Riding the Cassiar Highway – Part 1

June 18^th, 2026

Tatogga Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Woke at 5:30 this morning to piss.  I was actually awake, but that was too early to start packing and such, so went back to bed.

Woke again at 6:30 a.m.

This time I decided to stay up.

Took a shower and packed up the gear, then loaded the bike.

Once read, rode over to the office and checked out of the hotel.

I then went a mile back toward town to fuel up the bike, and also put fuel in the spare 3.5-liter fuel-bag I have. (It took me about 15 minutes this morning to figure out a method for securing this to the bike once full, empty it just folds up and fits in the pannier with my tools).

Once done with that, we hit the highway again.  Took BC16 back the way we had come the other day for bit over an hour, then turned off onto 37 north, the Stewart Cassiar Alaska Highway.

I stopped at the interchange at the fuel station there to use the restroom and buy breakfast. 

After some way overpriced packaged donuts, it was time to hit the road north.

This highway is a long stretch of road through the wilderness.  There are a few small villages in the south part in the tribal areas, but not much else.  A few stops have been built along the way, usually a lodge and fuel station, perhaps a few homes nearby.  Few small towns farther north, and several recreation areas, and even a few campsites managed by province.

It starts by crossing over the Skeena River.

I then pulled off into the small village on the other side to see some traditional totem poles.  The village has about 8 or so along the street in town.  Some are larger, but simpler, not painted, or paint has long since faded if it was there.

Spent a few minutes taking pictures, admiring the poles carvings and listening to the large black raven on the telephone pole nearby screeching at me.

Got back on the highway and started the long stretch northward.

My trip this morning was roughly 390km to reach my first fuel stop.  The bike normally says I can do 400-425km on a full tank, but typically that number starts dropping faster, and I end up only getting about 320km.

After the last week watching how the bike uses fuel while in various gears and engine revs, I have found if I keep the bike under 4500 RPM as I cruise it will do good, even better if I stay around 4000.  This means typically riding about 56MPH with a few times going slower and maybe a couple times hitting 60.

I had the spare fuel, which would give me about 60-70km of extra distance.

I had a fuel stop prior to the one I was targeting as well if I really needed it.

However, keeping speed down, not accelerating fast, and being mindful of keeping a more constant rev on the engine, I arrived at my fuel stop with about 75km of fuel range left, and still not used the spare fuel.

I filled the tank at the station and then went inside to have lunch at the café.

Food is crazy prices up here (though I do see some benefit from the conversion of currency, things are not quite as costly when I put them in US Dollars vs CA Dollars.

Chatted with a few people very briefly while getting fuel, otherwise just kept to myself on this trip.

After the fuel stop, it was about 1.5 hours to reach the motel I had booked the previous night.

The road was generally the same most of this route.  Lots of trees along the side, mountain views ahead and behind, occasional river crossings, and a few lakes along the road.

The bridges were interesting.  While many were normal highway bridges of asphalt or rougher concrete, there were a few that were the grating that you can see down through and are bit difficult to ride on as the grating can cause some wheel instability.

Also had a few bridges that looked to be surfaced with heavy wood planks.  They had signs warning about slippery surface, and it did feel a bit loose going over those, glad it was not raining, would made it worse.

In the last few miles before my motel, I stopped for the 2^nd time at a rest area to use the toilet.  The cold air makes me piss far more often!

The mosquitoes here are next level.  Not only are they the size of a house fly, but you get about 5 seconds after getting off the bike before you have 3 dozen swarming around you.

With the riding hear I was covered pretty good, so not much real estate for them, so they focused mostly on my head, and bit on the hands.  I need to remove gloves, so at risk there, and after the first stop, I just left the helmet on any other time I stopped.  That kept them away from my face at least, just buzzing around the helmet.

I did manage to get a few bites though the first time I stopped before lunch.

Once done with my stop, I then headed the last half hour to the motel.  But now the temperature was getting lower, and it was even sprinkling a bit.

I arrived at the motel and went to the main building with the restaurant where I suspected the check in would be.

Got my key and then rode back over to the row of rooms.  Parked up the bike and started to unload, but was only about half done when it started to rain steadily.

I also discovered a large type of bee stuck in a crevice of one of my bag straps, it was still alive, so not sure if it got in there while I was parked and went for a ride or was caught while riding, but usually a high-speed impact would kill them.

It was moving, though very jerky and unstable.  It did not want to let go of the bag either.  I took the bag over to the table outside the room and knocked it onto the table, then righting it since it landed upside down.

It was moving badly around the table, was not sure if both wings worked or if it would survive.

I at least got it out of the rain, but was also windy and cold.  Wind actually blew it off the table onto the chair, but since the chair was fabric, it was able to cling better to that.

I pushed the chair in under table, hoping that would keep wind and rain away and went back to unloading.

While I still had my rain jacket on, the bags still on the bike and the bike were getting wet.

While not a big issue, I still need to cover the bike to keep it from getting soaked and helps keep it out of view (out of sight, out of mind concept).  So ended up covering the bike after it was already wet.  Hopefully it will mostly dry off overnight, and will make sure I get it uncovered right away in the morning (assuming it is not raining).

I checked on my bee again, he was not moving, I touched it lightly with the room key and it lifted a leg and wiggled a bit, but not much.  I suspect it will not survive, but to keep the wind down I grabbed some larger dandelion leaves growing along the front of the board walk and covered it with those.  Maybe that will let him relax and get back to normal.

Once bike was secured, I sat inside the room and organized bags a bit so I can do things, then got online to check things as I have been without cell service most of the day due to the remote locations.  The hotel has a Starlink Wifi setup for us to use.

I then changed out of the riding gear and into my regular clothes.

Walked over to the restaurant to have dinner. The place is interesting, has lots of taxidermy animals around the place and some seating areas for people to gather.

Main dining area was just tables and that was where I sat down.

Again, with the crazy food prices, but the food was really good.  Had a bowl of thick potato soup with large strips of bacon and sprinkled with cheese, then had a large burger.

I then bought a few drinks as well when I paid and walked back over to the room so I could work on various things on the laptop.

I checked on the bee again, and it was gone!  I looked around on the floor to see if it had crawled and fell off, but could not see it, though possible it went down the crack between boards, there was one that probably was large enough.

The leaves were untouched, so nothing moved it, so I am hopeful it recovered enough and flew away to explore his new home as he is probably long way from where he started.

In the room now to work on this write up, track expenses and maybe work on videos.

I did have the laptop at dinner as well to move all the footage over, and also did some route planning for tomorrow.

I have decided to try another long haul, as there are not many hotel options on the route and the one campsite I know of could be full when I arrive, and also since I lack any kind of bug spray or netting, would be a miserable night, so will plan to get those in the next large city I come too, which will be tomorrow, sort of.

I have booked 3 nights at a motorcycle campsite.  I opted for the more costly fixed tents they have instead of pitching my own tent (3 times the cost, but again, need to get some bug protection first).

I will use that as my base for another day trip on Saturday, and then spend Sunday going into the nearby city to shop and also work on videos.

Guess that wraps up the day.

Catch ya down the road!

Chris

Day trip to the coast, in the rain!

June 17^th, 2026

Terrace, British Columbia, Canada

I woke up at 6:45 this morning long before my alarm went off at 8.

I did not really want to go back to bed, so just did some research on the phone in prep for todays short ride down to the coastal region.

I then showered and got geared up for my ride.

Today I will not be taking any of the luggage, just my backpack with a few things in it.

This meant I had to spend about 20 minutes securing all the straps attached to the bike so they would not be flapping in the wind or falling down and getting into places they should not be!

Once ready, I put on the rain jacket to keep me warm as the temperature was going to be a bit low until later in day, at least that is what the weather app said.

Rode over to the nearby fuel station to fill up the tank, should be able to get there and back on this one tank.

Rode through town and out the other side on highway 16.  The road stays along the Skeena River for most of the route other then short sections inland to go over hills and areas where they could not build next to the river.  Most of the route was under 500 feet altitude, in many places down under 100 feet, even miles before we reached shore.

The winds were blowing as usual, right in my face most of the way, blowing up the river valley.  Temperatures did not act like they wanted to go up much, but were tolerable.  A few short spits of rain, but nothing to worry about, at least to start with.

About halfway there, the clouds dropped down to the water level, could hardly see the opposite shore at times. (The river gets wide here, I would say up to and even over 1 mile in width at places.)

Had to stop at a rest area to rest and use the facilities, but lucked out and it was one of the spots right on the river.

Then the rains started, light to medium rains, typically for a few minutes, but some were longer.  In between the roads were still wet, and the mists in the air would still hit the visor and condensate into water.

Had a few 1 lane constructions zones to navigate, but did not sit long any of them.

The last 40 minutes of the ride things went worse.  Winds were higher, rain was constant, and the temperatures dropped several degrees (Celsius).

I pulled into Prince Rupert cold, wet (I did not put the pants on today, and my leather riding gloves were wet, therefore my hands were getting numb) and tired.

I pulled up at the first place I saw, which was one of the two parks I wanted to visit and took stock of things.

I pulled out my wet weather gloves to use them rest of the day, though after a few minutes the rain stopped other than a few sprinkles.

I walked around the Pacific Mariners Memorial Park, which is dedicated to those who have lived and lost their lives at sea.  There were a few sculptures and memorial walls along with some sea themed items on display.

On display was the Kazu Maru, a small Japanese fishing boat that vanished off Japan in 1985.  Roughly 18 months later it was found drifting off the islands near town, and eventually tracked down to the missing fisherman from Japan.

The city and private donors restored the boat and, in a ceremony, attended by the fisherman’s family it was put on display in this park.

This was also a good place to view the harbor area and look out over the sea.  There are islands in front of the this area, so you cannot see the ocean directly, just the bay the city is on.

Once done, I rode a few blocks over to the Rotary Park to see the old train station and a whale sculpture. (completed around 1985, but artist died around then, and it sat in storage till 1998 when it was finally put on display here).

The old train station was kind of cool, it is now a railroad museum, but was closed today, so could not visit.  According to the sign outside, the building was originally built for the railroad in 1911 and located several miles up river along the rail line.  When the station was closed down the building was saved and moved by barge down to Price Rupert.  Years later, a flood damaged its original home and it was moved again to the Rotary Park where it sits today.

I overheard a guy talking that they might be moving it again, but just to a nearby area next to the tracks and will turn it into an actual rail station again?  I was going to look that up, but just did not have the energy to research it.

After taking some photos, I decided to eat at the little pizza place next to the park, the Wheelhouse Brewery.

Food was good, views from the 2^nd floor dining area were nice as well.

I then decided to head back to Terrace.  First, I put on the rain pants, in case it rained again, my legs were finally warmed up again, so did not need more wet with the cold.

Then it was back on the bike and headed back the way I had come that morning.  Got a bit of rain right away, but after 30 minutes things dried up and stayed that way, and the temperature was a bit higher than earlier.

Thankfully most of the road works were done as well, so less stopping. 

I did stop once to remove the backpack and strap it to the rear rack.  It is a single strap pack and was just digging into my right shoulder enough that my arm was starting to hurt.

Arrived back into Terrace and rode to the hotel to drop off stuff and grab some things for my next tasks.

I grabbed all the laundry so I could go to the local laundromat and get it clean again.  On the way I stopped at the auto parts store to get some chain lube, I had forgotten to pick that up before I left.

After the laundry was done, I went over to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, then a quick stop at Walmart for something to drink this evening.

Worked on some stuff for tomorrows ride as I continue north, did a short video for the cat rescue project I am running along with this trip, uploaded my footage for the day and typed up this blog.

Now will get things posted online (think I still need to post yesterdays blog!) and then figure out a few things for tomorrow before going to bed.

Need to figure out if I will make the Cassiar Highway a 1 or 2 day trip.  Can do the whole route in about 10-12 hours, so would be along day.  There is a provincial campground at the end, but non-reservable, first come spots, so might not be anything left when I arrive later in the evening, and no way to find out till there, which would mean a 30 minute drive back to nearby town and hope one of the hotels has a spot.

Or I can try to camp midway, there is a campground, but conflicting info about it being RV only or RV and Tent.  There is a hotel nearby, but not cheap.

Will figure it out here soon though.

Catch ya down the road!

Todays Route (out and back):

Head toward the coast, and the rain.

June 16^th, 2026

Terrace, British Columbia, Canada

Woke at 8am this morning and got ready right away after taking a nice warm shower.

Looked outside and the bike was wet, it had been raining early in the morning, but looked like it was about done.

I packed up as usual and then loaded the bike up.  The rain had stopped, and it was 23 C out, so not too bad.  I decided to go ahead and put on the upper rain jacket right away as there was a possibility of rain after looking at the radar for the route I planned to ride today.

Once loaded, I rode over to the office to check out, then down the street to get fuel.

Back on the bike, we left the fuel stop and back tracked about 2 miles down the highway to another highway I would use to head mostly west toward the Pacific coast.  I will not go all they way, stopping in a town about an hour inland.

The ride out of town was a bit congested, but not horrible, and things were nice weather wise.

Once out on the highway though the winds picked up and pretty much stayed up all day long.  Some gusts were strong enough to blow me to edge or roadway if they caught me off guard.

I had planned out my fuel stops, though this highway has plenty of places to stop, but wanted to test my methods for extracting the best fuel economy and make sure I could operate father north when fuel stations become less common.

I stopped for the usual restroom breaks at the rest areas along the road.  At one I ran into another rider who was riding the bike he had just bought back home and was thrilled with the weather as well (It had been lightly raining off an on for several miles now.)

I had just stopped a few miles down the road to put on the rain pants as the rain was coming down hard enough to make a mess and get me wet, and temperature dropped down to 11 C during this short distance.  Even with 4 layers on, I was not warm up top, and only had single layer on legs, so figured it was time anyway.

Stopped for lunch before my first fuel stop, thought I would do both at same time, but was getting hungry and wanted to grab something.  So again, found myself at A&W, seems to be all over the place up here.

Simple meal, probably should have eaten more, then I could have skipped dinner, but was enough to calm my stomach pangs.

The route was starting to get more forested, lots of trees, both conifers and leafy trees at various times.  Also, several large lakes were along the route, though mostly hidden behind walls of green trees.

I stopped again along the road to fix and issue with the Go Pro and just happened to choose a pull off with a scenic view of a river with a small narrow rapid gorge in it.  Was kind of cool.

Bit later stopped for 2^nd fuel top off and also bought some drinks for tonight as I noticed there was very little around my motel for tonight, so would not be able to just walk next door like I have been lucky to do so far.

The final hour was a hard one.  It was still sprinkling and even raining enough to get road wet, temps dropped again and wind was still blowing.  The road was also slowly going downhill.

We had not had any serious altitude today, hitting around 2700 feet at high point, but stayed up around 2000 most of the ride. But as we neared the stop for tonight things dropped fast, eventually ending up about 250 feet is all.

The motel is located along the banks of a fairly large river, the Skeena.  It has been flowing along the valley for last hour, and is quite wide, and running fast, with quite a bit of tree debris floating or stuck in it.  Can see it right out the hotel window.

Once at the motel I unloaded as usual.  Room is nice, but very small, probably smallest place yet, so not much room for the gear.

I was trying to decide if I wanted to skip dinner, but was hungry.  The only catch was all the food places were about 3-4 miles down the road.

So did not cover the bike right away, or change out of my gear.

Rode into town and stopped at Boston Pizza, been many years since I saw on in the US, not even sure if they are still down there.

Once done eating, will ride back to the motel and then settle in for the night.

I am staying here 2 nights, so will be doing a day trip tomorrow and coming back to same place.

Will give you those details tomorrow though.

Catch ya down the road.

Chris

Todays Route:

Farther into the Great White North

 

June 15^th, 2026

Prince George, British Columbia

Woke up at 8am.  Got ready to go as usual and loaded up the bike.

Did some last-minute checks online before I left and lost my internet connection.

We checked out and hit the highway, but only for a few blocks to pull over and get fuel.

Once the tank was topped off, we headed north on highway 97.

The ride was a bit cooler than most days, it was mostly clouding and overcast and temperatures were hovering around 25 C.  That was a bit too cool for me, so a few miles up the road I pulled over and put on my 2^nd layer under the riding jacket.

Once back on the road things were mostly uneventful.

Stopped at a few rest areas either to use the facility or take photos if they were in nice areas.

There were a few light sprinkles of rain coming down now and then, but nothing to worry about, and we had gained about 2000 feet of elevation, so if it was light up there, we were probably going to be good, but will check weather when I stop for lunch.

A few spots of road construction slowed us down as they had only 1 lane open, so had to wait and take turns.  The first one I came up too had us there for 15 minutes.  It was an interesting stop though as while I was waiting, two bicyclists pulled up beside me on the shoulder (I was near front of the line).

Two girls from the US (Oregon and Montana) pedaling to Alaska!  We talked for a bit, but then the highway guy told them they could proceed now and to stay off the main road except where needed to pass the workers.  They took off (and must have turned off as I did not see them later when we got to head down the same road).

Few miles later we had to stop again, but this time only about 5 minutes passed before we were able to go.

I pulled off in a town called 100 Mile House and topped off the tank again, just to be safe, the hills and light winds are still slowing me at times, and fuel economy has become a science project.

I have noticed if I keep the bike in 6^th gear around 55-58MPH (which is the speed limit on many roads anyway) I do really well on fuel, maybe not as good as riding 30-35, but still get nice range.   I can push it up to 62 MPH without too much loss, but still not as good.  If I move up over 65, the fuel disappears faster, and if I try going much over 70, it nearly halves my fuel economy.  So thankfully most of the highways are 56-62 MPH speed limits and I can stay in a good range.  The big key is keeping the RPM low, but not too low (I suspect the riding in hills at 2500-3000 RPM the other day was what caused the bike to overheat.)

If I stay above 3500, but below 4500 things are good, up to 5500 I can do well, but need to be careful and constant use over 5500 things just get worse the higher it goes.

So back to 100 Miles House.  Once I had topped off the tank, I went over a few blocks to the A&W place, been lots of years since I have eaten at one.

Food was okay.  Had some good conversation with some older guys having coffee in the same seating area, well, one of the guys talked, the other one just sat and smiled and nodded. (A 3^rd guy was at another table, think they might have known each other, but he kept to himself).

After I finished eating and was ready to go, I went out to the bike and a lady was outside the pickup parked next to me smoking, but she commented on the bike and we talked about it.  Turns out she and her husband are doing a trip up to the Arctic Ocean later this year, though not sure if by bike or car.

Shortly after they left, another motorbike pulled up next too me, a really fast looking Aprilia, though forgot the model.  We talked briefly and then he went inside.  As I was finished my load check, a car pulled up and guy got out and came around and asked me how I liked the Rigg Gear bags I have.  Seems he might have been looking at them, so told him what I thought.  He then went and sat in his car on the phone.

I pulled out and hit the highway, and was confident in a nice ride as I used the WiFi at the restaurant and radar showed most of the rain had already passed by this area and not much predicted to move in for the rest of my route.

Moved up the highway, again stopping as needed, but not anything amazing to see other than the one lake we passed and rest area was right on the shore.

About 2/3 of the way it started to sprinkle again.

Figured it was nothing to worry about, but then it started to come harder and eventually turned into rain.  I rode for a bit hoping it would quit soon, and no safe spot to pull over as we were going downhill.

But after a few minutes, I had no choice, found a wider shoulder near a bridge and pulled off to put on my upper rain gear at least.

As expected, by time I stopped, dismounted, pulled out the rain gear, took off backpack, put rain jacket on, fasten it all up, put pack back on and got ready to leave, the rain had all but stopped.  A mile down the road things were dry.

I went ahead and left the rain jacket on though, since it was still cloudy, but also temps had dropped to 21C, which to me is cold, so the rain jacket helps block the cold wind better.

Eventually came into the outside edge of Prince George, traffic was busy, few stop lights to wait at, but we made it to the motel and checked in.

While I was checking in, I decided to check on something that had occurred to me while riding a few hours earlier.  I went into my phone settings and found that international data roaming was disabled.  Turned that on and BAM….my internet works on the phone now.

I had forgotten that was turned off by default, but something from memory when I was in Europe last year and has similar issue was dredged up during my ride.

So at least I can get better map updates instead of using the offline stuff and can now check on stuff along the way, at least till I get farther north, then things may get bad again, there are parts of some of the routes that will not even have cell service at all.

My room is on the far back side of the hotel, on another street, maybe be quieter since not on the main road.

I unloaded the bike and got changed, then checked online to see where I wanted to go eat.

The motel has a restaurant attached that had good reviews, so thought I would check it.

Left the room and a few doors down the building changes into Apartments that people rent, and a lady and her kids (older) were outside with the most amazing looking Maine Coon cat!

I went over to see the kitty and talked with them for a while.  The were interested in my travels and recommended some places to see, but when I looked at map later, they were thinking about a different highway I will not be travelling, so will not be close to that stuff.

They also recommended the motels restaurant.

So that was where I went, had a good burger, some fries and since they asked, I tried the gravy with the fries.  These Canadians are on to something, was really good.

As usual I used dinner time to offload all the footage from cameras.

I then came back to the room and started dealing with the manager of the hotel I stayed at the previous two nights.  They were not happy with the review I left them (was all positive, praising the great service, but I guess a few things they did for me they normally do not do, and did not want that mentioned.)

Whatever, I figured I would just delete it, but what a damned joke.  Hotels.com (I booked room through them) does not allow you to edit or delete your own comments!! What a stupid practice.

I had to get ahold of their support (and that was a nightmare of its own) and request the deletion, which ends up being a form they send, I fill out the data and submit it, then they will do something in 48 hours!

Probably not going to review things on that site anymore, and unless I have negative things to say, probably going to skip the reviewing on any site.  Figure if things really suck, I will let the world know, but not going to call out the good stuff anymore as it seems that might not make people happy either.

I then worked on converted 360 footage and wrote up this blog, but now I am really tired, and have a 6-hour ride tomorrow, thinking it is time for bed.

Catch ya down the road!

Chris

Todays route:

Border crossing day. Welcome to Canada.

June 13^th, 2026

Cache Creek, BC, Canada

Woke at the usual time today, 7:00am.

Sat in the dark for a while, then finally made myself get up and shower and start packing things up.

After getting packed, I geared up myself and took everything out to load the bike. 

Once loaded and checked out of the motel, I rode down a block to fuel up the bike.

Back on the road the Canadian Border arrived in about 10 minutes.  Slowly rode through trying to make sure I did not miss something and then pulled up to the checkpoint.

Border officer came out and did a quick visual of the bike, then asked for my passport and had me open up my helmet, all expected things.  Then asked a bunch of questions, some which were not really relevant, but whatever.

Then after a few speeches on penalties if I did not declare things like a firearm, and a bit of a lecture on having health insurance (as the medical costs for a tourist are not covered by Government, so could be costly) I was in the country.

Did a quick stop for the welcome to BC sign and then went to plot my course on Google Maps, only to find I no longer had data services.

Before I left, I updated my cellular plan (I was still on a plan from ages ago) which gave me far more stuff while in the US, but also added Canada and Mexico to my Call/Text/Data abilities (and all for same price I was already paying).

I notices on phone that I had cell signal, and I did get some text messages a bit later, but no data.

 So, I had to mess around with my Garmin to get a route plotted.  While it is nice being a real GPS and not needing internet to work, it is a pain to plot as it always wants an actual address, or you have to scroll around and point to where you want to go, but scrolling is far less usable on it versus the phone.

But it got me going in right direction.

About 20 minutes in and I decided to stop at a bank and see if the ATM would give me local currency, and thankfully it worked (not sure what kind of fee my bank will charge me).

Ride was pretty easy at this point, highway was busy, but not crazy, views were nice and winds were low.

We arrived in a larger town and I rode into the city center to find food as I had not had breakfast, so was hungry.  Found a Burger King and decided to just eat there since I was going to be quick, and many of them have free Wi-Fi, so I could check on some things.

I ate and then using the Wi-Fi I was able to download the offline maps for the region my trip was going to use, so at least navigation will work.  I will need to think about downloading the next few provinces’ data as well before I get there.

I then verified that, yes, I should have data, so either network in this region is weak, or does not partner with the roaming data services.  Sadly, I do not see this improving as I head farther north and into more remote areas.  May need to see if I can find a local SIM card somewhere.

Need to replace my phone so I can use eSim services.  This phone does not support them.

I then got back on the road with both GPS working, and was interesting to see them recommend different routes, and also how the Garmin is a lot more annoying about trying to re-route you back to its preferred route instead of immediately seeing the new route you are taking.

Google Maps seems to pick up on it immediately if you take a different highway than it recommended (this might be because it had recommended both routes, but was giving preference to the one I did not take, but quickly saw I was using the other one?

The ride along this huge lake near the town was nice, and views were amazing, but traffic was much heavier.

Finally reached another highway, this one a 4-lane running into the mountains.  I thought it would be busy, but was about the only thing on the road.  Think maybe 10 cars when past me over the 1.5 hours I was on this route.

This route was nice quality road, and faster speeds, but lots of hills, and started to climb up in altitude.

We eventually reached a top of around 5900 feet, which meant it was much cooler up there.  I had already expected it to get colder and put on my 2^nd layer under the riding jacket, but was still chilled.

After we came down a bit, I stopped at a rest area and warmed up some, it is much colder when moving!

At the next town the GPS and Google Maps both routed me onto the wrong road.  Well, wrong for Google Maps as just a few hours earlier it had routed me on a different road and that was the one I said start too, but again, it changes its mind part way through a route.  Thankfully I noticed right away and took the next exit, which had more options for fuel than the original route would have, but still annoying.

Fueled the bike (might have made it all the way on the tank I had, but would have been close, not worth the chance) and then headed back toward the highway I wanted to be on.

This little highway was also practically empty, for the first 30 minutes I saw maybe 2 cars, but was busier on the later part of the route.

Lots of nice views in this narrow valley, and no really high altitudes this time, actually started to come down in elevation and it started to warm up again.

Part way in the views became less pretty, but still unique.  The entire forest had burned, probably just a few years earlier, and every tree going up the entire mountain side was dead, eventually on both sides of the valley.

Roughly half way through this route, I saw as spot to try doing a photo shoot with the bike.  I tried to turn around in the narrow road and almost lost it as the road was newly poured asphalt, and lots of loose stuff on it still (had been going much slower on this route than others).  I also lost my balance in the process of correcting that and about hit the concrete barrier wall.   I then stopped and thought it odd that I smelled something hot, only to see the temperature gauge near the top.

This bike has never shown any extra engine temperature, even in Arizona summers, so this freaked me out.  I could smell the heat as well.

Shut off the engine and coasted the bike down a short hill to a better parking spot (better in that the bike would not tip over, but still not far off the road and uneven surface)

I got off the bike and took off my gear as it was getting warmer in the air as well.

I then turned the bike back on and now the temperature was fine??

I turned if off, spent a few minutes taking some photos, and finding a bush to relieve my bladder in and then checked it again.  Still normal.

So not sure why it heated up so much so quickly and went away just as quickly.  I can only suspect that since I was in a high gear and running the engine at low revs in the hills, perhaps that overheated something.  I have been trying to keep engine revs low as that impacts fuel economy on this bike (If I ride at 6000 RPM versus 4000 RPM, I will use fuel twice as fast.)

As I was in the middle of nowhere and on an Indian Reserve as well, I needed to get to the end of this highway segment 12 miles down the road where there was at least a small town.

I got on the bike and kept the revs a bit higher since I had plenty of fuel for this last short ride, and temperature never blinked again the entire hour I was riding.

We made it to the small town and turned up another highway with some great views, but did not do any stopping this time.

Finally arrived in the small town of Cache Creek, where I have booked a small motel room for 2 nights.

Been riding all day for 5 days, so time to take a day off the bike, and I desperately need to edit video.

I really thought I could edit a video each night, but the laptop slows me down over using the desktop back home, and the new 360 camera is going all kinds of stupid things to my videos, and costing me lots of time trying to get the framing done so I can edit the footage into the final cut.

After checking into the motel, I unloaded the bike and sat and rested for a bit, then got back on the bike and rode up and down the main highway to see what food options there were.  Decided to eat at a little drive-in restaurant and then came back to motel.

Walked across to the market to buy some drinks for the next 2 nights and then settled in to write this blog entry.

Then I will keep working on converting 360 camera footage so that I hopefully can edit up all the videos for the last 5 days tomorrow.

Its only 7:45 pm now, so hoping I can get this done, thankfully I have been recording shorter segments on the camera instead of letting it run non-stop for 3 hours.  While that allows you to catch some interesting things, it mostly just gives you 1.5 hours of the same scenery on the same highway and I only use maybe 30 seconds of that.

Probably will not write an entry for tomorrow except to announce the video posting, but will see what happens.

Catch ya down the road.

Chris

Todays Route:

Washington winds lead to Canada border

June 12^th, 2026

Oroville, Washington

Woke at 7am again, showered and then worked on various things.  My laundry was not dry, but close, so left them hanging (I had rigged up a clothes line in bathroom and left window open all night) and put a few out in front of the AC unit and some in the front window which was getting good sunlight.

Sorted rest of the gear and then figured out the route again, as it seems I get different routes at different times.

I liked the new route this morning, so decided to take it.

Once I had 1 pair of everything dry enough, I dressed and then packed up what I could other than damp clothes.  Started to load the bike, and eventually had to put the clothes in, though they were just lightly damp, so hoping they will be okay in the bags all day.

Finished loading the bike and checked out of the room, then rode across the road to get fuel, but the stations network was down, so was cash only, too much hassle and I still had at least half a tank, so will just get it later.

Rode out onto the road and pulled over to side to start the GPS plot and make sure rest of gear was turned on (I usually do this after the gas pump, but did not get gas).

Turned a few blocks down onto a secondary highway which quickly left town and meandered through the Oregon countryside, mostly fields and a few vineyards.

I stopped along the way to get some photos of the rolling grasslands and play with the DJI mic again which I had tested the night before and got working, only now I had the issue that the only place inside the helmet to mount it makes it impossible to reach in with gloves on and turn it on.  A bit annoyed at this, will need to research later.  I could just leave it on, but then would record hours of wind noise…and I would need to sort through all that to find my dialogues.

Finally reached the Washington border, actually riding along a road called Stateline Road, but then turned north and started moving across Washington.  Mostly was a northbound route with a few zigs and zags along the way both east and west.

Reached the town of Pasco which I had routed too to stop at the Loves Truck stop.  I know they are good places to stop, usually with restaurants, nice restrooms and anything I could want to buy.  I actually signed up with the company’s app as I get 10 cents a gallon off gas with that.  Too bad that was the last Love’s I will see till I return to the US later this summer (do not believe they are in Alaska).

While I was fueling the bike, the gentlemen in the car at the next pump commented on the bike and asked a few questions, and then we discussed my plans and route.  After a few minutes he asked if he could give me a little thing to take on the trip, a small plastic figure of Jesus, which I agreed he could.  I gave him my social media card and he left.

Once fueled, I moved bike and went inside the Arby’s to have lunch (later start today on purpose), and work on my tech issues.

After eating, I sat and messed with that mic more, but never did find a solution, however, I did figure out how to use the Cardo com system on the helmet to record voice to my phone.  It requires me to start the action using the app on the phone though, and my riding gloves just do not work well with the phone, even with the touchscreen patch on the fingertip.

I decided to cut away that patch and expose a small section of the finger to use the phone screen while riding, way too many times when something happens and the GPS closes or I bump something with the glove and it actually works, but then cannot fix it without stopping.

That trick seems to work, the hole is small enough to not expose the finger fully, but I can get just enough contact to use the screen nearly all the time to change back and forth between apps and use the voice mode.  Not great, but workaround till I can solve the other method.

Finally got back on the bike and routed to the hotel I booked last night, this destination was close enough and was not going to cross border today, so figured I could safely book ahead.

The highway ran north for a bit, very heavy traffic, but then I turned off onto smaller highway that was only 2 lanes, and much lighter traffic. 

This route winds across the open plains, mostly grazing or crop land, and the winds were intense.  Blowing me all over the road and times, and worse when a big truck would pass in the opposite direction.

Eventually the road did dip down into a river canyon and that was a nice ride.  I stopped for a few photos at a pull out, but then got in behind some slow-moving camper and cars, and as seems to be the issue in this area, no one has the skills to pass someone!

I was able to get around two cars as they were slower than camper, then in turn got around another car and finally the camper.

But after several miles, we climbed back onto the higher plains and the winds were even worse here.

This went on for quite a while, but then we started to get into more hilly terrain, and while winds did not stop, they seemed to calm down some.

I was starting to get concerned on fuel though, I had passed a fuel station, figuring I had enough to get on, but the winds really used up the range.  I finally stopped at some small, run down station in some little town and fueled up.  Prices are just getting worse as I head north.  Things were low $4 range in Arizona; now regular fuel is low $5 range.

A bit later I went to stop at another fuel station to use the restroom, only to see 2 full busses of what appeared to be farm workers getting off and going inside.  Figured that would tie up restrooms and the cashier for a while, so turned around.

I had just passed a view point overlooking the nearby dam, and it had a restroom there, so back tracked the ½ mile to reach it.  Nice views, out of the way and no one else around.

Used the restroom then spent 15 minutes taking photos and just walking around to stretch legs and give me and the bike a rest.

But had to get moving, was already 30 minutes behind my original schedule, so back on the road and heading north again.

Lots of wind, lots of fields and vineyards (and a strange cluster of satellite dishes on a hill) and we finally rolled into Oroville, WA.

I will stay the night here and the Camaray Motel.  Bit higher cost, but about the only place to stay this close to the Canada border.  It’s an old place, but looked good online and when I arrived, I was pleased with it.  Views are not too bad either.

Sadly, they only had rooms on the 2^nd level, but as luck would have it, I was able to park right next to the stairs going up, so made the bike unload task bit less strenuous.  It takes about 4 trips to get all the bags off the bike and then a last trip to secure and cover the bike.

Once done, I took a shower, though not a very long one.  Was just about done rinsing when the water went from mildly warm to ice cold in a heartbeat.  Never seen a hot water system vanish so quickly (though have done many cold showers in countries where hot water is not normally available.)

I then sorted a few things, checked some stuff on the phone, plugged my helmet com into the charger and then walked over to the pizza place across the road.

Had a pizza and drink while I moved all the footage off the phone and camera.  I was going to type this up there, but food came quickly while I was doing some research on the phone, and I just ate while doing that, so decided to return to the room to type this up.

Once done, I walked a block down the road to the convenience store to buy something to drink tonight and get more water for the hydration pack.

Once back in the room I put a few more things on chargers and filled up the pack.  It was not as low as I thought, so like my Nevada stop, I bought a 1-gallon jug of water, but only used half of it to fill the bag.  I have a 1-liter bottle I am also filling with water to bring along as a backup, though seems I am not drinking as much as I thought I was.

I will leave the rest of it around to drink if need, otherwise will pour down the drain when I leave tomorrow.

I am now done typing this day’s events and it is only 8:00pm.  I will be leaving a bit later again tomorrow as I only have a 4-hour ride to my next stop, though not sure how long the border crossing will take, though not expecting any massive delays.

I am going to try to complete a video tonight, so hopefully you will see it online later tonight as well.

I will also be taking a day off after tomorrow, so can work on videos then as well.

Catch ya down the road.

Chris

Todays Route:

Short day across Idaho and Oregon

 

June 11^th, 2026

Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Woke up and 7:00 am and got ready.

Was a bit groggy, but think I slept okay at least.

Started to take all the gear and stuff out and load up the bike in the brisk morning air.

Once it was loaded, grabbed my riding gear and checked out of the room.

Pulled across the street to Love’s truck stop to fuel up the bike and then hit the road about 7:50.

Only made it 500 feet before I pulled over again to record the morning video I had failed to do that morning!  Processes are still in development.

We hit US93 north and crossed into Idaho just outside of town.

Road wound through some rolling hills of nothing, just grass and rocks.  Winds were not too bad, but it was still a bit cold, even though I had put on the extra layer under the jacket.  Was 51 degrees when I left the fuel station.

After about 30 minutes we came to the south end of Twin Falls.  Here I took a back highway that would wind around the city and avoid the traffic in town during the morning rush hour. (Every town has one).

At one point I pulled over to an overlook that had a great view of the Snake River in a small canyon among all the properties built down around it.

Shortly after I reached I-84, and pulled over to another Love’s hoping to get breakfast at the McDonalds.  However, once I got inside and went to order, the menu was for lunch.  I had forgotten that ID is still using Mountain time, versus Pacific time I was on in Nevada.  So instead of being 9:30 am, it was 10:30 am.

As I will only eat breakfast at McDonalds, I decided to just grab a few Tornadoes rolls again from the truck stop grill.

Ate them out by the bike, then got on the road and soon was on the interstate heading in a westerly direction.

The winds were mild, and temps were up enough to not be cold anymore, but still had to keep speed down to preserve fuel.  Bike tends to suck fuel if you run it much over 5000rpm, and that puts you right around 65 mph. 

I rode till I got to Boise, then went through the city and pulled off in Nampa to have lunch.  Just hit Jack in the Box again, was right on the ramp and next to a fuel stop so I could top up the tank again.

Pulled back onto the freeway and was mostly uneventful ride, few construction zones that slowed things a bit, but made decent time to the Oregon border.

Stopped just across the border at rest area to get off bike for a bit and use facilities.  Back on the road things were just the same, quick easy flow of traffic.

Later I pulled off for another rest area stop and spent some time reading stuff on phone to rest my legs, getting cramped up after an hour or so today.  Usually takes me a week to get used to riding long rides each day.

Shortly after that we started down a huge hill, coming from 3400 feet down to around 1500 feet in a few miles.  There was a pull out that went to a nice overlook, so stopped for a few photos and also needed to change the battery in the GoPro anyway, had forgotten at the rest area.

Once down off the hill, we soon came to the exit I needed to use to head north.  I stopped again for fuel, even though I was probably okay, but easier to get it when you can.

Road north across an Indian reservation for a short distance to reach the highway that would take me north.

Winds were picking up a bit, and temps had climbed into the 80s now that we were down in altitude for once.

Was looking forward to getting to hotel I had booked, was tired, but 5 miles out from there we came upon some farm machinery driving down the highway at 20 mph.  For some reason people would not pass it even when they had time to do so.  1 car and a truck with trailer finally passed, but next two cars just wasted two chance to pass.

The next gap in oncoming traffic was huge, and they again refused to pass, so I quickly zoomed past both cars and the tractor!  Advantages of a bike.

Pulled into town, which was bigger than I thought it would be.  Drove through most of the town, and had one idiot pull out right in front of me, thankfully was going slow.

Found the hotel, small little place on side of highway, only has 10 rooms.

Went to the office door and it was closed, sign said to call some numbers for help as they had stepped away.  First number just went to static.  Second number answered, guy said he would be right there.

About 5 minutes later he arrived, guess he had been taking daughter to some kind of practice?

He got me checked in and then left again. 

I got bike unloaded and then took a shower as I was hot.

The hotel owner had recommended a restaurant called Kelly’s a mile down the road, so once I had sorted things and dressed, I took the bike down to have dinner.

Service was a bit slow, but food was very good and I spent the time moving footage from the phone and camera and writing the main part of this blog entry.

While waiting I also booked my room for tomorrow night and should only have a 5 hour ride tomorrow, so another early day, but will be near the Canada border and would prefer to start with that early in the morning as should be less busy.  It is a smaller crossing, so hopefully will not take too long.

I will then work on getting some other documents ready.  Need to get a financial tracker built to track my expenses so I can try to keep things in the daily budget (averaged out across all days).  This trip will likely break that budget, but at least can get the process worked out.

I also need to do laundry.

Travelling on a bike leaves you with at most 4 pairs of anything, so doing sink laundry at least once a week and eventually will need to find laundry place or stay and nicer hotel that has laundry service.  I will be taking days off at least once a week, so those will be the days for doing those types of tasks.

Going to publish this now and assume that I do the things I said I was going to do above :)

Catch ya down the road!

Today's Route:

Best Laid Plans = Getting Lost in the desert?

June 10^th, 2026

Jackpot, Nevada

Woke up at 8am this morning, was dragging though as I stayed up way too later last night working on various things and still did not get much done. 

I think my idea of editing up a video each night is not going to be reality, will have to see, but may end up just taking a day off every few days and hammering out the previous day’s videos?

I will however try to get the blog updated each night.

Back to the morning.  I took a nice shower and then sat around trying to figure out where I wanted to try making it today, looking at various hotels and such to get ideas on where I could stop along the route and the maximum distance I would think about.

I am trying to keep hotel costs down, and found that all the places in northern Utah are just way too high (many over $200 a night), so decided to try a new route instead of going up to Salt Lake City.

I found that places in Nevada were much cheaper, so plotted a route that would at best get me to Twin Falls, Idaho via eastern Nevada.

I found what I wanted and several spots along the way to stop if I could not make the full distance.

Then I finished up my packing, having re-organized the bags last night, and loaded the bike up.

Geared up and as I was leaving, I had a short conversation with the owner again, and she asked to take a photo in front of the hotel sign, something she likes to do with the motorcycle riding guests.

She recommended a gas station down the street that had good hot food options as well.

I rode the 2 blocks down the road, fueled up the bike and then went inside to look around.

They had a little deli style counter selling mostly fried foods, and I settled on the little Tornados (soft shell with various fillings).  Bought two, as I thought they were packed individually, but turned out each pouch had two inside, so at 4 of them for breakfast and had some water.  I bought 2 more liters of water to refill my hydration pack.

Once done, we got on the bike and headed over to US50 to head west.

The ride was nice, bit cool, but would warm up as the day went on.

Went up over a few small passes, nothing too high and then had to wait a short time for a 1-way road construction area, but eventually made it to I-15. 

I had told Google Maps to avoid highways, which typically routes you around the US Interstates.

The route tried to get me to turn onto a local road, but that road did not exist…and I figured for the 15 miles, I would just use the I-15 anyway, save time.

I did notice later an access road I could have gotten onto and that was where it was planning to take me, but I also noticed that road was probably closed as they were doing a controlled burn of the hillside along that road.  So good thing I did not find the other road and ended up getting blocked.

Pulled off the interstate onto a small feeder road that would get me to US50 again.

Once on that road it was a long flat and mostly boring ride until we reached Delta, Utah.

I stopped here for fuel as I was down half a tank and things were getting more desolate and less towns as I head west, so needed to get a full tank.

Just past town, maps instructed me to turn onto a local county road instead of staying on US50 to Ely which was the next main town I was expecting to hit.

I figured it was just taking a shortcut around a longer loop in the highway; it has done this many times on local county roads for previous trips I have taken.

The roads were really nice, and mostly farm areas, but eventually found myself out near what appeared to be some kind of power generating plant.

The next road was a long flat and straight section going to the horizon, so figured that was where I would catch up with US50 again?

About 30 miles in, the map said to turn again, and this time the road was gravel.  As I was so far along already, I though it would be easier to just use the gravel section instead of backtracking, and that was part of the plan anyway to explore, just wasn’t planning a long gravel stretch today.

But soon I saw sign saying next road was 44 miles away and was not sure I wanted to be on dirt that long, but the road was not too bad and was making good time and speed, so stayed the course.

Eerily I did not see another car the entire time I was heading out this way once I passed the power plant, should have seen that as a sign.

The road eventually became much rougher, and much looser gravel, and had to slow way down at times to keep upright.

Eventually came down toward the end of the route and only then did a car pass me going the other way, and a bit later a car came up behind me and passed me.

Once I reached the end of the route, there was another 8-mile stretch, also gravel, and very bad shape.

That road ended with a 5-mile stretch to a town, so was hopeful there would be another county road or highway, but nope, just more gravel, this time for 23 miles, and very rough at the start, was barely able to go 20 mph in many places.

Eventually that road dropped me into another town, where I again was disappointed to find more gravel leaving.

At this town I stopped, deleted the route and had Google Maps route it again, this time allowing highways, just to find the quickest route back to a real road.

While it was some amazing scenery, and a good challenge, I was getting tired, the winds were pretty high, and the loose roads with the heavy load on the bike had put me on the edge of going down at least a dozen times, was ready for it to end.

But was still another 20 miles till I reached the next road, this one actually tarmac, though a big rough still.

Finally reached ALT US93 and took that north to East Wendover, Nevada.

But while it was nice to be back on pavement, the winds were blowing like a hurricane, had to be at least 35-40mph steady with some stronger gusts.  Took lots of effort to stay on the road at times.

Once I reached East Wendover, I was almost out of fuel, so stopped to top up the tank and then since I was very hungry by now (it being about 3:00pm and I ate breakfast at 10:30).

I went next door to Burger King and had a quick meal, again using my gift card to save money.

Now I had to get onto I-80 and head west for about an hour.  Figured I would keep the speed back a bit to preserve fuel range, but make good time.

Nope.  Winds were blowing so hard I had a hard time keeping it at 65 mph, and was a real joy when the large trucks passed me, only for me to pass them soon after on a large hill as we kept climbing, which also made the temperatures fall.

I stopped on top of the big pass at the rest area there to put on another layer as it was down to 77 degrees, but the wind chill from moving in these high winds made it much cooler.

Headed down the pass, which was a wind tunnel blowing right into my face and once down the winds just picked up and blew me all over the road.

After an hour we reached US93 north.  Only 60 miles to go and we would be at the Idaho border.  As I lost so much time with the desert detour, compounded by the slower going due to high winds, I decided to stop at the border town for the night as there were several hotel/casinos there with cheaper rooms, so knew I could find something without needing a reservation.

The ride up was the longest hour of my life.  The winds were relentless, the traffic coming southbound was heavy, so kept getting blown off the road by the wind pressure of the passing trucks and then battered the other direction again by the normal winds.

The temps were also falling, going from about 75 when I left the interstate down to 63 before I reached the town of Jackpot, Nevada.

I was tired, cold, and mentally exhausted as well.

Pulled into the first place, The Four Jacks Hotel and Casino.  9.5 hours on the road, 365 miles covered!

They had rooms thankfully for $60 a night.  Got a room, which of course was about that farthest walk from where my bike was parked that you could do.  Had to make 4 trips to get all the gear off the bike and into the room.

I then made a phone call and did some sorting, and cleaned all the bags as everything has a light coating of white dust.

I checked the maps and there is a Loves truck stop across the road, so walked over to buy a gallon of water to refill my hydration pack since I nearly drained it on the ride today (it is a 3-liter pack).

I also bought some tea to drink in the room tonight since I am trying to stop drinking soda again, though still buying teas with sugar in them at time (like tonight).

Once back in the room, I changed out of the bike gear into street clothes and then walked down into the casino (basically a bar with about a dozen slots in it) and went to the restaurant onsite.

I stood there for about 5 minutes while the staff were cleaning tables and generally ignoring me.  Two guys in front of me just went and sat down on their own.

Once the tables were done, the one girl sat me and brought over a menu and flatware.

I pulled out the laptop and started downloading footage from the phone and the GoPro card while waiting for them to come take my order.

I managed to get 50 GB of data transferred, and even organized the files on the drive better, all while I sat there with no drink, and a menu on the edge of the table.   They kept seating other people, and cleaning other tables, but neither person came to take my order.

The guys who sat themselves had their food arrive, and when the lady who sat down 5 minutes after me had her food arrive, I decided they could screw themselves and packed up and left.

I was not that hungry, and would have cost me about $25 to eat there, so just saved some money.

I decided to come back to the room, and plot out the options for tomorrow, though I am going to stick to the interstates now, I just need to get to the Canada border so I can start exploring for real, the stuff here in the US I can do another trip.

Then I put a few things onto the charger, but again, there are no power outlets in these older hotels, the few they have are in use by lights or TV and usually buried behind furniture as well.  Only the bather has open outlets.

I put my phone and the GoPro batteries on, and will put the laptop on once I am done with this blog entry.

Probably just watch some TV and go to bed early, see if I can get a quicker start tomorrow and make good enough time that I can get a video done tomorrow night?

Catch ya down the road!

Today's Route: