ReTripping. C46 to Portland via Lake Magone, Oregon.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

 

How to start? Well...this is my first Airhauler venture since returning from my Epic Eclipse Trip...which proved to be quite epic indeed. There may be sonnets and bard songs commemorating the journey, but for now, just this Airhauler trip over the bulk of my route To the eclipse to refresh my head as to what I rode through, from another perspective.

 

 

I am leaving Quincy Ca. in the C46, a town I hit on my second morning of my motorcycle trip after a quiet night in a blissfully empty campground near Bucks Lake, California in a site called Grizzly Creek Campground.

 

The 2o1 runway is oriented E/W so I am making the turn to North towards my air and motorcycle route from here to Susanville/Alturas/my intended next campsite somewhere in that area.

 

I flew alongside Lake Almanor both in air and on the ground...the motorcycle was running as smooth as a sewing machine and the ride was a joy at this point, cool, smooth pavements, easy turns, great vistas.

 

Until I hit the drier parts of MidEast Oregon...then temps soared into the 90's and I was down to shirtsleeves by 11-ish am...but I was still wearing my black deerskin leather pants for safety, definitely not comfort...omg hot. The C46 has no complaints about the weather today as it is MUCH cooler than the day I rode through this area. We even have rain up ahead of us in the sim...there wasn't a drop in the sky during my trip thankfully...although I was prepared for it just in case. This is Goose Lake, it is pretty bone dry in RL.

 

I am over Valley Falls, and Lake Abert, which was a stunning area to ride and fly past. This is a Fault Valley caused by the center of the valley dropping down while the sides of the valley are being pushed up...creating this dramatic 30 mile cliff face covered in yellow green lichen in real views. It was also hot as a dog here during my Motorcycle trip, but again, not today in the C46. The heat kept me pushing ahead on the motorcycle...I had no wish to set up camp in a hot dry sandy dessert like area...I like forests tyvm...and there weren't any till past Burns, Oregon as it transpired...much much much further than I had intended to ride that day.

 

 

 

 

Now I am over Burns, Oregon wth KBNO- Burns Municipal below...I had pushed much harder on the motorcycle and kept going past the Alturas area, heat, lack of campsites, curiosity and impatience kept me riding until just before sunset when I finally found a small wooded campsite just north of Burns called Idlewild Campsite. When I arrived the campground was full, but it was so late camp hosts were down for the evening...so I pulled my bike into a park service parking spot near the Group Picnic Site in the center of the campgrounds (which wasn't being used thanks to it not having a "Group Parking spot")...I didn't bother pulling out my tent, and just set my pad and sleeping bag on a concrete picnic table and fell right asleep after my granola bar dinner. I woke up early, made a french press of coffee, and got out of there without paying a site fee (it actually wasn't a site) nor encountering a Camp Host....phew.

 

 

 

 

In the morning I headed north on the bike again and passed through this postcard quality Ranching Valley called Silvies, Oregon, and the Silvies Ranch that dominates the entire valley.

From the Silvies Ranch Website: http://www.silviesvalleyranch.com/ranch_history.php

“Silvies” is the result of misspellings of the name of the first French trapper to enter the valley in the early 1830s. According to historical records, he was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company which ultimately trapped over 200,000 beaver out of the Silvies Valley! Silvies Valley Ranch was homesteaded and the first water rights patented in 1883. Over the years, hardy pioneers and cowboys worked the meadows, valleys and surrounding mountains –many found the country too rugged and hard and moved on. One who came and stayed was John “Jack” Craddock who bought up many of the smaller places by the late ‘20s when the railroad was put through the valley. He was followed by his son Chet Craddock who put the ranch together much as it is today.

 

Silvies has it's own paved airstrip, and I dropped down for a closer look at it. (I blew past it on the motorcycle as it wasn't actually very interesting looking in RL, nor in the sim for that matter).

 

 

 

 

Approaching John Day, Oregon, the last Big Town before my "First Eclipse Site Choice" attempt at Lake Magone, Oregon.

I am very very very happy that I chose to take a short break in John Day next to a Jehovah Witness couple who had staked out a corner near the John Day Fairgrounds. They were a super sweet older couple whom I ended up chatting with for 1/2 hour or so...about all kinds of things including coffee roasting (I think I made a new convert to my religion of HomeRoasterism ...they weren't as successful at converting me to J.W. ). They gave me a great route tip that saved me 10 miles of dirt road ride on a heavy street bike as I had intended to ride up hwy 395 to a turnoff leading to Magone...which turned out to be 10 miles of washboard loose gravel and silt...ie...dropped motorcycle and lots of Fbombs..., instead their alternate way to get to Lake Magone was entirely paved: Head down hyw 20 till just before Prairie City, look for a road heading north, it will take you to Lake Magone). Thank God for those Jehovah's Witnesses says this Atheist biker .

 

 

 

 

This image below the wall of story text... ... is the spot where I viewed the 2017 Total Eclipse. I had dozens of sites "Starred" on google maps as potential Eclipse Sites, and 2 days yet to pick one out when I arrived at my First "attempt Site, the spot right in front of and above the cockpit in the c46 image below . There is a small gravel road leading to a gravel pit/flat area at the top of the road...and a pretty 5 acre meadow right next to the road shielded by trees and the ridge from the Gravel Gang. I didn't find a name for it on any maps, so henceforth it shall be known as Matt's Meadow, site of Coffee's Campsite, which I had all to myself for 3 days while caravans of people drove past looking for campsites with Lots of People already there (WTAF?!!!). Apparently a solo biker in a 5 acre meadow all by himself doing PT neck exercises, watching Netflix on a 7" pad under a shady set of trees reclining on a camping pad and foam back rests, and kicking hacky sack in the middle of the meadow was too intimidating to share with? Seriously, NO ONE tried to camp there despite a gravel pit 400 yards up hill from me being being occupied by over 30 vehicles and associated campers all competing for privacy in the midst of a carnival...I will Never understand the impulse people have to crowd into Heavily Occupied Campgrounds, and then get territorial about their miserable spaces, while driving right past empty wide open paradises to get to their crowded Alt-Neighborhoods in the Woods, but I was thankful for it this trip. Maybe people recognized the Perfection Location and Privacy I had and didn't want to be the first to bust in on it...while the carnival up above was obviously fair game and despoiled already...ID(on't)K(now)...ID(idn't)C(omplain). I did visit up there on my second evening at the site, and it was...amusing to say the least. Every New Car that arrived by the time i visited was greeted by "subtle threat/territorial" displays. One group started firing their 22 rifles and pistols at the gun range they had set up a week or so ago when they were the First Ones There (The Boss Site), then the folks around them had pit bulls up and active (all sweet hearts that I met...but extra visible when new cars arrived), one group flew their drone around the new cars and the site to make it look "annoying", others had put out fallen branches to block off access to Their Areas despite parking and sites still available...it was rather hilarious from an anthropological viewpoint.

 

Can't hardly spot a soul down there from the C46 today, a week after the Eclipse, I guess they all got out safely. I sure would like to revisit this area without the clustering crowds. It was actually a very pretty little lake and campgrounds. I hope the anthropods didn't trash the area too much, but i'm more realistically hoping it is at least biodegradable what they did trash. Matt's Meadow was as pristine as I found it, with 2 additions; a subtle Hacky Circle made of stones and fallen curved branches, and a stone compass rose placed around a tree at the parking area to my site. A short story about that last one: One of the Gravel Patch Boss Site folks was on her way to the store in John Day for supplies and she offered to pick me up a six pack. OMG THANKYOU!!!! yes please...and could you also maybe get me a gallon of water too? I was down to enough drinking water for the rest of my trip after doing laundry, and was half considering shoving my loose stuff into my tent and riding to Lake Magone to refill jugs and bottles and solar shower thingy (only used it once, but man what a spritz can do for your mood at a dusty campsite in the evening). I didn't want to move the bike because it was precariously parked on gravel with flat stones under the kickstand/front tire and moving and reparking it was both a pain the ass and risky...but I digress...ofc...The lady's name was (redacted for privacy) but she went by "Tree" to her friends...so I decided to name a small "charly brown xmas tree-esque kind of thing" at the edge of the parking spot in her honor. Over the next couple of days I built a compass rose out of cool looking stones I found in the meadow placed around it as a Ward to keep it safe (in addition to a robust Wall of Big F'n Rocks to actually protect it from people backing over it till it grows above rear bumper height ie. Noticable/May scratch a bumper/It will live and provide shade for that parking spot someday. I aligned the rose to astronomical N/S that night with good old reliable Polaris, and worked on neatening the stone work up the next day. Tree had brought me a six pack of Deschutes Brewery - Black Butte Porter (i asked for anything they had on the amber to dark side). Look at that label. Could a more perfect beer for me and the trip be conceived...Inconceivable!!! (coffee and chocolate notes, image of a sun with corona eclipsed partly by a black mountain...Perfect...and f'n delicious too of course).

 

 

So, thanks to Tree, there is now a tree named Tree right about just above where the front curved antenna of my C46 is in the picture below. Bless you St. Tree of the Black Butte Porter, and may Karma (the name of the biggest rock in the Parking Spot Wall) keep your newly named tree Tree safe till I can revisit and park in it's shade.

 

Another view of the area with tiny crowded Lake Magone down below (look one tail length above the tail to spot the lake).

 

 

 

 

Leaving the area I am flying across the ranges I rode through towards Pendleton, Oregon on my way towards the Columbia River, and the turn towards Portland, my planned stop for the evening and a visit with an old friend I have never met. Traffic getting out of the Eclipse View areas was HORRIBLE. Poor car folks were sitting for hours and hours in lines of stopped traffic on two lane roads that never see more than 10 cars from horizon to horizon usually...they sat for at least half a day to go 10 miles...while i rode slowly but relatively quickly along the bike width shoulder through all that mess... but still lost a couple hours of ride time to get safely through those 10 miles of cars.

 

No traffic in the air however...zoooom.

 

 

 

 

The Columbia River. I was flying down this Hwy 84 on my motorcycle at over 80 mph (probably at about 84mph now that I think about it, power of suggestion maybe) past these views (...some quite amazing...The Dalles area is freaking Gorgeous...). I had a friend to visit in Portland, and it was getting late thanks to all the traffic I had to Shoulder Pass to get out of the John Day/Eclipse Centerline area.

I'm doing about 200kts ground speed in the ancient C46...Pttttbbbbttttt to slow old motorcycles.

 

I end this photo Flight trip at the Columbia River, after sneaking a peak at the Real Clock time I realized i was still up at 1:30 am and getting to bed became a higher priority than screen shots...sorry. I speed timed to Portland Trousdale in the sim and landed without issue. Got paid a Fat fee in Airhauler and put the computer then myself to bed.

 

On the bike however, I made it to Portland by a bit after 9pm, and got lost in crooked streets of SW Portland for a half hour trying to find my friend's place with a nearly dead phone battery...that was fun. Not. But the visit with a new RL friend/ 10 year Internet friend was terrific. To just meet someone for the first time and yet literally feel like you already have known them for years is a funny thing we get to experience in this internet age.

 

 

Cheers, and thanks for viewing.

 

Coff.

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by Captain Coffee

[rosariomanzo 545]

Very nice and informative trip! I do like this aircraft, which is receiving some love from talented repainters revising the base texture sheets. I hope the same attention will be given by the developer, addressing the few issues the model has.

[Quickmarch 488]

Great trip, Coff,

Some eclipse content: Watched the eclipse, sitting on a fold-up camp chair on the sidewalk in front of my condo (Victoria, BC). We got approx. 90% here, so was well worth it, but not as good as the 100% you experienced.

Some sailing content: watched the last one (was it 2009 or '10) from the deck of my boat in Morea, French Polynesia.

Some motorcycle content: heading over to Europe, Ireland, France, Spain in a bit. I have a Super Tenere stored in Ireland. Hoping to visit with BritFrog in Perpignon, France.

Finally, some aviation content: McMinnville is just down the track from Portland. I hope you caught it. Fabulous aviation museum which includes Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. See: https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/ Right on the path of totality. Note QM Avatar - sitting in the left seat of the SG. Now, that's a handful of throttles!

[brett 2,316]

Thanks for that wonderful duel trip PIREP Matt, sounds like you had a great time and well worth the road trips highs and lows. Also glad you made it home safe and almost sound.

 

What kind of bike were you riding, something more comfy than leather pants I hope.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

8 hours ago, Quickmarch said:

Great trip, Coff,

Some eclipse content: Watched the eclipse, sitting on a fold-up camp chair on the sidewalk in front of my condo (Victoria, BC). We got approx. 90% here, so was well worth it, but not as good as the 100% you experienced.

Some sailing content: watched the last one (was it 2009 or '10) from the deck of my boat in Morea, French Polynesia.

Some motorcycle content: heading over to Europe, Ireland, France, Spain in a bit. I have a Super Tenere stored in Ireland. Hoping to visit with BritFrog in Perpignon, France.

Finally, some aviation content: McMinnville is just down the track from Portland. I hope you caught it. Fabulous aviation museum which includes Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. See: https://www.evergreenmuseum.org/ Right on the path of totality. Note QM Avatar - sitting in the left seat of the SG. Now, that's a handful of throttles!

 

Thanks March. It would be hard to beat the view of a total eclipse from a sailboat in Morea...I'll add that to the Alt-Bucket list

I blew right past Evergreen in McMinnville on my way to the coast...which I followed most of the way back home. Green and White Evergreen 747's on the rooves were a head turner for sure. I really wanted to stop but my bungeed and belted on camp baggage were not very "Leavable" or I'd have to hump around some clumsy baggage. As it was it was getting late on the Oregon coast before i found an open campsite..another trip, it goes on my Actual Bucket list since another ride up to the Potland (sic) area would be fun indeed.

As would a mc ride through France. You may confidently sip your morning coffees knowing that I would love to be there on a bike rather than in brew.

 

4 hours ago, brett said:

Thanks for that wonderful duel trip PIREP Matt, sounds like you had a great time and well worth the road trips highs and lows. Also glad you made it home safe and almost sound.

 

What kind of bike were you riding, something more comfy than leather pants I hope.

 

Comfiest bike I've ever owned Brett. It's a ZG1000 Kawasaki Concours 1990, but only 47,xxx miles on it when I bought it...just broken in.

I would never have been able to sit for 12-14 hours on the Push days on any of my old bikes...the black 'kneeling' pads helped a bit...sometimes I arranged one to sit on on top of the corbin seat.

 

The captain at the nippy and partly foggy Oregon coast:

 

Coff.

[Quickmarch 488]

Nice looking ride, Coff

 

Interesting that my ride on this side of the pond is also a 1990 machine. It's an R100GS. I get some spare time tomorrow morning, I'll edit this with a pic.

 

Here's the pic:  (well, that didn't work)

 

BTW those 747's on the roof. They're a kiddie theme park. One of them has water slides coming out all the exit doors. No, I didn't get invited to try.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Quickmarch
pic added

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

March, I was regretting not having a dual sport bike like a GS series on some of the dirt roads I found myself. I tried to get a dual sport front tire before the trip knowing I might end up on forest service roads, but couldn't find a good fit in time...went with a brand new street tire on front instead. I am half tempted to flip this concours and look for a dual sport...those dirt roads sure do appeal to my Loner'splorer mentality, but not on a heavy street bike...from which they look rather slippy and accidenty.

[wain 879]

nice one Matt, great road trip and great flight, thanks for the informative narrative to.......nice ride surely built for a trip like you have just done......certainly easier on the back than my sons Honda CBR600R......

[Quickmarch 488]

2 hours ago, Captain Coffee said:

March, I was regretting not having a dual sport bike like a GS series on some of the dirt roads I found myself. I tried to get a dual sport front tire before the trip knowing I might end up on forest service roads, but couldn't find a good fit in time...went with a brand new street tire on front instead. I am half tempted to flip this concours and look for a dual sport...those dirt roads sure do appeal to my Loner'splorer mentality, but not on a heavy street bike...from which they look rather slippy and accidenty.

 

Tried to upload a pic, but as usual, I'm unmanned by the plethora of choices. Give it another go-

 

 

If you're seriously into wrenching, this is a good route to go. I've been advised to stay away from the newer BMW's. 

If not, try the Yamaha Super Tenere. Good old Japanese motorcycle reliability

[brett 2,316]

Sweet bike Matt  and a favorite of many and it's actually known for being able to handle flat non-paved roads. Your smile tells the story of how much a road trip is good for the soul.

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

Great flight and good story. 👍