Day 10-Whistler to White Rock with a CRASH!-285km-18 Sept. 2014,

I awoke several times to find that it was still “dark” outside. After rolling over and going back to sleep I finally checked my clock to find that it 9:00, why was it still so dark out! The combination of overcast skies and thick trees meant it was still “dark” in my tent. I staggered out and quickly packed up my gear before the authorities discovered us squatting under the power lines. We rode into town to finally see Whistler in the day. I spent some times wandering the walkways of this story book town and looked longingly at all the mountain bikers ripping down the hills. Next time I am here I will definitely be renting a bike to join them.

Jason lead us up to loggers lake and mad the short hike up to a rope swing that he had found on his previous visit. When we arrived we found the remains of some ones camp fire which was spreading rapidly across the dry ground. Having nothing to put out the smoldering fire we waved over a guide with his gaggle of hiker who had a tarp in his bag which we filled several times from the lake below to douse the blaze. Not fully satisfied we called the forest fire prevention line so that they could get a crew out to dig up the site to ensure the roots were fully extinguished.

we are also firefighters

With our good dead for the day done we decided that, despite the cool, it would be silly not to take a swing. We were here after all. Stripping down to our skivvies we scaled the tree to the launch platform 5m above us, screwed up our courage, and swung out into the unknown. The way the swing was set up once you left the platform there was no turning back. If you hung on you would eventually come to rest dangling over shallow water and submerged trees. You had to fully commit and release at the highest point of the swing to plunge 10m into the lake. Once I got up the courage to do it once it was so much fun I simply had to do it twice!

the view from the top of the rope swing

After gearing up and hiking back to the bikes we rode down the mountain to meet up with Alissa one last time at the local brewery. When we arrived, I realized that I had left my precious skivvies unsecured on the bike which caused them to flutter off somewhere on the mountain road. Someone was going to get a very special souvenir when they found them! After saying farewell to Alissa we set off for the big city of Vancouver.

The light rain had made the highway slick which made me take all the corners with care. Despite this, on the exit to Noth-Van I felt my back end sliding out. There was nothing I could do to stop it, next thing I knew my bike was sliding on its side off the road. I knew I would be fine, I was traveling at a mere 30km/h when the tire slid out but how would the bike fare? When I skidded to a stop, uttering every curse word into my helmet I was able to stand up and find that, except for a rip in my pants, I was fully intact. But my bike, my faithful companion on this voyage, hadn’t been so lucky. The hard panier on both sides of my bike had been smashed to bits scattering my belonging into the ditch. What had caused this accident? Low tire pressure? Old tires? Oil on the road? All good excuses but ultimately the blame had to be on my shoulders. I was going too fast for the conditions and paid the price. It could have been much worse. The incident didn’t really scare me, more than anything I was just mad at myself. This would be an expensive lesson, the side cases would have to be replaced, but I would learn from it. I didn’t want this trip to come to an end because I was being careless with my riding.

Still smiling! kind of. -JKD Photo

With the help of Jason and a passing motorist we lifted the bike and rolled it into the nearby parking lot where we secured my bags and what remained of my side cases with rope and set off to our destination. In addition to hurting my precious bike, we were going to be late for dinner. We still had 50km to go to reach my family’s home in White Rock. Our route took us thru through the worst of Vancouver’s traffic. Riding through Vancouver at rush isn’t something I would wish on anyone. When we returned to tour the city… we would take the bus.

We finally arrived at Frank and Tammy’s home in White Rock where we were greeted with fantastic left overs, a garage for the bikes, and real beds for us!

Day 11-13-Relaxing on the Coast-578km-19 to 21 Sept. 2014,

We had originally planned to stay just two nights but Frank and Tammy’s legendary hospitality forced us to stay 4 nights. The first day we spent lounging around making final arrangements to depart Canada and finding a replacement for my smashed side cases.

On the second day we ventured into Vancouver with my cousin’s Mark and Rebecca to see all the sites. Rebecca is now living in the city and leading an exciting life as graphic designer.

Spot the tourist -JKD photo

We eventually found our way to a dinner where I enjoyed a fabulous burger and a $5 shake. The shake eventually led us to decide that we had to watch a Tarantino film that night so we set off to Rebecca’s place stopping only to acquire one of Jason and mine’s favorite things… a box of wine.

$5 shakes and Ray Ban club

After the movie Jason, Mark, and I set off to find our way back to White Rock, having an hour to kill we decided to try our luck at the casino (Jason and I needed to practice for Vegas after all!). We didn’t have much luck which meant we all left a little poorer than when we entered; which is about what we expected.

The next day we were all supposed to head out with the boat for a day on the lake. Mark, who had only just turned nineteen, was discovering that box wine did not agree with and decided that he would be especially susceptible to sea sickness today, so he went back to bed. The rest of us went out and enjoyed a fantastic on the water. Becca taught Jason and I the finer points of wake surfing which, to my surprise, I discovered I wasn’t terrible at! Sadly I cannot say the same about my wake boarding skills.

How I looked on my first attempt -JKD photo

How its supposed to look -JKD photo

How I looked by the end of the day -JKD photo

Frank, Tammy, Rebecca, Mark and Mary thank you for all the hospitality, you made it very difficult to leave!

Day 14-White Rock to Seattle-195km-22 Sept. 2014,

Woke up to a misty rain falling from the sky, because of this we took our time packing up and were rewarded with glorious sunshine by the time we departed. Before we left Canada we canceled our cell phones and acquired US dollars to get us through the first week in a foreign land. After a one hour wait at the border in the scorching sun we were finally at the security point. The guard asked me all about our trip; it’s hard to tell if he is genuinely interested or trying to decide if we needed special screening. I felt a little rude giving him terse answers but I was in a hurry to get across to start the next leg of our journey. 

Once we were across, our first stop was at a boating supply store to acquire new genuine pelican cases for my bike, to get us there I had tied down my two back packs to what remained of my smashed side cases. My make shift set up must of looked pretty rough to any passing observers. The shop had exactly the cases I wanted and were nice enough to lend me a drill so that I could make holes in my brand new cases. Before long we were off again! I am curious to see how these new cases hold up in a crash but I am in no great hurry to find out for sure!

With my shiny new cases  we rolled onto Seattle to meet our host, Rick P., who we had found on Moto Stays (Couch Surfing for those with two wheels and a story). Rick took us to a local Tapas bar which brought back fond memories of my time in Barcelona in 2011, of course at the time we could only afford to look longingly thru the windows at all the delicious food offered up at the many tapas bars while we dined on left overs from the hostels free breakfast (which can be turned into a free lunch and supper if you have big pockets). Rick has lived all over the US and in Southeast Asia and we were able to fill the night with stories of travel and discussion of the future of China.

Day 15-Seattle and Everett- 23 Sept. 2014,

We rode up to Everett to visit the Boeing factory were the 747, 747, and 787 are assembled in the largest building in the world! Sadly there was no cameras allowed but the 4 brand new 747’s being put together looked tiny in this massive building. We even got to see the massive Dream Lifter land and unload its cargo of parts for the 787 which were being delivered from plants all across the globe for final assembly.

It lifts dreams

We returned to Rick’s place to drop off the bikes and catch the bus into downtown Seattle. Seeing the space needle, monorail, and other left overs from the 1962 world’s reminded us that the future looked a lot more futuristic  50 years ago but then again the people then had no idea how cool the iPhone would be!

I dare you to go closer

The space needle wasn't difficult to find

 Day 16-Seattle to Port Angeles-155km- 24 Sept. 2014,

Woke up to pouring rain so we fell back on our previous strategy of taking a long ass time to pack up while hoping the rain would stop. Our tardiness rewarded us again with a sunny departure in early afternoon. Rick, thanks for being a great host!

We caught a the Ferry from Edmound Bay to Kingston, for a motorcycle trip we seem to be spending a surprising amount of time on boats. On the ferry we encountered dozens of other motor cyclists out for a ride which is significant because it is probably the largest group of middle aged men we will ever encounter who did not want to talk to us about adventure riding. Apparently gold wing and Harley riders don’t talk to dirty Canadians on KLR’s J.

Harley riders not talking to us

Hi speed selfie

 We rode onto Port Angeles where we stopped for supplies at the local Safeway which tempted us with their steaming piles of hot and ready Chinese Food…. Never again! With my stomach in knots we made the short ride into Olympic National Forest to camp for the night.

Day 17-Port Angeles to Amanda Park-277km- 25 Sept. 2014,

Indulged in a leisurely morning with the sun shining down thru the trees of the Olympic forest. Once we packed up packed up and ready to go a started my bike with a mighty roar! When Jason tried to do the same his bike stubbornly refused to start. After fiddling with the fuel petcock and cranking it for a few minutes we pulled off our helmets and broke out our tools and thinking caps (these are most important of all). Having established that there was in fact air and fuel reaching the engine we had to check for spark next (these bikes really are about as basic as you can get). By pulling the ignition cap off the plug and using the spare plug that I had brought we were able to establish that there was spark. So why wasn’t there any fire? It was possible that the plug was fouled but in order to get at the plug you have to remove the entire fuel tank which was something we wanted to avoid.

Then Jason remembered that he had had similar problems before which was due to poor connection between the cap and the wire. After pulling the connector apart and tweaking the copper wires within he was able to bring his bike back to life but it would continue to give us troubles for the next few days. Again I felt the frustration I had felt back on our third day of travel (the chain incident), Jason knew that his wire was faulty back in May but hadn’t bothered to replace it and now his lack of preparation was delaying us once again. This time it was only took an hour to fix but what would happen when something more critical, that should have been replaced before departure, went leaving us stranded somewhere? Vent over.

With both bikes thumping in unison we set off to ride the 15km up to hurricane ridge. I started off in the lead but halfway up Jason blasted past me, “too fast” I thought as I shook my head. The KLR isn’t the most nimble bike to start with and loading down with all our gear doesn’t help matters. But maybe I was going a little slow? I had been even more cautious after my spill coming into Vancouver. I went around a few more corners and then saw Jason and his bike in the ditch. I guess it was too fast! The bike was a little scratched up but was otherwise fine.

Jason's bike needed to have a lie down

The new hole alows for easy access

Now we had both crashed once which is maybe something we needed to teach both of us to be more cautious in the future. Once we pulled the bike out of the ditch we finished the ride up to the peak where we were rewarded with a grand lookout and freezing wind.

Also, a raven who was trying to steal my phone!

Criminal raven

We descended into a thick blanket of fog as we descended into Port Angeles as we pushed on toward Forks, WA it began to mist, then rain, and finally pour! Being wet and cold is pretty much my least favorite thing. I can handle each separately but together It is just miserable.

Hiding from the rain

We reached Amanda Park, a tiny tourist village on the edge of park. Wondering into the only motel in town we found out that they wanted $125 bucks for a single bed! No way! (In retrospect I wonder if the proprietor took one look at us, dirty and wet, and decided that we would make $125 worth of mess).

We rode into the park with the rain still coming down to try and find some shelter. In the second camp ground we inspected we found a picnic shelter but someone had already laid claim to it. Just as we about to take off again the figure stood and beckoned us over saying that it wasn’t much but he would be happy to share the space.

So we rolled the bikes in and tried to warm ourselves by the small fire. The figure turned out to be Doug, a 65 year old Vietnam Vet of no fixed addressed, he had appeared to be living there for several weeks. He rambled on about various conspiracy theories happy to talk even if we weren’t really listening (I think he would have had the same conversation with or without us there!). He certainly eccentric but he was kind enough to share his space and entertain us with all his conspiracy theories!

Soon after two cyclist appeared in the rain gazing longingly at our shelter. We invited them to join us as well and with that we had five people setting up camp in this picnic shelter to avoid the rain. The cyclists turned out to be British ski bums living in whistler (where we had just been!)  cycling to California in the shoulder season.  Living off of a motorcycle is a can be Spartan at times (remember, Jason only pack two pairs of underwear) but it seems positively luxurious when compared to life on a pedal bike. I will be the first to admit that touring cyclists our way tougher than any biker (including the gangster variety of bikers).

Day 18-Amanda Park to Portland -380km- 26 Sept. 2014,

The rain poured all through the night and was still coming down hard in the morning. Everyone took their time getting up and making breakfast because no one wanted to go back out into the down pour. Finally around 11 it seemed to lighten up a little and we decided to make a run for it. We made it as far as the campground gate which the park rangers had been kind enough to lock with us inside. There was no way around the gate and sliding our heavily loaded bikes under the barrier wasn’t really feasible. So naturally we pulled out the trusty adjustable wrench and took the gate apart. That’s right, we couldn’t force the lock so we just undid the bolt holding the chain. After putting it back together we were off into the torrential rain.

After about 30 min of riding we broke into glorious sunshine! Then ten minutes later we were back into the rain. This pattern of rain with brief glimpses of sunshine continued until we reached Astoria. After grabbing a bite to eat at our favorite internet café (McDonalds) we rode up to visit the Astoria Column. This monument looks like it has been transplanted from a European capital into this sleepy coastal town.

Astoria's Column

Overlooking Astorua

After taking in the view we hoped back onto our bikes and blasted the last hundred miles to Portland and checked the cheapest hotel I could find so that we would have an opportunity to dry out all our soggy gear.

Day 19-Portland to Crater Lake-500km-27 Sept. 2014,

After performing some parking lot maintenance on Jason’s bike we headed east to see these awesome falls.

Next we wound our way thru some of the curviest road we have seen yet heading deeper into the interior of Oregon. We rode hard and just managed to make it to the camp site just as the sun was setting and the temperature plummeting; in the morning I would find frost on the picnic tables!

Day 20-Crater Lake - 28 Sept. 2014,

This morning I hid in the tent until all the frost had disappeared. When we finally gained enough courage to venture out we set off on the bikes with only day packs and worked our way around the lake stopping at every scenic look out that caught our eye. The peak we had wanted to hike up to was hidden in a layer of cloud so we compromised by hiking down to the lake along the only trail that provides access to the lake from the crater’s rim.   

Clouds and cold

White pine trees bent from constant wind

 After a day of exploring we picked up a friend making kit (aka six pack of beer) and headed back to the camp site. Since Jason and I were sick of talking to each other we took the beer over a few sites and made friends with Emilia, Trevor, and their dog Red. We had bumped into them on the trail during the day and they were happy to share their campfire with us. They even busted out a guitar to keep us entertained. Sometimes talking to strangers pays off!

Making friends in the campground

Day 21-Crater Lake to Clam Beach -420km- 29 Sept. 2014,

The morning was cold, but not as cold as it had been the day before. I didn’t really mind pulling on long underwear and a sweater because I knew I would be heading down from the mountains into sunny California today! With every mile we rode I could watch the altitude drop on my GPS and feel the heat begin to rise. Eventually we made it to the coast and the red wood forest. The thousand year old red woods tower around us blotting out the sun that had been keeping me warm. We even to manage to find a tree to park our bikes in for safe keeping! And a photo op!

California Coast

Clam Beach

Late in the afternoon we pulled into Clam Beach, a no thrills campsite beside the highway. As I started to cook supper a gentleman wandered over asked for a beer…. Or a cigarette…. Or weed…. Or money (so he could buy some beer). I apologised for not having any of these thing and asked him if he would like some food, it would be no trouble for me to toss in a few extra noodles. He wasn’t interested. Jason made the mistake of rolling a cigarette for our new friend; as a result he spent the next 45min sitting in our campsite asking us over and over again for beer, cigarettes, weed, or money. He got very excited when he thought he had found a tiny bit of marijuana on the picnic table and begged us for just one more cigarette so he could smoke it. We checked later, as far as we could tell the marijuana he had found was in fact bird dung…. Perhaps we should have let him smoke it. Finally, to get rid of our very eager friend we gave him all the change from our wallets, about $2, and encouraged him to hitch hike into town where he could turn that money into a beer far away from us.