The amount of corners, elevation changes and even possible water crossings can be seen from the window seat of a jet liner.

A work trip had me in Las Vegas recently. The morning flight with a window seat had my eyes tracing possible paths out of Sin City and quickly onto lustful mountain roads that may even lead to snow-capped mountain peaks just a short distance from the strip. Perhaps a winter motorcycle trip through the Nevada and Utah deserts is next year’s cure to the socked-in Pacific Northwest winter. Yes, we can ride year round, but a sunny ride through the mountains with temperatures in the 60′s and 70′s sounds perfect to me. A work trip suddenly inspired me to daydream about possible rides through the Sierras, Reno and on to Las Vegas.

As my flight out of Vegas climbed high into the sky it revealed the vast beauty of mountains meeting flat desert valleys over and over again. The mundane sections of this region would heighten the pleasure of each mountain crossed. Excitement built up inside me as the possibilities presented themselves from 5,000, 10,000 and 30,000 feet. My nose was pinned to the plane’s window as the strip faded from sight and a more rural, enjoyable playground presented itself. Oh yes, a winter ride through the desert might be just the ticket next year.

Shoot, I hope this inspiration doesn’t lead to too much planning. I do believe there are ample discoveries to be had, if I can resist studying too many maps in the next several months. In fact, work may have me in Vegas again next winter. A ride to and from may just be in order. You never know from where inspiration for the next great ride will come. The trick is to open the mind and let the daydreaming begin.

Where do you find ride inspiration? Can you resist the urge to plan the “perfect” ride in order to actually find adventure and new discoveries?

Pick a direction and let’s ride.

The hotel room is cozy, but the road beckons. Today promised to be a very memorable ride.

I head south from Grand Coulee on SR 174. The landscape rolls gradually. It is scenic, but I was hoping for more excitement to pull me from the no-coffee fog I was in. The sun rises quickly in the eastern skies as I point the bike directly into it on Jurgensen Road. Luckily, I’m only heading east for two miles until I head north on SR 21.

Highway 21 switchback. One of many.

SR 21 is exactly the excitement that I needed. The short 12-mile ride take you from the rolling fields to steep cliffs that ocerlook the Columbia River. I didn’t count switchbacks, but they are plentiful as the road carries me down to the Keller Ferry. This stretch of Highway 21 will make motorcycle riders of all types very happy.

The Keller Ferry is a 12-vehicle vessel that crosses the 1.5 miles across the Columbia River, which is known as the Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake in this area. The river isn’t naturally this wide in this area. The Grand Coulee Dam is just 15 miles down stream from here and creates the easy-going pool of water known as Franlin D. Roosevelt Lake. This is the only way to connect Hwy 21. Luckily, the ferry is free.

With blue skies overhead I watch the Keller Ferry, also known as the Martha S., approach the southern shores. The basalt cliffs across the river are so big and beautiful that they don’t appear real. It is this kind of view that my meager photography skills can’t do justice.

Silver Creek Road winds up, up and away.

The ferry is light with my Suzuki V-Strom being the only vehicle onboard. We make the short crossing and I climb up from the river on Hwy 21. About 10 miles from the ferry dock, I turn east onto Silver Creek road. This is a gem of a road. Some riders may shy away from the dirt surface of the road. It undulates and wraps around and over itself. The road is loose and requires a slower speed for the hairpin turns. That is completely fine with me. The slower speeds allow more time to enjoy the incredible scenery that fills the valley below. This is yet another scenic route that Washington state hies beyond the reaches of pavement. Everyone looking to make time and simply get from point A to point B misses the splendor hidden in Eastern Washington.

After a few stops, the motorcycle finds pavement and begins to burn it up. The surface heaves and swallows from its age. The V-Strom’s suspension soaks it up as I lean from peg to peg in a dance high above the Columbia River.

The road descends to the Gifford-Inchellium Ferry that carries vehicles across the upper Columbia River from Inchelium to Hwy 25 and the town of Gifford, Washington. This one is slightly larger than the first ferry. It carries several cars. The ferry jostles out from the dock. The moving water pushes the boat sideways almost as fast as the captain can power across the wide river. A skilled captain he was, as I sat on the bike and it hardly moved as he docked on the east side of the river.

From here it is just 25 miles up Hwy 25 to Kettle Falls. Kettle Falls has gas, food, coffee and most amenities that a rider may need. I fill the gas tank on my motorcycle, buy a cup of coffee and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before continuing out of town. US 395 takes me the short distance north to FR 61 or Boulder Creek Road.

The ride along Boulder Creek Road slices through the northern tip of the Colville National Forest. The scenery is again spectacular. There are ample dirt roads that branch off of the paved Boulder Creek Road for additional exploring. This area certainly whetted my appetite. I’ll have to journey back to explore Little Boulder Creek Road and other Forest Service roads around the Deer Creek Snopark and Green Mountain areas.

I continue my westward journey to the small community of Curlew, Washington. It appears that this is a former railroad stop town, but now lives on the few farmers, loggers and miners that remain in the area.

There isn’t much to explore in Curlew, so I leave town on West Kettle River Road following the snake-like pattern of the Kettle River. The river provides ample drink for plant life. The river, trees hugging the shore and mountains combine for an easy place to enjoy being alone on a motorcycle. Some roads are easy to daydream and drift off on. This is yet another road on this ride that demands attention to the quickly changing details.

Along a short straight-away is a historical interpretive sign. It talks about Ronald McDonald. No, not the clown of restaurant fame. This is the Ronald McDonald who happens to have been the first person to teach the English language in Japan. This Pacific Northwestern-born man grew up near Oregon and apparently met some shipwrecked Japanese sailors as a young lad, which sparked an interest in their homeland. Eventually, he travelled there teaching actual samurai the English language. The sign says that his final resting place is just north a mile or two. I head in that direction but soon after crossing a river the road comes to a “T” intersection. A few teenagers swimming at the river didn’t know which direction the burial site was in. I get back onto the main road and chase the sun instead as time didn’t allow for too much added exploration if I was going to make my destination before dark set in.

Black and white treatment seems fitting for the ghost town of Bodie, Washington.

West Kettle River Road connects with Toroda Creek Road which makes a large curve and begins heading south. Just as the sun begins to warm the right side of my body, I notice several old weather worn buildings just off both sides of the road. The Okanogan County historical society is nice enough to place information boards to keep the curious traveler informed of the areas rich history.

The old buildings are the remnants of Bodie, Washington. It is a ghost town now, but it was once the nearest town to the gold mine of the same name that was established in 1896 and helped spur the Okanogan County gold rush. In 1902, the Bodie Mine was purchased by the Wrigley family. You know, the same Wrigley’s of chewing gum fame. They actually started what became the Bodie Mining Company in 1903. At the time, the mine was worth $1.5 million. Here we are, more than a century later and all that is left are several run down buildings that make for incredible photo opportunities right next to an incredibly fun motorcycle road.

The Ghost Town of Bodie, WA is easily viewed and explored from the road.

From Bodie, the road passes through Old Toroda before connecting with SR 20 in Wauconda. My wheels push up and over the great North Cascades Highway and don’t stop turning until I reach home on the wet side of the mountains.

This trip included viewing the largest concrete structure in the United States, climbing dirt switchback mountain roads, two small ferries and finding a ghost town and mine once owned by a famous gum manufacturer. How’s that for a weekend well spent on two wheels?