We knew it was going to be cold, but the combination of temperatures in the mid 30's with the fog was brutal.
We headed out near daylight, going south; the fog was intermittent, yet sticky. The roads still had a level of truck traffic that surprised me, but the trucks stayed on US97 while we turned off toward Crater Lake. Elevation rose from around 4500 feet to above 7500 at some points in the park. The cool damp air pooled into the valleys.
We got to Crater Lake National Park before anyone was at the gate. A sign said to pay on the way out. We made our way into the park. In some places, the fog created a surreal scene that was almost too hard to comprehend.
We got to Crater Rim Drive with the intention of taking the west loop. A construction worker was flagging traffic and said there was several miles of gravel and some dirt as well. He also commented that motorcycles were having a tough time of it the previous day. I'm sure I could have handled it (how bad can it be after the Alaska Highway near Destruction Bay), but we were not in a hurry, so we took the slightly longer east fork.
Taking the east loop of Crater Rim Drive had the added benefit of the sun at hour backs for views and pictures of the lake. The lake itself was stunning.
We stopped a few times to view the lake and take pictures. This allowed the weather, and us, to warm up to a tolerable level. As expected, we basically had the road to ourselves so early in the morning. The road was a fun drive, with parts of the surface being in somewhat tough shape - still better than a gravel construction zone.
One other view on the east fork of Crater Rim Drive was Mount Scott. Everest it is not, but the effect of the mountain making its own weather, as Everest does, could be seen. The phenomenon of clouds forming on the upper slope and curling away in the wind was interesting to watch.
I guess the National Parks assumes that morning people don't exist, because even after putzing around in the park for quite a while, the gate was not manned as we left.
We started to work our way farther south and west. Traffic ebbed and flowed through the morning. We snacked at a gas station since it would still be breakfast time and lunch was on our minds. As it was, lunch came much later down in California.
We had been in California in 2009, but only briefly as our schedule didn't allow the planned trip the Salton Sea. 2016 comes with the intent to spend much more time.
As we got into California, we started to drive through the amazing redwood forests. It was slightly disorienting driving through the immense trees at first.
We turned onto the Newton P Drury Scenic Parkway. Again, more fantastically large trees. Roads were a mix of straight and tight curves as the road rose from near sea level to well over 1000 feet.
There were intermittent views of the Pacific Ocean as US101 hugged the coast. We stopped a couple times, but the views were almost completely shrouded in fog. This thick coastal fog only stayed right near the water, only a few hundred yards inland, there wasn't any fog.
Our spirits were high, but since we are loosely following Robert Pirsig's journey from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I'll quote him as he finally reached the Pacific Ocean.
"Coastal people never really know what the ocean symbolizes to landlocked inland people - what a great distant dream it is, present but unseen in the deepest levels of subconsciousness, and when they arrive at the ocean and the conscious images are compared with the subconscious dream there is a sense of defeat at having come so far to be so stopped by a mystery that can never be fathomed."
We stopped a couple times to look at the trees. The area was almost jungle-like in some places, with only hints of any paths with rotting spongy earth. The scale of the trees can be seen in comparison to the Goldwing - a bike large enough to have its own zip code.
Some of the most interesting views were straight up - a view which almost causes vertigo.
We stopped for lunch at the Lighthouse Grill in Trinidad. Food and prices were both good, even if the refills on soda cost one clam and the place smelled loudly of rosemary.
We continued south, working our way through Eureka, where we had at one time almost thought of staying. Eureka was lousy with traffic, and we were glad we didn't make reservations there.
We made our way to Bear River Casino, checking in and unloading the bike.
We rode farther south to the Avenue of the Giants. This area was a little less busy, or maybe it just seemed that way since there were less evil motorhomes and caravans. We stopped to get up close and personal with a few more redwoods. The area was more open, less jungle, which made the short hikes we did much easier. I couldn't help but think that this was what Bohemian Grove looks like. Or at least what I think it looks like based on pictures I've seen. However this grove was a bit farther north and not infested with the rich and powerful planning what will happen to us plebeians.
I really thought the root structures of the blow down trees was interesting. They almost looked like enormous nontypical deer antlers.
After taking more pictures, we basically decided that as impressive as the redwoods were, they were, in fact, just big trees, so we headed back north to Bear River.
Dinner that night was at the Casino, followed by a few minutes of gambling. I lost my financial input, SO won that back plus some. We left early and slightly ahead.
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