Riding Around the Hood

[Squishy]

Originally Posted by Apple Jam

I just wanna pick something initially that sounds like enough fun to get somebody excited about riding with me . From there, I don't care .

You da man, that's how you roll & wees alike dat!

[Apple Jam]

This ride starts at the Lazy Lodge with TourPros:



TP and his XR (IT LIVES ) are not really into freeway riding,
but there are not too many routes towards the East this time of year that are not covered in snow.
So, snow it is.

Up Old Dalles Rd. to Elder Rd, and along the ridge on top was fun,
until the dreaded sign..."End Winter Maintenence"
Oh Crap .

I knew Hood River and Mosier's good ol' boys would have 4x4'd this route a few times by now, so we pressed on despite this........



After a couple of miles of REALLY hard work, I realize TourPros is a long ways ahead of me, and I'm ready for a bit of a break.
Hey I recognize this spot....



Looks a bit different in white, instead of green, but does this spot look familiar, Max?

Originally Posted by Maxacceleration

In Mosier, we stop at the "no credit cards accepted" convenience store, and buy nothing with the cash we don't have on us....
And Mosier's retired Mayor walks up and strikes up conversation with us, then offers to take our picture,
with the "Mosier Totem Pole" in the backdrop



We take the gravel run "Dry Creek Rd" to the top of 7 Mile hill, then jump on the two-lane.
At the crest, 1800' elevation, the View down into The Dalles is pretty sweet.
Today's sky will not allow the best pics, but here it is anyway



next: Petersburg to Fairbanks.....

[TourPros]

Thanks for the ride AJ !!! While i had a lot of fun while i could it became just too friggin cold for my summer night at best riding gear LOL...

[Apple Jam]

TourPros left me at The Dalles, he had to get to Portland to pick up his 650L motor, in a HEATED cage.
The top of the hill at 7 Mile was 27 degrees .

I grew up in The Dalles, so I'd driven this road MANY times.
I never knew it was the route of The Great Southern Railroad, 100 years ago. Very Cool.

The old Petersburg Schoolhouse



All along this GREAT MOTORCYCLING two lane road, I see for the first time evidence of the Railroad Grade that once was.
A cutout in a hill, that I do remember seeing before, remembered out of curiosity.
Now, it makes sense....



At Fairbanks....



.....there is that ^^^^^ Schoolhouse, and this sculpture to the route of the Oregon Trail.
The plaque on it says "Oregon Trail 1853"



The next train stop was Brookhouse, is this it?



Hard to tell.
Next: Freebridge, the best section of this journey....

[Apple Jam]

Freebridge was another Railroad stop,
but it also marks the road towards the Deschutes that was the original Oregon Trail river crossing location and wagon route,
as it climbed in and out of the deep Deschutes River Gorge.

I remember seeing this curious building, here in the middle of nowhere before.
It is the old trainstop, and knowing this now, I finally understand why it was built the way it was.
But I've never really noticed the inconspicuous dirt road that followed some powerlines, opposite this building



Having the GPS here now, I find that this is the completely unmarked "Freebridge Rd"

This is an OLD, OLD road. It is obvious that it has been dug out of the flatland and gently rolling hills it was built through.
Dug out again, and again. And when it got muddy, it was dug out again.
It has become a 6-7 deep scar through the landscape



You won't really want to do this road in the extreme wet or dry. It would be extremely muddy or extremely dusty. It'd be ridable, but.....
There is no gravel, and the surface is several inches thick of sludge. Good enough for riding today, but I think that it's a narrow window.

As I start to see the Deschutes River Gorge, I'm getting kind of excited about what I might find here.
The grade down into the Gorge is pretty rough, steep, and very narrow.
A real Jeep trail; You would'nt really want to take a Super Duty Ford on this road, but you could, really slowly.



The views are really nice



At the bottom, the current road stops short of the Railroad tracks that are still currently used.
The East side had tracks too, started at the same time in 1909 by a competing company, and the first one wins.
The West side tracks won, and the East side grade was abandoned.
It is now a hiking and bicycling only trail through this section of the Deschutes River Gorge.

Take the time, if you go down Freebridge Rd to the bottom of the Gorge,
to walk across the tracks, all the way down to the river's edge.
I almost skipped it, thinking there was nothing left of the last old "free" bridge across the river.
It was named "Freebridge" after Wasco County purchased it in 1909, and stopped charging the toll that all previous travellers had to pay.

Just to the South, out of sight of the end of the current road, are the old bridge foundations.
This bridge was sabotaged in 1914, and was never rebuilt.
For THIS BOY....This was cool shit, indeed.



I spent quite a while here, eating my sandwich, and pondering History.
Imagine being in a frickin' WAGON doing this road instead of a KTM, with a motor???

Back at the top, I ride out a short road to the bluff overlooking the Canyon.
I see that I'm being watched from only 45 feet away.....



I don't think they get too many visitors here, they were NOT afraid.
The view from the top of this bluff was nice.
You can clearly see both RR grades on both sides of the river, as well as the Freebridge Road grade to the right, on the hillside.



Next up: Center Ridge Rd to Tygh Ridge......

[Apple Jam]

Wheatfields, old Farms and older Buildings. That's all there is here for many miles of gravel Rd.

Long since appreciated old cars



An original 60's Super Duty Ford; a real work truck.
Now "Super Duty"s are just an ugly-grilled Contractor's Pickup Truck or for towing Harleys



The old train route heads West-ish after here towards Rice and Boyd, and then to it's end in Friend.
Notice the windmills to power the pumps in the wells, to fill this old water tank for the last trainstop I'll see today.





I find myself wanting to stay on the East Deschutes Ridge gravel roads, exploring the old Farms and buildings here.





Mt. Hood would be just to the left in this view, on a clearer day,





Classic story here...
"This old house is a POS, honey, why can't we get us one of them new fangled Double-Wides, like the Jones's up the road have"

Just park it next to the old house, and yer done.







Next up: Sherrars Bridge and Falls......

[Apple Jam]

Sherrars Falls and bridge has been covered before, It's an easy search with lots of info and history.
So I'll just show y'all some pics...









Next section to ride is Sherrars Falls to Macks Canyon, on the 17 mile gravel road next to the Deschutes River.

This is a great ride, next to a beautiful river, even if the gravel is just a bit deep. My gut tells me to stay below 60 on this loose stuff.



The train disappears into the hill after this bridge across the river, you only get a small glimpse of the tunnel





Then it pops out on the other side...



The end of this road is Mack's Canyon Recreation Area.
You can see where the "losing side" train grade continues on here, but the road ends at this campground / boatlaunch





Back the way I came in, 17 miles. There is no other route.
Back at Sherrars Falls, it's a 9 mile one-lane paved ride to Maupin.

In Maupin, there is the Stonebridge Restaurant and Bar.
Owned by Mark and Vicky, also Orange lovers, they BOTH have Orange 950S KTMs.



Classic question comees from this old guy, sitting on the porch, smoking....
"A bit chilly out there tonight?"
"Nope. Just Fun and Sweet Adventure"



Dinner time, and good conversation.
KILLER Enchiladas and Pendleton's Whiskey.
Do I have to go home?????

Thanks for watching...

[MortimerSickle]

Hey AJ, do you and Z still have something planned Sunday?

If so, how ambitious? I'm feeling kinda lazy.

[Apple Jam]

Originally Posted by MortimerSickle

Hey AJ, do you and Z still have something planned Sunday?

If so, how ambitious? I'm feeling kinda lazy.

Yeah Easy-Z's still coming my way. We're meeting downtown HR at 8:30am
We were going to spectate the races in Eddieville, but they have been canceled.

I hadn't planned anything else, I have a planned gravel ride scheduled Monday.
So we'll refer to plan "B" for Sunday....

Originally Posted by Apple Jam

........can and shall ALWAYS be decided by committee and/or idiots.

You are welcome to come be committee, or one of us idiots.
Do you know where the shop meeting point is in HR ?

[MortimerSickle]

Originally Posted by Apple Jam

Yeah Easy-Z's still coming my way. We're meeting downtown HR at 8:30am
We were going to spectate the races in Eddieville, but they have been canceled.

I hadn't planned anything else, I have a planned gravel ride scheduled Monday.
So we'll refer to plan "B" for Sunday....



You are welcome to come be committee, or one of us idiots.
Do you know where the shop meeting point is in HR ?

Well, it's 8:18 and I just finished my coffee, so I'm thinkin' I might not make HR, or even the Plan B by 8:30.

I'll be leaving here about 9-9:30 to come over there to see TourPros anyway, but unless you leave bread crumbs, I probably won't be able to hook up with you today.

And no, I don't know where the shop is.

[Apple Jam]

Originally Posted by MortimerSickle

Well, it's 8:18 and I just finished my coffee, so I'm thinkin' I might not make HR, or even the Plan B by 8:30.

I'll be leaving here about 9-9:30 to come over there to see TourPros anyway, but unless you leave bread crumbs, I probably won't be able to hook up with you today.

And no, I don't know where the shop is.

Since we have no plan for today except meeting here at 8:30, we might still end up getting together, then.
Ladukebob is going to meet us here for a Pelican Case ownership transaction at 8:30,
and then we'll just see what our small committee of idiots decides from there.

[el guapo nada]

Originally Posted by Apple Jam

Since we have no plan for today except meeting here at 8:30, we might still end up getting together, then.
Ladukebob is going to meet us here for a Pelican Case ownership transaction at 8:30,
and then we'll just see what our small committee of idiots decides from there.

This idiot will be prepping his bike for 2mrws ride, so, if you find yerself in my neck-o-the-woods, I might be able to meet/join for some form of ride...was planning on doing my regular loops, part of which you covered nicely in yesterdays ride.....

[Apple Jam]

Originally Posted by el guapo nada

This idiot will be prepping his bike for 2mrws ride, so, if you find yerself in my neck-o-the-woods, I might be able to meet/join for some form of ride...was planning on doing my regular loops, part of which you covered nicely in yesterdays ride.....

We're in HR now, do you still have my phone # ?
I have yours

[el guapo nada]

yep, got it, but when I called just now, a nice gentleman named Ken answered, and we chatted - apparently he has received more than a few calls for you, some sort of screw-up with ATT he was sayin...wanted me to pass the message along to you, so there you go....

Sun is starting to shine in TD, I won't be ready to ride till noon...

[el guapo nada]

PM sent AJ....somethings still wrong with your phone.....