Got caught 20 over

[sanjaun2]

Thats hwy 20, North cascades type. I had a rough week at work so Thursday evening I went into the garage and prepared the GT for a little camping/grand tour check point ride. I left after work on Friday and headed north for a little slab and then hwy 9 and the hwy 530. 530 turned out to be a great road. Nice forested/farm land. Much better than slabbing! Half way to hwy 20 you start seeing what lies ahead, Mountains! Jumped on hwy 20 and a few minutes down the road is the buffalo run restaurant. It was sunny and warm so I ate outside. Nice wooded patio with 4 humming bird feeders with plenty of hungry hummers. Had a decent buffalo burger and paid extra for fries and 75 cents for bbq sauce for the burger. The staff was excellent. It ain't about the food its about the journey, And thats hwy 20!!! Its about 90 miles from here to the next gas, so top off if your below a half tank. an hour and half of excellent mountain roads later I pulled into early winters camp ground. This would be my base camp for the next two days. Nice cg but no showers. A whole whopping 5 bucks a night. Campsites right on a creek. Seemed more like a ragging river to me. Over the weekend I rode along about 400 miles of streams and rivers and every one of them were flowing way above normal. Saturday morning was sunny and nice, so off I went for the rest of hwy 20 eastward. 20 is broken into segments with other hwys connecting it all together. basically 20 is the high country twisty parts and the connector hwys are the lower elevation (this means hot) On several segments of 20 I had the road to myself for 30 minutes at a time without seeing another car in my lane. When I did see another car or bike, It was easy passing. My next GT point was the western bar and grill on hwy 31. I spent the about ten hours getting there and back to my cg. I scoped out vistas,campgrounds, any twisty roads I could find and of course a really cold blizzard at DQ in omak, It was 87 degrees and I needed it. The ride made the western a well worth place to go. I had the fish and chips and it wasn't half bad. A block behind the place was a really nice park on the river. Most of it was under water due to too much run off. Even the boat launch was closed because it was submerged. Does that make it a underwater park? On the way back I sopped to rest at a vista point and a guy on a new st 1300 pulled in. I talked with him for a few moments and then took off. He followed me right away. I could tell he was an outstanding rider, But since I was on the superior machine I had to take him for a ride. He was faster into the corners by a little but I was faster on the exits. On the straights the Gt blew his doors off. Anyway, We had the mountain to ourselves and we blasted thru it only slowing when other people or cars were nearby. After a while the toll of 8 hours of twisties kicked in, So I slowed the pace for awhile. The St still followed. I returned to my camp tired and low on fuel. I would have fueled up in winthrop But my intension was to back track that way on Sunday and find a new route home. There was always gas in Mazama only 2 miles away from camp. Sunday morning I awoke to a nice (not really) steady rain. I had no watch with me the tent. It was still kinda dark but I assumed it was from the rain. So I broke camp and packed up all my wet belongings and started the bike. It was only 6am! No wonder it was still dark and I was still tired. I back tracked to Mazama and the gas station was closed. 6am on a Sunday, Go figure. There was a sign saying next gas 67 miles. Heck, My bc said I have 30 miles left. So off I went testing my reserves on a curvy,windy mountain pass that was 35 degrees and raining. I figure it was not the smartest thing I have done. The snow plows were were spaced around almost every pullout but luckily nothing to plow. My bc finally said --- and 37 miles later I rolled into a gas station (across from the buffalo run restaurant) and pumped in 6.5 gallons into my 6.3 tank. Thanks Ken for the tip on drilling holes into the filler neck to gain more capacity. You guys ready for some camping?

[Mitch_Rider]

Brian,
Thanks for the report and the good tips on roads and eats(and gas). I plan on doing that route sometime soon. I just have a little more "slabbing" than you had to get up there! Glad you really didn't get a performance award for "20 Over".
What was your connecting route from 20 to Metaline Falls?

[amarider]

Good report Brian. I might join you guys up at John Day....

[jwd98056]

Sounds like a nice trip Brian :yeah:. Thanks for the ride report.

[sanjaun2]

Jeff,
Without the detours, My route was as follows. I-5 to 530 to 20 over to Okanogan. North on 97 to Tonasket. Back on hwy 20 to Kettle falls. hwy 395 to Colville, Back to hwy 20. Then north on hwy 31 to metaline.
John, It would be great to see ya at John Day. I need a new rear tire before I go anywhere. Last one only lasted 3 weeks!
Jim. Isn't it time we have another RTE?

[clayton]

Brian, sounds like a great ride. Glad to hear the roads were clear,bet you had the ST shaking in his boots.
Your right it is time for another RTE !

[reelman]

Brian,

Thanks for the report and pictures. Hwy 20 sounds great. I am definitely up for some camping. See you in John Day!

Dan

[avonfloater]

Thanks for the trip info, Brian. I knew your title was only a play on words cause you wouldn't be caught dead JUST 20 over! BTW, I think the WA State BMW Riders rally will be over in that part of the state in 2009 after one more year at Menlo.

Denny

[slowflyn]

Looks like you had a pretty sweet ride. The wife and I did some exploring over in the NE corner last year after taking 20. Some really nice empty roads over that way.

Glad you got back without any awards to pay. ;)

[meese]

Wow, sounds like you typed that all in one breath. :)

Glad my little trick helped. I don't go anywhere without a couple of 1/4 gallon MSR bottles now. Good thing too, as I needed one this morning due to not quite making the 168 miles from Ely to Tonopah. Nevada nominal speeds really do suck down the dino juice. I did get a new gps top speed pic though, at just a tad over the posted limit. :D That was almost worth the $32 fill-up. :eek:

I'm heading back up to Oregon for most of June and July. Care to show a tourist some of those roads?

[sanjaun2]

Wow, sounds like you typed that all in one breath. :)

Glad my little trick helped. I don't go anywhere without a couple of 1/4 gallon MSR bottles now. Good thing too, as I needed one this morning due to not quite making the 168 miles from Ely to Tonopah. Nevada nominal speeds really do suck down the dino juice. I did get a new gps top speed pic though, at just a tad over the posted limit. :D That was almost worth the $32 fill-up. :eek:

I'm heading back up to Oregon for most of June and July. Care to show a tourist some of those roads?
Welcome back to the neighborhood Ken. You know I am always up for a ride, Especially a good twisty one with little or no traffic!

Darrel and Denny, You guys have been pretty scarce the last 6 months or so. Lets do a RTE or something.

[slowflyn]

Brian, the last 6 -7 months has just been an endless series of work and personal dramas. During that time I barely got on the bike. It currently is at the dealer getting the valves checked and the air box fix. I'm optimistic that things may be getting back to a more normal state. A day ride over Chinook Pass when it opens could be fun. :)

[Sereman]

Brian: Thanks for the 20 SITREP. BTW...3 weeks to go through a rear tire? I just shakes my head!

Porch light is always on for you guys on the wet side. Cathy and I are hitting the "spine of the Rockies" (Spokane to Santa Fe) 7-23 July plus attending the International in Gillette.

Have a great summer and look forward to seeing you again someday.

GD

Big AL

[mrmagoo]

Great Post

We will be riding that route form Kettle Falls over to Sedro-Woolley first week of July on our way to Vancover Island. We are taking this as an alternate route to the HWY3 in Canada we will traveling from Fernie BC Canada to Winthrop WA staying overnight then out to the Coast. Any other info or tips about that route would be appreciated.

Daniel T Magee
K1200LT "BUZZ"