We made our way out Hwy 224 and turned East on Hwy 211. We then took a turn off of 211 up Cedar Creek looking for what we hoped was a dirt road connector route over to Promontory Point, but once we arrived there, Longview Fiber had the gates from Hell.
Plan B: we then snaked our way down towards Eagle Creek Campground (nice place and TWISTY roads!). From there we made our way by Garfield and Yocum (love that name) and eventually tripped our way over to La Dee Flats and down to Promontory Point. Along the way we found a most excellent trail option that we will return to check out later!
For something new we decided to check out Road #45 back to Estacada. Within the first five miles or so, we must have encountered at least 20 different people in different locations out practicing their target shooting. Odd thing was, each time we'd ride by some of these people (Yes, it seemed "Deliverance" music was playing in the area), they would all suddenly scurry and act like they were hiding things. We just wanted the heck out, so we didn't end up being a target. This road was quite a scenic route as we explored and poked our way along. That's about the time that the rains started to descend, lightly at first. Though scenic, most all ghost roads and trails have been tank trapped so NOBODY can get in. Looks like a few quads have bypassed sections to get to some of the smaller lakes. A damn shame that the public can't get access to public lands. One quad trail we went on started out rocky, then turned into switchbacks as Danno and I rode our Hawgs onward. I was in front on one particular section and the trail kept getting narrower and narrower and it turned into a case of me not wanting to stop because it would have been too difficult to turn my 1000cc GS "Barney" around! The trail eventually got so steep that I finally quit, with Danno stopping right behind me. It was quite the challenge turning these beasts around on narrow, steep quad trails! It was so steep, that the jugs on my BMW were scraping the ground as I tried to turn her around - a delicate situation! We woulda taken some pictures of this for posterity, but we were too concerned about making it out alive!
The pic below was after we got onto the more flatter section of trail (it's quite steep here, contrary to how the picture appears).
Road 45 twisted its way back down and eventually caught onto Hwy 211 and we were then back in Estacada, where it was time for some warm food and coffee. Once finished we decided to slip on our rain gear, as the rain was commencing without pulling any punches. One problem for me: the rain pants I had were for a friend's considerably smaller stature and the ones for me were back at home. Let's just say I was glad Danno didn't have a camera and things were rather tight. Not a pretty picture if you can imagine my fanny wrapped in tight cellophane...
On our way back we had to sit in the rain a bit, since there was a nasty accident close to Barton. Then it was auto pilot as the horses made their way back to the barn. All in all about a 140 mile day of good times.
You can see the few pictures I took by CLICKING HERE.
-Tom
