The BC-Washington Loop: Phase 4: Omak to Oak Harbor - Washington Pass

Click to enlarge...

1 Grand Coulee: Dam! That was a great ride down from Omak.  The dam itself is the most powerful generating facility in North America.  Pictures don't do it justice.  With names like Electric City and Elmer the local communities are small and pin their hopes on tourism and agriculture.  The peaches, cherries and apricots are fine - sweet and cheap.  Great breaky.

2, 3 and 4 Grand Coulee to Pateros: Fire and Water.  This was probably the most isolated road I have ever driven on.  As usual in Washington, with incredibly light use, the surface was immaculate. The road starts curving through some amazing terrain, and ends being like a dead straight ribbon which undulates over light rolling desert hills.  You might see a coyote, a vulture or a dust devil, but you likely won't see another vehicle.  In our case, we saw one: it was a huge camper I could see heading north miles ahead of us.  It took a while to catch him because like us, he realised that speed enforcement was not ever going to be an issue on this road.

  

Great scenic curves leaving Coulee City.

Wind up your Hyabusa here.  Look at the surface and no smoky bear anywhere in sight.

4 Pateros: Back on the SR20. The forest fires you heard about in Washington state, well Pateros was ground zero.  We stopped, but with the American Red Cross, exhausted looking fire fighters, and destitute families pulling burned wreckage out of what remained of their homes or melted trucks, taking pictures seemed crass.  There were hand painted signs everwhere thanking the firefighters for their gallant effort at saving their towns.  Leaving Pateros, ironically, we encountered the biggest thunderstorm I have ever had the "pleasure" to ride though.  This was the same one that hit BC some hours later that day (forcing the evacuation of our daughter from her camp in Enderby later that night).  The drops were huge - it was a deluge, and just what the forest fire needed to control it.  The rain, hail and lightening just added to the surreal sight of smouldering desert: we got soaked and could have been forgiven for thinking we had crashed and gone to hell, such was the wasteland and carnage we passed.  Riding through it, you would see a completely burned landscape, with the occasional house, green lawn and perfect fruit trees, the fire having burned a perfect rectangular perimeter around it...Wild.

 

Before the deluge.  Notice the blackened desert on the right.  This went on and got worse for hours....

The the rain hit...

It kept coming...surreal with the scorched earth...

 5 Twisp: The rain was so bad, we tried stopping at several small communities, but with power poles incinerated there was no power, and everything was closed, with residents forced to leave for food, shelter etc.  We saw no one in these towns.  Finally, one small store in a place called Twisp was open.  The County Sheriff and town police officer had made it their HQ, as it was the only place with a generator (and doughnuts).  For us it was a chance to stop, eat (we hadn't eaten since a few pieces of fruit in the morning which seemed like a different era...90F and sunshine, reduced to 60F, heated vest and a deluge...)  We grabbed a bowl of soup each and hung our jackets up.  When we left, we felt guilty about the lake of water we left under and around our table!

It seemed like the whole of Twisp was gathered in the General Store and Pharmacy.

6 Washington Pass.  SR20 is an amazing road, but the crown in the jewel is from Winthrop up and over Washington Pass and down to Diablo Lake.   Thunder, lightning, rain, snow, hail and gusts of wind hitting 50mph couldn't take away from the views.  Topping out at 5000 feet, the pass is guarded by Silverstar Mountain and the most amazing glacial valley.  The road is amazing and speeds of 85mph are easy up until the hairpin switchback section just west of Silverstar mountain where you should take the signage seriously.  Then its down down down all the way to Diablo Lake - aptly named, as, just as the signs warn, this area is famous for devilishly extreme side and head gusts.  Well with a thunderstorm passing over us, we got the full meal deal.  The lake itself reminds me of Payto lake near Banff = it's glacial blue and set among some gorgeous mountains with treed islands. Got to say, the Strom took it all in her stride and tracked really well particularly the winds.  Again the trail wings were amazing in the soaking conditions - there was no aquaplaning, those big sipes cleared water well.  

Washington Pass may only be half the height of Tioga Pass in Yosemite, but it's every bit as impressive...You ride up that ribbon on the left.

     

Yes, that's snow to the right of the road...

Snow...Those hand guards are worth their weight in the rain and cold wind.  The adjustable Madstad screen is worth the money over the stock crap.

Diablo Lake.  I won't wax lyrical - the picture speaks volumes. This is where the rain stopped and the wind started.

From here it was back to more familiar terrain, through Sedro-Wolley (hey, I don't name them) and through to Oak Harbor and my in-laws place to dry the gear out and change the oil.  Why not, Mobil 1 4T is 8.97L down there!  We took a side trip the next day to Hurricane Ridge via the Coupeville to Port Townsend Ferry and up to Port Angelis.  It was impressive, and Hurricane Ridge was spectacular.  But that's for another day... 

Getting back to the island from Oak Harbor is easy.  Take the Anacortes - Sidney ferry for an incredibly scenic (cheap) 2 hour trip through the San Juan's, Souther Gulf Islands.  You ride on and off first (no booking needed for bikes).  The customs are quick in Sidney - 30 seconds for us.  It certainly beats riding up to the Peace Arch, waiting in that lineup, catching the Tsawassen Ferry and paying over the odds for the "pleasure..."  We had a great ride back up the island to Nanaimo.  2100km all told.   

Would I do this trip again?  Yes.  I wouldn't change the bike, the packing or the company!  I would change the daily destinations though, as mentioned, and there would be  few places I'd skip altogether - Whistler, Vernon, Nelson to name three.  I'd also take more time to visit places like Winthrop and spend longer in each location.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, but it left a great flavour in our mouths.  

The BC - Washington Loop - Phase One: Horseshoe Bay to Vernon

Click for a larger view...photographs are referenced by numbers on the map

1 The Brittania Mine - well worth the stop if you've never been into a mine before.  We were barely off the ferry, and we stopped to check out the mine.  I found it somewhat disappointing as compared to Andy and my previous visit to the Myra Falls Mine, but it was a worthwhile stop if only to adjust our gear!

 
The train ride is short, but the gold panning lucrative if you persist.  Of course, time is of the essence, so 3 flakes had to do.

 2 Shannon Falls: Another stop, another gear change.  Beautiful falls, and the road to Whistler is great to ride, but the weather seemed to change every few minutes.

3 Whistler: We actually stayed at the Fairmont for the night.  What an over-hyped, overpriced joint. They wanted to charge me $35 for parking.  Forget it.  Your bike won't trigger the automatic sensor, so ride around the gate (you should be used to riding around gates if you're a regular reader of this blog!), find a stall and enjoy a free stay. You won't be asked about parking in the reception/foyer, as you settle up with a machine on the way out, unless you ride around the exit barrier...Use the saved money for some liquid refreshment at the end of the day, or to tip the snooty Valet parkers...  So instead of free advertising for Whistler, I'll show you how you get a week's worth of clothes, iPads, iPhones, Kindles, passports, documents, spare keys, sunglasses, glasses, some minor medical paraphernalia and shoes into a Suzuki (Rebranded Trax) 38L Aluminium top box and Suzuki (Rebranded Bags-Connection) Tank Bag...Use a straw, an iron, and some ziplocks!

4 Mount Curry, Lillooet Lake to Duffy Lake:  Ok the serious stuff.  The roads.  The surface strangely degrades substantially after Whistler.  Christy is all about image.  The weather got wet too, but the much maligned Bridgestone trail wings were amazing, especially considering this was the first rain in a couple of weeks.  The road winds after Lillooet lake, up some tasty switchbacks with great elevation changes and views...a feature of much of this route. 

That's all the luggage...the tank bag and the top box...

Typical wet coast weather greeted as the elevation climbed, but what a difference in Lillooet.

5 Lillooet: Cross the coastal range and the climate and vegetation changes abruptly.  But the road continues to dish up exciting curves and elevation changes at will.  There is no end to them. The traffic is very light and the only speed tax collector we saw after Whistler was on a Harley ripping up the blacktop with abandon.  Great guy, who pulled over when he saw me adjusting my camera and had a chat.  

The Thompson starts to meander its way through this cowboy country...as do the roads :)

It was hot, and another gear change was required.  If you're a dirt rider, and you have a ballistic mesh vest, then this is the country for you.  Unfortunately we only had one...and you can guess who got that.

6 Cache Creek: Here you have a choice - head south along the 97C through Merritt and along 5 and 97C again to Kelowna and north to Vernon. OR, shorter,  head east on 1 through Kamloops, and turn southeast on the very scenic 97 through Falkland to Vernon. This is the route we took.  The 97 through Falkland is another great motorcycle road with good surface, great curves and scenery.

 Triple digit speed limits, something we don't see much of on Vancouver Island

7 The Falkland Road: Again, light traffic, scenic and flowing curves made for a nice end to the day before Vernon.  Vernon was not a place I would choose to stay again...It was a long a ride, and stopping in one of the smaller communities after Kamloops and before Vernon may have been a wiser choice.  Nothing against Vernon, but after the scenery we had seen that day, it was...grubby.

Phase Two - Vernon to Nelson

A Pictorial Biker's Guide to the BC - Washington Loop: 2000 km of Heavenly Curves.

What do you do when the dirt roads are off limits because of forest-fire danger and you need your riding fix?  Well one possibility is to explore some of the best black-top you can find in this province and south of the border.  So, together with my wife, and with reference to DHBC and DHW we headed out on Siouxsie 2, a 2013 VStrom 650 to unwind the curves of some of BC and Washington State's best roads.  Because there are so many maps, pictures and vids of this trip, I have taken the liberty of splitting the route into 4 phases, referenced above by the white, blue, red and green routes.  

Overall this is a 2100 km route, including 3 ferries (one inland cable ferry, one BC ferry, and one Washington State Department of Transport Ferry).  You might baulk at the cost, but inland ferries are FREE (yes free...) and the Washington State ferries are half the cost of there overpriced BC counterparts.  Of course if you're not a native of Vancouver Island, then this is only a one free ferry ride to enjoy!

A note on my riding experience and the bike:  I am a long time rider, but I have only undertaken multi-day bike trips on dirt bikes, never on a road bike.  This trip was a first for me in many ways: the first 2 up trip; the first long range multi day trip; the first cross border trip; and the first on my Vstrom.  We packed light - incredibly light, and planned to stay in motels, rather than camp, as I initially wanted to, but a happy wife is a happy life as they say!  It was a smart move for many reasons, not least the big storm we encountered, and the forest fires...  

The bike is a 2013 VStrom 650.  I have never owned a Vstrom before; in fact, I had always looked down my nose at the pre 2012 iteration as as ugly, boring and cheap.  I've ridden lots of bikes, and it was a ride on a friend's 2012 Vstrom which converted me.  I was seriously worried about many aspects of 2 upping a 650 on such a long trip, both from power and suspension aspects.  I needn't have worried, adjusting the rear suspension and inflating the tires to specs put paid to any worries about the handling.  The stock seat is unusually good for a Jap bike.  The stock windshield isn't: get an 18 inch adjustable Madstad and your life with the Strom will become serene.  This ride is nothing but curves and hills as you will see, and the bike was light, easy and safe feeling during all kinds of road surfaces, weathers and speeds.  The engine is a gem.  More like turbine than anything else, it had plenty of legs to whisk us along at between 100-130kmh easily with guts to spare for passing (with a gear change, of course). 

Because we were packing so lightly, I had the stock tool kit, plus a can of chain lube, no inner-tubes, plugs, oil or spares of any kind for the bike.  Potentially stupid yes, but given the Vstrom's reputation as reliable and easy to live with, and the fact that it is used in places as far a field as South America and Africa by commercial tour outfits we felt pretty secure in trusting it to get us back. Needless to say, the bike was perfect and neither of us would have any hesitation crossing the continent on it after this.  If you want character and cachet though, get something else; they're the Ford Truck of bikes.

Over the next few days, I will post the following and update the links:

Phase One: Horsehoe Bay to Vernon (BC) via Pemberton, Cache Creek, and Kamloops.
Phase Two: Vernon to Nelson (BC) via Fauquier, Nakusp, New Denver and Kaslo.
Phase Three: Nelson to Omak (WA) via Trail, Kettle Falls, and Tonasket.
Phase Four: Omak to Oak Harbor (WA), via Grand Coulee, Bridgeport, Pateros, Twisp, Winthrop, Washington Pass, and Sedro-Woolley. 

Finally, we did this trip clockwise, but it would be just as enjoyable the other way around...perhaps a future ride for us, we liked it that much.

Editor's Note: This is my first post on The Real Motorcycle Diaries Blog: Andy any me have decided to amalgamate our blogs rather than duplicate on separate sites, so DR SIOUXSIE'S Travels will no longer be updated.  The posts will stay as an archive, but from now on, I'll be posting with Andy, on this blog site.