Nice day for a ride

I headed north today, to Stevenson, WA, on Hwy. 14. It is next to the Columbia River and is a very scenic road. Much nicer than I-84 which is on the south side of the river.

I did some recon, looking for an outdoor shooting range north of Stevenson, WA.  I had been there before with some friends and wanted to go there again. I found out from a local, an older gentleman riding a Sportster, that the range had been shut down a couple of years ago because yahoos were up there breaking things, shooting stuff they weren't supposed to, and generally being asses. Thanks guys. So, this road, Loop Rd., does a loop (go figure) north of Stevenson, with the ends of the road at opposite ends of town. I went up the east road and came to a "Road Closed" sign and a couple of jersey barriers in the middle of the road. There was just enough room between them to slowly drive the bike through, so of course I did. I've made it a habit to go around barriers like these, because its fun and I frequently discover that its something that I can drive around on the bike. This time was just like that. Just up the road from the barriers, the road had partially washed away. This is a pretty common sight in the spring on roads like this. I drove past the washout and a little farther on I saw the other set of barriers. For some reason, I decided to turn around, went back into town, and found the other end of the same road.

I drove up Loop Rd. again, until I came to the barriers that I had seen from the other side. It was even easier getting through these. I drove around one corner and stopped about 100 ft. from the beginning of the washout. I turned off the bike, got off, and decided to eat lunch. I brought my JetBoil and a freeze dried meal. I use these a lot for camping, or to be able to have a hot meal in the middle of nowhere when I'm riding. They are surprisingly good. But I forgot to bring a spoon. I ended up using a piece of wood. It worked well.

 Tastes better than it looks

This hadn't really taken that long, so I decided to drive a little farther up Hwy. 14 to Carson and then head north towards Mt. St. Helens.  Last night I checked and found out that NFR 25 was still closed because of snow. This Forest Service road goes to Randle, WA and is the road that takes you to Windy Ridge, which is the road to the top near the crater of the VOLCANO!!! I find it very amusing that I live 50 miles from an active volcano. The roads are fast and fun. The scenery is hard to beat. This is the first half of one of my favorite rides.