Crossing the Plains in search of Bearcats...

The man cave is not the place to be in June when you have a motorcycle in the garage...So, lucky for me I have an excuse......I'm headed to Bearcat Lodge in Seneca Oregon.....



So if you wanna take a nice trip to Oregon and see Bearcats, Fastcats, and Bobcats, come along....



After several attempts to get photography gear, camping gear, and all the stuff loaded....Looking a little over packed as usual..JW is gonna raz me for sure....Thats probably why I have a GS, it carries a lot of stuff.


Day One: Monday 15 June:

I usually don't sweat the weather when I'm leaving on a trip, but this time was different..I'm carrying a full bag of Photography Equipment and a Large Laptop. So when the weather channel lady says heavy rain and severe storms along my entire route west, I was not pleased.. By mid morning the skies where gray and overcast, but know rain...Finally, at 1100am I hit the road..



Rolling onto I-80 west bound at exit 397, I was ready for some Adventure. Traffic volume was low as I accelerated my ole GS up to speed...It took a hundred miles to find the groove, but once I did, thoughts of an Iron Butt Run started to creep into my head



Snack Break...



..By my second bag of Hot Gas, I was well into western Nebraska and had found the severe weather..Slamming into forty degree temps and heavy rain, my Iron Butt idea got washed, and I was just looking for the next exit, so I could put my jacket liner on...With the jacket liner on, I decide to stop in Cheyenne for the night, and let the wet weather clear out over night...



I get to Cheyenne around 6pm and take the exit for F. E. Warren Air Force Base..With some of my gear wet, I figure having a room will allow me to dry some stuff out....The guest quarters for traveling and retired military was just what the doctor ordered.. I get a room look forward to a nice sleep in a bed..


The Flagpole at F.E. Warren....I tried to put up an Army Flag, but couldn't getr done....THose Air Force Guys woulda really liked that...

Day 2: Tuesday June 16...

Clear Blue and 32 is waiting for me as I hop on the Slab,
perfect flying weather for a Lieutenant.....0534 and its already light out...Cruising past Little America west bound I look down at my outside temp gauge to see that its actually 39 degrees outside and not 32....My goal is to get across Wyoming in 5 hours, so not much time for pictures..



Elk Mountain Wyoming, near Rawlins...



Just past Evanston, headed to Ogden...



Devils Slide......Just outside Ogden UT.


1045 and I'm into Utah, ...The descent into the Wasatch is quick and before long, I'm passing thru Ogden... The bike is running great and the weather is perfect. Again, I start thinking of the Iron Butt Run..If I go all the way to Bearcat, it'll be right at 1,000 miles for the day...


Heading thru Snowville I'm amazed at how green everything is in the hills. I see big herds of sheep and a few Sheep Herders in the hills along the interstate...



Sorry, no sheep pictures....How bout a bridge instead....Found a wet spot in the road under the bridge....Hmmm, how'd that get there?




I cross the Idaho Border around 1345 and figure I'll make Boise about rush hour..



I get to Glenns Ferry, ID and decide to stop and check on my friend Dale....With 700 miles down by 1630, I have plenty of daylight to make it to Bearcat....

Dale was moving his landscape grader across town....THe thing had a gel battery that was de-charged, so it wouldn't keep the thing running...He had his hired man following him with the jumpers....It was kinda funny watching those two...



Standing in the 90 degree shade watching those two got me to thinking about Dale's guest house with the 1000 gallon hot tub filled from a hot water mineral well...AHHHHH .. I decided to stay the evening at Dale's

....no pics of the tub though...I'll try to find a sheep pic instead...


Day 3: June 17



Out the door and on the road by 0530, just in time to catch a morning storm south of Boise...Thru the rain I continue toward Caldwell, ID...



Storm just south of Boise...Chasing a neon rainbow...



Still chasing....Time to put the camera away for awhile..

At Caldwell I hop off the slab and cut thru Parma Id, and Nysaa, OR...This shortcut gets me over to hwy 20, where I head west to Vale, OR....Its still pouring rain, so I stop and have breakfast at the Cafe on the west end of town....

By the time breakfast was done, the rain had stopped and the last few hours to Bearcat where gonna be perfect riding...

Standby for cows...

From Vale I head west on HWY 20, pass thru Juntera, then take the back way thru Drewsey to the Lodge..



The backway thru Drewsey, Oregon, had lots of cattle on the roads.....Good place to test the anti-locks..


Pink is a really nice color....



The cats are waiting for me to arrive......Big, and Bob......



My room for the week.....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRreat!



Time for a break.....Standby for more.....

I get to the Lodge and around 1030 PST, unpack my gear and settle in for a few days...

How bout now?

nope still no pics!

Do we have pics now?


I could see them fine.........Hopefully we are fixed

We have pics. Thanks for sharing. Looks like the beginning of a great trip.

GS,

Thanks for checking in.......You gotta bring Pepperz to this place....

As a "foreigner" please tell me about those cats!! Never seen a pussy that size!
Appears to me that you in good company(Orange)

Day four starts early....My body is still on central time, so I'm up at 5 pst....Its starting to get light so I take a walk and climb a hill...




Crossing Silvies River behind the Lodge...



One of the Locals came out to see what I was up to.....



I climbed the hill south of the Lodge and got a Great View of the Strawberry Mountains and Logan Valley to the East...



Highway 395 coming from Burns, Oregon...



Looking west toward Paulina, Oregon....



Seneca, Oregon was a booming lumber town, until things went bust in the 70s. All thats left now is a quiet little town, with a motorcycle problem..



Back down from the hill, I snag a pic out front before going in for a gourmet breakfast.. Read more about the lodge at this link..

http://www.bearcatlodge.com/



Bob sitting in the tree out front watching us have our morning coffee...

The cats are residents at the Resort...Big and Bob are Bobcats..Along with several other domestic cats that reside at the Lodge, guests and visitors are assured of plenty of chances to get their cat fix while they are here..


I met these two, Gary and Donna at the Lodge...Donna is an inmate....Demenshea...... http://demenshea.com/blog/
They stopped for a night on their trip. It was fun to share a couple meals and some stories about themselves and their motorcycle adventures..

Later in the morning I got out and enjoyed some of the riding in the area...While I was out, I stopped in at the Chief Joseph Rally in John Day, Oregon...The rally was being held at the Fairgrounds and had lots of people and some cool bikes..



The rally seemed to have as many other types of bikes as beemers....This Gear-up was set-up very nice...

Coming back from the Rally, I ran into a Fastcat coming up the hill...



An even Faster Cat........



Great roads, beautiful scenery, and not much traffic made my first day great fun..



Day 4 comes to an end with a great view from the lodge of the Strawberry Mountains.

Yes plenty of Orange, might even go as far as to say this is KTM Country....Thanks to the owner of the Lodge...His fleet of rentals for his Bearcat Adventure Tours includes KTMs and a few Beemers.

Those Big Pussy's which we call Bobcats are indigenous in many of the states in the mid west and western.. ..

One of the interesting things about the lodge, is the opportunity you have to meet motorcycle riders....Its pretty cool to see all the different bikes and hear about their two wheel adventures. A fully stocked bar and a riders lounge are equally cool, and perfect for kickin back after a long day....



Dante and Josh kickin back in the riders lounge..They came over from the city to spend a few days riding the area, and experiencing the Lodge.



Sally pretty much runs the place..Here she is riding herd up in the bar..

Speaking of the bar, I have to mention what a cool experience it is...Housed on the second floor of the lodge, the well stocked bar includes some motorcycle art as well as various other items that give it a classy motorcycle feel..



Bob on the Cheetah...JW, the owner of Bearcat Lodge, built and raced the Cheetah under the Fastcat Racing Team Colors...I wouldn't be surprised someday to see a KTM with a cat theme....



Now I understand the secret to Life....


The line up in front of the Lodge changes daily depending on the guests..Here, Josh gets some route info from JW...



Dante and Josh heading to the Steens.....Dante's Ride, an 06 Adventure with a couple hundred miles on the clock, didn't have a speck of dirt on it when he arrived...Things were different when they got back that evening..



Vern flat footing one of the lower 990 KTMs, while Steve, JW, and Gerard enjoy watching Vern smile...Vern showed up riding a cool Triumph 900 scrambler..He was smiling then too, but not the like he was sitting on the Orange..




Verns Bike.....



Smiling Vern, Steve and Gerard heading down to John Day for the Rally...Great bunch of guys, I think they enjoyed the Lodge..Mr. Vern can really tell a good story. Steve's Bumble Bee and Gerard's 950 Katoom where also very sweet rides....



Josh on his trick 990.... I won't remember all the stuff, but his two into one pipe with the extra 2.1 gallon fuel cell in the back, the woody's tubeless wheels, and the kick ass headlight where a few of what i remembered..



Dante pickin up some road dust on that way to clean 1150....The order of the pics doesn't tell the story of whos in front...



Not sure who this guy was, but he had some interesting custom panniers on the front of his GS..



By the end of Day 5 most of the cloudy weather had moved on...I missed some nice shots today on a couple of the loops that I rode...Good riding has a tendency to interrupt good photography every time...

Day 6 Coming up....

That's a great photo, nice DOF.

What camera do you use?

Thanks for the RR.

I'm using a Canon G10 for my handlebar camera, and Nikon D200 for most of the other work...This shot was with the Nikon using an 80-200mm 2.8 lense..

I was thinking about a Canon G10 to take with me on the bike. I don't like having all my DSLR stuff along for the ride.

The G10 seems to be have high reviews from what I've seen.

Would you buy it again if you could do it over, or would you pick something else?

nice.....

I stopped into the logde to say hi a few months ago. Really cool place. Got the grand tour, very nice.

The number of people who stop by and check this place out is amazing...Its a one of a kind place...I've really enjoyed staying here.

Don't think we are in Kansas anymore.....You going to WestFest?

The lodge sure was an amazing place to hang out, I don't think I spent more than 5 mins sober while inside To be able to go out for a day of killer riding, come back to gourmet meal, watch JW play the blues, and drink tequila till I pass out was something I won't ever forget It was great to meet you Bill, maybe I'll catch you again out there sometime

Nice pics, I miss me some Oregon.