Putting In A Few Miles

 I decided to go enjoy the weather on our side of the mountains and head south into northwest Oregon to collect a few stops for some rallies I am (kind of) participating in this year. I have a new bike now - a 2023 Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Pro - and am working to get used to the different riding style. So far I like the feeling of being more connected to the road on this bike, but a new seat is needed as this ride stretched the limits of my tolerance!

564 miles on a mostly sunny day with OK traffic on a Saturday - perfect! I enjoyed some "alone time" near Mt St Helens. The Johnston Ridge Visitor's Center is still closed because of a huge landslide a few years ago, thus traffic is pretty minimal all the way up and back. Just some people headed back and forth to campsites. The mountain was out but hazy conditions persisted, likely caused by nearby fire smoke.

After Mt St Helens and a brief stop for lunch, I was off to explore WA-4 west of Longview. This is a fun section of road that doesn't see too much traffic because US-30 is on the other side of the river in Oregon and is more used. I wanted to enjoy the little ferry that crosses the Columbia River from Cathlamet, WA as I headed south into Oregon. It is a cash-only, small car ferry with hourly service. The crossing takes roughly 15 minutes. I am not sure it saved me any time, but it was fun to get off the bike and enjoy the scenery.

My first obstacle of the day - the shortcut I wanted to use was closed through Timber, Oregon and I had to backtrack a bit to get down to OR-6 for my final stop of the day. The trip down through Vernon, Oregon was just as entertaining as I remembered and it gave me a good chance to feel the new bike in some tighter corners. For those who haven't enjoyed OR-47 from US-30 down through Vernon to US-26, give it a try!

A good day! Bike behaved well, weather was good and I stopped several times to enjoy the day :)

Mt St Helens was out - as seen from the Castle Lake Viewpoint.

My new bike!

One of my PNWGT checkpoints - a covered bridge near the Columbia River.

The little Cathlamet car ferry :)

My last PNWGT checkpoint along OR-6 in northwest Oregon.

Puget Sound Loop

I decided to get out for a ride to do some scouting for future rallies as well as visiting a few stops for this year's events. There was rain in the forecast but it seemed to be staying south. I made my way down through Tacoma pretty early in the morning and then made my way up to the Fort Lawton Cemetery in west Seattle. Saturdays can be hit or miss for traffic around Seattle, but my ride was pretty uneventful without any meaningful slowdowns and I was out of Seattle and on my way to my next stop pretty quickly.

Fort Lawton Cemetery - a TOH stop.

I have never explored the Mountain Loop Highway and wanted to head out for a stop at one of the locations for my PNWGT rally. The road is paved from Granite Falls to the Ice Caves trailhead but turns to dirt shortly after that. I didn't plan to ride beyond the Ice Caves and just doubled back after making my stop. It was very scenic and I enjoyed the road but it was crowded with cars (both driving and parked).

One of many campgrounds along the Mountain Loop Highway.

My PNWGT stop at the Ice Caves trailhead.

Just a quick trip over to Whidbey Island for a stop at my final TOH memorial for the state.

TOH stop on Whidbey Island.

After my TOH stop I made my way down to the Coupeville ferry terminal for the ride over to Port Townsend. Being on a motorcycle makes the trip super easy as you do not have to get a reservation ahead of time. The rain clouds were visible off in the distance but I didn't really see much in the way of precipitation all day. Warm and muggy though.

The boat launch across from the terminal - you can sometimes see some entertaining
activity during launch and recovery as the ramp is pretty steep.

Looking at Port Townsend and layers of the Olympic Mountains in the background.