Salem/Keizer/Albany/Jefferson Meet-ups

OK, I think I can make it - will know by tomorrow -gotta sweet talk the wife....
Will see if I can figure out the routing function on my Garmin & pre-load it in.

I got a spare roll chart holder you can borrow - pm me if you need it.

Dave

Yes, the road leaves from 35...I took FS48 to 4890 to 4891, then follow 3550 (pavement ends) to 4860. 4860 (gnarly rocks) to TR140 (more gnarly rocks). That'll get you there. Coming back, I took 3550 all the way around to 35 and Bennett Pass and you're back on the slab.

Some pretty awesome rock slides and downed tree sections, but completely passable and well traveled back around mid July. If it's hot, take your swimming gear and enjoy the lake! It's beautiful.

Ran this road back in June in a Jeep. There were downed trees that I had to maneuver around...:eek1. Good thing it was a rental! I had that baby off the trail in the middle of the woods rolling over old dead trees and rocks to get around all the blockages. There were 4 of them within a 1/2 mile section! I hope they went through and got rid of them by now...still easier to do on a bike. Once we got through the blockages, the road from the dry side was clear, except for some yahoos camping. Lots of mosquitoes in that creek valley. I bet it would be fun on a bike. I think you guys should link this ride up w/ your badger lake ride. The roads are close to each other from Hwy 35.

OK, it is official. I am in. No time restrictions this ride. What time do we leave town?

How about 7 from the Inn? We can have brunch later in the morning, yes I said BRUNCH, in keeping with the BMW owners guide to snooty behavior...

OK. 7am it is. The weather forecast shows just a 10% chance of rain & high temps 79 here & approx 65 at our destination. Perfect.
Changed the oil & lubed the chain up last night. I'm ready!

Ok, we did it. Off of highway 35 we took rd 48 to 4880 to Bonney Meadows/4891 to 3550/Bennet Pass. We kind of missed a split and went above Badger on the ridge, till the GPS's were pointing backwards saying "back their dummy" of course looking down and seeing the lake in the valley helped too. We back tracked to the last split and went on in the last couple of miles. It was a great ride. Lots more area to explore up there. On the "Official Mark Gnarliness Meter" the road rates a 4 out of a possible 10. As a day ride it rates a respectful 7 though. I'm glad we did it. We then went south on some road, till it turned to pavement, then hit 48 and 26, where I had to let dasvis know he had the map upside down. High speed pavement back to Detroit for a giant plate of food, at that point all the little creatures that were trying to impact on the bikes were looking tasty. We crossed or seen the Barlow road signs a few times and that is on the list of rides to do, to bad that list is growing faster than I can do them. Here is a couple of pics...


On Bonney Meadows road






Overlooking Badger Lake...








At the lake...






Then an "action" pic, dasvis didn't cooperate and crash, but still a good shot...

Looks like you had a great ride.Is that the same area the Scardy Cat rally is going to be run? I'm all signed up by the way...E.

Well, it's the general area, probably 50 miles by road, same type of roads/terrain tho. We could easily do it Saturday. Cool beans about being signed up.

Here are a couple more pics....
<a href="http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae35/dasvis/?action=view&current=pic019Small.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/d/dasvis_pic019Small.jpg" border="0" alt="badger lake water hazard 8-22-09"></a>
Edgy navigating a hairy water hazard (?)....
You WILL dump that thing one of these days, & yes, I will be there for photographic proof. It needs some battle scars anyway.....

<a href="http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae35/dasvis/?action=view&current=pic016Small.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/d/dasvis_pic016Small.jpg" border="0" alt="Badger lake 8-22-09"></a>
Remote & desolate Badger lake. (please ignore the little kids on the raft...)

Was a great ride. 275+ miles. I expected the road into Badger to be a bit more challenging, though I suppose in a 4-wheeled vehicle it is a bit harder to navigate. Edgy is correct, Skyline road between Ollaie lake & USFS road 46 is WAY more knarly.
This fat old guy is still recovering, DRZ seats are made for scrawny little Japanese guys I guess. - I should be ready for the scaredy cat.

As I have finally figured out how to make photos show up, here's a picture of the viewpoint on the Cascade 150 route that I did solo back on 7/18/09.
This is Detroit lake, Oregon. That is Piety island there in the middle of the lake.
<a href="http://s955.photobucket.com/albums/ae35/dasvis/?action=view&current=pic006Small.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/d/dasvis_pic006Small.jpg" border="0" alt="Cascade 150 Detroit lake overlook"></a>

So then, 3pm counts as brunch?
I think you need to re-read that BMW manual.

Yeah, the Forest Service really needs to place "food pellet" dispensers out in the forests, maybe at remote Badger Lake we should have asked one of the kids on the raft if they could spare some food...

Congrats on making it to the allusive lake - So were there any "badgers" ?

So was it a hard ride ? - thought I had read it was a rutted rocky trail to get into it, but the pix show smooth gravel roads - just be nosey.

There were places that were a little rutted, but overall it was a cakewalk.
It is possible that the USFS has done a little work on the road, it looked like some evidence of cat work & possible graveling. Lots of downed trees (BIG ones) from last year's weather... they really must have spent a lot of time there just clearing those out.

The last couple of 200+ mile trips have included a fair amount of high speed pavement pounding to get to our destination & wind fatigue has really been beating me up. So- I did a little research for windscreens & came up with this: (see link) https://tciproductsusa.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=144_167_175
Clean install & quickly removeable.
Edgy, if you are looking for a decent rack for that WR, they offer one that might be a good alternative to the drit bagz setup.

Thanks for the link, they have some interesting offerings. The rack, and the fuel cell...hmmmm

I think next weekend I'm taking Tiny up to Snow Peak, not an all day thing if you or anyone is interested. I thought that I had reached the top, but found out today you can actually get to the top, where there are some towers.

Wow. They must've redone the road. Back around the 4th of July it was brutal, and it looked nothing like the road in the photos. Think "dry creek bed" for about 15 miles. 5 mph tops in a 4x4. Took every bit of 2 1/2 hours to drive in and 2 hours out via the northern route.

I'm still glad you guys did the road though. I wish I could've gone on that ride. I wouldn't mind meeting up for the Barlow Rd ride if you do it.

I'm busy on Sunday, but Saturday would be good. Count me in.