Day 8 was a day of contrasts. From damp, cool, and tight twisty roads in the morning to hot and dry in the mid day to cool, dry with mostly straight roads in the afternoon.
Day 8 was also a day to pour on the miles, so we were out the door near sunrise, despite the fog and cool weather.
Most of the morning was spent on CA36 - which has been called one of the best motorcycle roads in California. Early on, CA36 twists and winds its way from the coast. There were several redwood groves that were nearly nighttime dark with the clouds, fog and trees. I was a little paranoid about deer, since it seemed likely they were around. Thankfully, none showed themselves.
At one point as we gained elevation, the clouds/fog could be seen pooling in the valleys around us. Once inland a few miles, the fog dissipated quickly.
CA36 continues to twist and wind aggressively. Many of the curves and elevation changes are quite technical. There are a few straight stretches, but the road is a bit of work on a large loaded touring bike. Fun work, but still work. A group of bikes passed us in the opposite direction toward the end of the morning - likely taking advantage of the great road. Traffic was nonexistent, and the couple commercial vehicles in front of us were quick to move over to let faster vehicles pass.
It was tons of fun running CA36, but it would have been even more fun if it wasn't on a day where making tracks was important.
As CA36 wound down in elevation to Red Bluff, the area quickly turned noticeably drier - everything looked unhealthily dry. The contrast to the wetter mountains was shocking. Through the second half of the day, we saw several dry lake beds - a clear sign of the ongoing California drought.
The road also changed after Red Bluff to more sweeping turns - even the switchbacks were much more gentle and most could be taken at speed.
While looking at routes the previous evening, I had noticed and read about Lassen National Park. It looks like a great park to explore, and crowds are supposedly pretty thin much of the year. But alas, there was no time to do the park justice on this trip. We may have to make a trip back at some time in the future to see it. As it was, riding through the park was almost as nice as the previous 140 miles.
Once outside of the Lassen area, the traffic picked up for a while as we made our way to and through Reno. Lunch was at Ranch House outside Reno; very good burgers.
I've always wanted to ride US50 - The Loneliest Road - through northern Nevada. While it was totally different than the morning ride, it was still extremely enjoyable. At first, it wasn't very lonely as Fallon, Nevada wasn't very much fun to get through. Once out of Fallon, the road opened up into huge expanses of nothing. Nope - not true or fair. The terrain subtly changed throughout the afternoon and it was beautifully scenic in its own way. It was also much easier to rack up the miles.
Burning Man is occurring only about a hundred miles away in the Nevada desert. This could be a great contrast to the previous day's encounter with Bohemian Grove. Both rural Western Events now turned ultra exclusive by wealthy people whose political persuasions are probably diametrically opposed. There is a lesson there...
There was even one set of curves near Austin, Nevada that pushed us up to the highest elevation for the day. I was surprised the tight twisties on CA36 didn't actually bring us up higher than the average elevation in the Nevada desert.
After Austin, The Loneliest Road earned its moniker. The few other vehicles seemed to dry up and there was a continued lack of evidence of civilization, other than the road. The sky was partly cloudy with temperatures near 75 and very dry air. It was wonderful.
We ended the day in Eureka, Nevada. We were surprisingly not exhausted, but still ready to be done for the day. Dinner was at a bar across from the hotel; probably one of the better dinners of the trip so far.
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