I am really depressed that I have not been able to take the pictures of things I want to photograph! As I ride along and see some stupendous scene I wish I could just stop and click away, but there are mitigating circumstances! The sides of the roads do not offer suitable places to pull over without risking a fall over of the bike. The shoulders are narrow, or gravelly, or slope down drastically…or all three at once. The bike is so heavily loaded, it would be easy to topple over and be helpless for some time before someone came along to help. I just can’t risk that. But OH!..So many beautiful shots lost forever, only to be remembered in my mind’s eye.

Today was a perfect example of that problem. I left the campsite at Cave Junction very early…before daylight…and made my way slowly along Hwy 199…almost running into one little deer in the process as she wandered across the highway in no particular hurry.

It was also very cold. About 40 degrees, and I was bundled up in layers making maneuvering the bike cumbersome at best. I plodded along, stopping at Grants Pass to get another MacDonalds breakfast, where their WIFI didn’t seem to work by the way. After breakfast I hopped on Interstate-5 and ran up through Medford to Ashland where I took Oregon 66 across Soda Mountain to Klamath Falls. Even though it was still early, the sun was up and I pretty much had the road to myself, so I was able to stop a few times for some pictures along this route. This was one of the most beautiful scenic roads I have been on this whole trip so far. Just spectacular! One section is particularly scary with a steep drop off and NO guardrail of any sort with the wall of the mountain going up on the left side.

Of special interest was the signs I kept seeing, saying “Open Range”. Then I had to turn around and go back for this shot when I passed it suddenly.

The Klamath River figures prominently in this area, and I must have crossed it at least 4 times on this route, once with what I believe is Mount Shasta way in the background. Or that could be Mt. McLoughlin. I don’t know the area good enough to say definitely which it is.

Once I made it to Klamath Falls I just kept going on 140 to try and reach Lakeview before gassing up. Once I got gas and took a little break, I jumped back on 140 and rode the 200 more miles to Winnemucca, Nevada. This last part is the part where I wish I could have taken some pics!

Even though it was mostly dry, barren wasteland, the areas where the road transverses big hills became nice bike riding roads and the scenes looking back down on the valleys was unbelievable!
The approach to Winnemucca also had some rather striking “smooth” looking hills covered with some kind of green and red vegetation, giving them that smooth surreal appearance from the distance.

So that brings me to Winnemucca! I always wanted to see what Winnemucca looks like. Now I know. It seems to be a busy little burg with lots of activity and tons of small, medium and large motels to choose from.