Epic Road Trip (Day 4)

Day four took me from Lake Tahoe, CA to Klamath Falls Oregon, a total of almost 300 miles. It was a whole lot easier than the previous three days, but the scenery was no less spectacular. It was interesting to watch the mountains change from the solid, steep granite mountains of the Sierra Nevadas to the black, cratered, volcanic remnants of the lower Cascades.

I started my day by heading out to take a few early morning photos from the shore of Lake Tahoe, then I dropped into this great little caffe a stone's throw from my cabin called the Log Cabin Caffe. I, since this is a working vacation, took care of a few things that needed taking care of while I enjoyed some biscuits and gravy and coffee. Then, it was back to the cabin to load my gear back on the bike, gas up, and hit the road. So long Tahoe, and thanks for all the Fish! 

The highway from Tahoe to Truckee is a windy, fun segment that, thankfully, kept me off the Interstate (I thought I might have to hop on for a mile, but it turns out I wouldn't, so Interstate averted. Unfortunately, while today was much easier, I landed myself in couple of delays due to construction. So, there were a few times I had to sit and wait, then get into a long column of cars that made their way through the construction zone at 20 to 25 miles per hour. But, I was mostly surrounded by trees, so I wasn't missing much.

Once I got to Sierraville, I passed a quaint little downtown and stopped under a shade tree by a ranch house at the edge of town (just after transitioning onto Highway 49) to take a few photos and hydrate. It was cool, but not cold, so I switched over to my lighter weight gloves (which I was able to wear the rest of the day since I really didn't go back over about 6,000 feet elevation the rest of the day.

Highway 49 wound through ranches, farms, and rolling hills all the way to Vinton, before I had to take a small hop on California Highway 70 to connect with Highway 395. The highways from Sierraville and everything I was on all the way to the Oregon border weren't the greatest. They were rough and definitely needed the resurfacing, but California is cheap. Rather than resurfacing, they just patched spots, which made the roads even less smooth.

That's what they were doing at at my second construction delay, after which I came to one of the more interesting spots on today's ride. It was really just a refueling station, but the name was amusing: Hallelujah Junction. And they had an unhealthy obsession with cowboys.

I continued north on 395 from there and enjoyed a long stretch of gently rolling hills for nearly 70 miles when I hit Susanville, after refueling in Johnstonville, I refueled myself at the Kopper Kettle, then continued on to my last refueling stop along the way: Adin, CA. The highway wound its way through rolling hills and was quite windy at times. I could finally just lean back against my bag and enjoy the ride. Then I came across these guys. I'm not sure who made them, but whoever they are, they're my hero.

I eventually crossed the border into Oregon and made my way into Klamath Falls, where I found the Red Rooster Grill and grubbed it up before giving up the ghost and prepping myself for Day 5.