2011 West Coast Trip

DAY ONE:
Saturday, August 20th, Jason Mohlman (JMAX), Quin Farmer (QFarmer), Ken Whetstone (Tombstone), and myself started our West Coast Trip. Our destination was Crescent City, CA, but we had decided to take quite the detour to get there-through Washington.

Leaving SLC, we took the most direct route to Pendleton, OR. If it wasn't for the 3 slight bends in the road, I think I could have set a cruise control and taken a nap. We blasted along I-15 and I-84, seldomly being passed by anyone and, in the early evening, we arrived at our destination, Pendleton.

We unloaded our bikes and then walked into town looking for a place to eat. After walking around and looking at all the mom and pop restaurants, we settled on Denny's.

After dinner we promptly returned to our motel and went to sleep in preparation for the next day.

Me taking off at 6:00AM

Quin Farmer-QFarmer

Jason Mohlman-JMAX

Ken Whetstone-Tombstone

The view from above Pendleton

DAY TWO:
We left Pendleton at 8:00 A.M. and continued up I-84. After just a short time, we started riding next to the Columbia River Gorge. The Columbia River is the borderline between Oregon and Washington. Its massive size and the cool, breezy air are welcoming after hours in the desert. We crossed the river near White Salmon and then continued on the river's northern shore until Carson, where we headed north on Wind River Road to ride around Mount Saint Helens.

The roads around St. Helens are amazing! Very twisty and scenic. However, they weren't amazingly marked and we got a little off track, but it was nice to see more and ride longer. St. Helens is an amazing site to see. It's incredible to see a massive crater in the side of a mountain and to read about those who witnessed it first hand.

After we got are share of St. Helens, we hopped on Hwy 5 and headed for our hotel near Portland.

Riding along the Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

Mount Saint Helens

Ken, Jason, Quin, and me-Mount Saint Helens

The hike to the view point

DAY THREE:

We woke up to a bit of fog and expected it to get worse the closer we got to the shore, which it did. After just a short time on the road, Ken had to take off and continued on his own trip back home. When we arrived at the coastline in Lincoln City, most of the fog had dissipated. We had a blast slowly riding down Hwy 101, taking in the awe-inspiring scenery and stopping a lot for pictures. At about 3:00PM we realized that we were still only about half way to our destination!

We started to cruise at a quicker pace after that, still enjoying the scenery, but at 60MPH.

Me (Jared Gant)-Oregon Coast

Quin Farmer-Oregon Coast

Oregon Coast

Me (Jared Gant)-Oregon Coast

Not too sure what this was, but it kind of freaked me out when it started to crawl

Me (Jared Gant) on the Oregon Coast

Quin Farmer- Oregon Coast

Jason Mohlman- Oregon Coast

Catching a starfish

DAY FOUR: KAWANOW.ORG RALLY

Our excuse to ride these roads again (Quin and I did this trip two years ago), was to attend the KawaNOW rally in Crescent City. KawaNOW (Kawasaki Nomad Owners Worldwide) is an organization with a website and forum that I participate a lot on.

On day four we rode through the Avenue of the Giants, which was incredible. These massive trees seem to climb forever, touching the clouds.

KawaNOW.org group

Jason, Quin, and Jared-Avenue of the Redwoods

Quin pointing the the ring the represents his birth year

Motorcycling in the dark of the redwoods

Jared and Quin next to a hollowed out redwood

Coastal Redwood-tallest trees in the world

Jared and Quin-Avenue of the Giants

Jared, Quin, and Jason-Redwoods

DAY FIVE: KAWANOW.ORG RALLY

At this point we had been on the road for several days traveling anywhere between 300-600 miles each day. So, on our fifth day, we decided to sleep-in, do some laundry, and see what Crescent City had to offer.

Crescent City Coast Line

Playing with the wildlife

Crescent City Coast Line

Quin Farmer-Crescent City Coast Line

DAY SIX: KAWANOW.ORG RALLY

For the last day of the rally, we had a lot scheduled. We started the day with a long ride through the northern part of California, including a long portion of Hwy 101, the Redwoods, and Hwy 199. The first part of the ride was scenic and relaxing and was especially enjoyable with a group of 20 or so Nomads. After lunch, a small group of us took off to finish the ride at our own pace, and we had an awesome time, throwing sparks through several turns of Hwy. 199.

After the ride, we headed over to the local casino for a rally banquet. After having an awesome dinner, we participated in a raffle where the proceeds went to the local little league association.

Group ride-KawaNOW.org

Group ride-KawaNOW.org

Quin Farmer

Joel Schneekloth, Teri Conrad, and Kris Olsen

DAY SEVEN:

Last year, on a whim, I rode to San Fran on my way to LA for the sole purpose of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, but because of unforeseen weather issues, I wasn't able to see it. Quin had also never seen the bridge so, for our route back to Utah, we decided to ride the coastline to San Fran and to cross the bridge. Along the way we saw a few different signs advertising the drive-through tree so we had to make a stop at the Chandelier tree as well. After seeing the bridge we jumped on I-80 and burnt as many miles as we could, finally stopping in Sacramento.

Quin and Jared barely fitting side-by-side

Chandelier tree

Finally making it to the bridge

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

DAY EIGHT:

Our original plans were to take two days to get home, but we all had our own motivations to make the last 700-mile push in one day. Leaving Sacrimento at 4:00AM, to make up for the hour we would gain, we hopped on I-80, set our speedometers at 80MPH and only stopped every 150 miles. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted but happy to be able to sleep in our own beds.

Jared M. Gant