papabearmctrip2023

[papabearmctrip2023]

Day 9 - Mt. Hood through the town of Government Camp. Guy at the gas station there told me skiing was open on Mt Hood up until end of July this year!? Crazy! Anyway, that's pretty much it, made it home safely.

Thank you Jesus for your protection and the long talks along the way and getting me home safely. Thank you for the beautiful weather, not a single drop of rain the entire trip! Thank you for all of the beauty you have created for us to enjoy - ocean coasts, huge sand dunes, giant redwoods, deep canyons, pristine lakes and rivers, deserts, volcanic mountains and craters, orange barked ponderosas, vultures, eagles, bugeling elk. Thank you for the little things like only 4 mosquitos the entire trip and not running out of gas. Thanks for people I met along the way - stranger's and a friend.

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Day 8 - Fri - another sunny clear day, made my way north toward Mt. Bachelor, west of Bend, OR. There was a forest fire (you can see in the pic) so I had to reroute due to road closures. North of Bend, canyon on Lake Simtustus on the Deschutes River. That is Mt. Jefferson in the background. The other mountain pick is Mt. Hood where I camped near for the night on Clear Lake. Gorgeous sunset on my last night. Those clouds in the sunset pics is actually smoke from the fire in the first pics earlier in the day. Saturday I head home.

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Day 7 - continued... more pics from Crater Lake. Spent the night camping on Lake Odell at around 5000ft elevation.

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Day 7 - best day yet! Shorter on miles driven today. Went through Crater Lake NP, my oh my, beautiful. 70 degree day, not a cloud in the sky. This place is amazing. The bluest water I've ever seen. Surrounded by a mountain view of multiple features. I intended to take the east rim drive but it was closed for construction. I went up it a bit to see Vidae Falls and the Phantom Ship viewpoint, them back around the west rim.

This pic below is looking south from the rim to the Klamath Falls basin. Klamath Falls is at the south end of that lake you can see in the distance.

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Day 6 continued... the left pic you can see Lassen Volcano where I was earlier in the day. It's the tall peak just left of middle in the left picture. The pic on the right was from the same vantage point and that's Mount Shasta.

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Day 6 - Wed - whew, today was a long one. 250+ miles. Went up and down Lassen Volcanic NP which I definitely enjoyed. The road topped out at 8511 ft elevation and although sunny, the temp was brisk! Beautiful clear lakes at the top, great scenic views, some fire devastation in the park as well. Then headed north to Kalamath Falls, OR.

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Day 5 - Tue - headed east across CA today on Hwy 299 through 130+ miles of twisty roads through the mountains, along Trinity River. Beautiful country, smoke in the air from the Six Rivers fires, lots of construction delays and held up for 30 min by a 5 car pile-up accident. Spent that time jawing with a couple road crew guys in the middle of a construction site in the shade of a pavement roller - nice fellas! The temperature definitely got warmer the nearest I got to Redding around 2pm and it was 95 degrees! Got to meet Amy's BFF, Jill, for lunch! So good to see her and visit. Then headed on to camp near Lassen Volcanic NP.

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Day 3 & 4 - another day along the coast down into CA to the Redwoods NP. The day was cold as the coast was lined with a heavy fog so visibility was low which didn't allow for many scenic pics. Lots of huge sand dunes along the southern OR coast, pic of Umpqua lighthouse. In CA, Paul Bunyan and Babe- I remember stopping here on a family trip when I was young (the "Trees of Mystery"). Riding through the Redwoods was quite amazing! I had the tent camping area at the campground all to myself which was nice. I also spent Day 4 here as well. There was a heard of elk near the campground, and the bulls were bugeling throughout the day and evening! Thank you, Lord, for your awesome creations and spectacular scenery!

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Day 2- 180 miles today. Sunset pic from Fri night, stopped at the Tillamook Creamery for an ice cream - it's a must! The OR coast is quite amazing and full of variety. Nice little ocean towns every 20 miles, beautiful beaches, cliffs that come straight out of the ocean that the road hugs which yields spectacular views, huge sand dunes, lady making sandscapes. Stopped under the Newport Bridge to eat lunch and watched the boats come in and out of the harbor. God's creation always amazes me!

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Day 1 - beautiful sunny day. Stopped to eat lunch on the mouth of the Columbia River on the WA side from Astoria, OR. Astoria is probably most well know for where the movies Goonies and Kindergarten Cop were filmed. It also has a very tall column you can climb up that sits on the hill overlooking the town and river.

Stopped in Seaside for some coffee, saw the beach. Stopped at a cool Lewis & Clark historical site. Stopped in Cannon Beach and took a pic of Haystack Rock. The last viewpoint pic is of Nehalem Bay Beach area and where I'm spending the night tonight. Made camp, no rain tonight so I thought I would forgo setting up the tent and just sleep under the canvas.

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Friday, 9/8, is the start of my 2023 trip.

I'm so grateful for my wife and her loving support for me to be able to do this. I know she worries and prays a lot and it isn't easy and that is not lost on me, my love.

Last year's trip through MT, ID, WA was my first long trip and an incredibly epic adventure seeing God's creation, the country I grew up in, and best of all seeing old friends along the way! I still get choked up thinking about it all. It will be in my heart forever and not likely to ever be topped.

I get to do this all from the seat of a motorcycle - something I love to do very much. Dad, thank you for sharing your passion of motorcycles with me at such a young age, I am truly grateful.

Starting out from home this trip and plan to head as far as Nehalem Bay state park on the OR coast where I will camp for the night. I appreciate everyone's prayers for safety!