South Beach to Hoh Rainforest
This is the second installment of my trip log of my first overnight trip with the new Benelli TRK502X, doing 7 nights / 8 days from Portland, up the Olympic Peninsula, over to Bellingham and then finally to Orcas Island.
My GPS tracks from day 3, as recorded by Gaia GPS; Kalaloch to Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center.
Day 3
Planned Destination: Forks or La Push
Actual Destination: Hoh Rainforest Campground
Planned / Actual Accommodation: Camping
Planned / Actual Miles: 100 / 111
Planned Route: Follow the Oly Ride Guide Day Three route published by ADV Pulse, and camp somewhere near Forks or La Push
Route Notes
After breaking camp I headed south to Queets to get gas and then back up US 101 to the store at Kalaloch to buy a sandwich for lunch for the day and pick up a few beers for the evening. I’d actually had trouble finding a place that was open and that sold beer the night before, so I was going into this day better prepared.
Today’s route was planned to be basically all of the Day 3 section of the ADV Pulse’s Olympic Peninsula route. No specific place planned to camp. I’d just find something when I was done for the day. The day started out well, and I got my first introduction to gravel roads and gravel two track on the TRK. After my experience on the WABDR on the Quota (which I haven’t written about, but I crashed hard; the Quota is in the garage patiently waiting to be rehabbed now), I was taking things slow and easy. The TRK isn’t that much lighter than the Quota, even though it’s half a liter smaller engine-wise, and I’m not sure yet if I can pick it up, so I didn’t want to get too excited and get myself into trouble again. Plus, I’m running the 80/10 Metzler Tourance tires that came on the bike; slow and easy.
I did build some confidence, but I never pushed hard. I thought about this a lot as I was riding actually. I mean, I could have pushed a lot harder. Why wasn’t I? The answer is simple. For me, adventure motorcycling (well, life in general) is about making moments. It’s about stringing together as many great memories as I can while I still can. I’ll remember the great views I “discover” along the way. I’ll remember the interesting people I meet. I’ll remember the trip. But I won’t remember if I pushed hard on any given day or not. I just don’t care about that anymore. Plus, when riding alone, you’re alone if you get into trouble. Better to go easy and get there in one piece.
I did run into one issue along the way; the C-2000 road was closed. It appeared that my planned route was closed for the season, which hadn’t been noted in the ride guide. So, I backtracked to the Hoh Mainline Road and rejoined the planned route where Mainline meets Maple Creek Rd. I discovered later, upon closer inspection, that I’d actually missed a turn off of C-2000 (onto a road that isn’t labeled on the map) just before the road closure. Not sure how I rode past that turnoff twice without seeing it. So be it. I have an excuse to go back and do that again. It was all still great riding.
Camp Notes
It’s been a while since I camped on the ground on a thin air pad, and it wasn’t really agreeing with me anymore; I hand’t slept well the last two nights. By the time I got to the Hoh Visitor Center I was tired and ready to be done. The Hoh Campground is reservation only, and there were no sites available when I was planning the trip. But, there was a sign at the visitor center beckoning visitors to inquire at the campground desk if there were any camp sites available, so that’s what I did.
I lucked out; there were several sites available. I got a great site with a somewhat secluded tent space (though I worried about tent flooding as it was several feet lower than the surrounding land; fortunately there was no rain). I met a young couple who were actually sleeping in their car. Ouch. They didn’t really know how to camp. She was from Texas but had recently moved to Eugene, Oregon, and he was from England somewhere. She said she was an artist and she’d never done anything like this before. In the morning, she came over and asked if I had a way to heat water so they could have coffee. I obliged.
The guy next to me also came over in the morning and offered me coffee. Motorcycle travel really brings out the friendliness from people in RV trailers.
Gear Notes
I had noticed a store on the road up to the Hoh visitor center. I rode back to see if they had any food, as I was running low. I hadn’t really been thinking ahead and replenishing food before I needed it, and I was worried that I’d run out. The store had several freeze dried meals, so I picked up something for dinner and some scrambled eggs for breakfast, leaving the food I already had for the next day.
I didn’t have a ton of room for food as I was storing all food (and smelly items) in a small Bare Boxer bear canister from Gossamer Gear. Since I wasn’t running with hard case luggage, I felt I needed a way to keep the rodents (and bears) at bay. The Bare Boxer has room for two days of dinners and breakfasts (freeze dried) plus coffee, some extra oat meal, energy bars, my toothbrush & paste, the dish soap, DEET, and my Whisperlite stove. It worked out quite well the entire trip, actually. Anything that might attract rodents or bears went in the canister, and the canister fit nicely at the bottom of my left-side Wolfman 20L rolie.
As noted above, sleeping on the ground on a thin air pad doesn’t do it for me anymore. My back killed me on the third night, and I did not sleep well at all. I have identified the solution, however. The Helinox Lite Cot. It packs smaller than my air pad and is now on my Christmas wish list. The only downside would be cold weather camping; will need a thin foam pad to provide insulation for temps below freezing, likely.
C-2000 closed for the season.
Planned route in purple. My missed turn but didn’t notice before backtracking all the way to Hoh Mainline.
Turned round at the arrow; backtracked and detoured out to Hoh Mainline Rod (in turquoise).
