The Making-It-Up-As-We-Go Motorcycle
Tour:
Oregon, California & Nevada
Two weeks at the end September 2026,
about 2200 miles.
Our first two week motorcycle camping trip since 2024, as our 2025 trip had to be cancelled after just a few days because of my knee injury.
My first time sleeping in a tent, on the ground, since 2024.
Could I do it?! Well, yes and no...
My husband (coyotetrips) and I try to do a two-week motorcycle trip every year. If you have seen a map of everywhere we've been, you will see that we are running out of ideas for places to tour for two weeks, even three weeks, given such a short vacation period (because the USA sucks eggs when it comes to paid vacations, compared to the rest of the developed world). My idea for this year was to do the Lost Coast Back Country Discovery Route (BDR), a 500+ mile figure eight of a route in Northern California that includes the Lost Coast - on videos, it looked easier than other, full-state BDRs, and supposedly it was easy to get off of it if a section was too difficult. I can already do "easy" gravel roads - my downfall is hairpin turns and super steep gravel inclines. So Stefan took me on regular gravel rides every week to build up my confidence.
I'm going to say right up front I did not do the Lost Coast BDR. I tried. We started with the routes here and there along 101 and Hwy 1, but decided we would abandon the route before Shelter Cove, because of a gnarley gravel turn on Mattole Road where I almost crashed. It's when I knew, no, the Lost Coast BDR gravel sections are beyond my abilities. On a 250, maybe, but not my big KLR. There are terrific winding paved roads out there, as well as gravel roads that lead to somewhere beautiful or interesting, like an abandoned historic town or an incredible view or campground, and I'm going to stick to those.
So we had to come up with an alternative route for our two weeks out. And between the two of us, we not only did it, but managed to find several hundred miles of road we'd never done and have an all-around AMAZING time.
Before you write and say, "But why didn't you go to...", note
that we had only two weeks and, also, we have traveled extensively
in these areas. It's now quite a struggle to find places we have
NOT been. On this trip, we've done probably 80% of these roads
already on previous trips.
We also stayed at two hotels, for reasons I'll explain in the travelogue (if I do one):
So, so wish we could have spent an evening in Angel's Camp,
California. It looked like a really interesting place.
Complete travelogue may be coming soon - depending on if I decide
to write such. This will be a very detailed account of the trip,
more than most people will want to know.
My
photos, most without descriptions, on Flickr. Descriptions
in-progress.
I also put all
of our Bodie photos into one album.
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My posts on these channels are mostly about travel and motorcycle
riding, but in some places, I also talk about my professional
stuff which, sadly, is not about travel and motorcycle riding.
Trips riding my own motorcycle (or one I rented)
Belize,
California ("Lost Coast" and
gold country and Northern part of the state),
Guatemala, Idaho,
Montana (Glacier NP), Mexico (Baja
California), Nevada (2012 and 2018), Oregon, Utah, Washington
(state), Wyoming
(Yellowstone), Canada
(Alberta and British Columbia, Jasper, Banff &
Kootenay as well as all the way up to the Yukon
and touring all over Vancouver
Island).
International trips by motorcycle - two up
Albania,
Austria, Belgium,
Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Northern England & Scotland,
France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia
(the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden
Home page of my motorcycle travels.
Adventure Motorcycle
Luggage & Accessories
www.coyotetrips.com
Aluminum Panniers and Top Cases,
Top Case Adapter Plates,
Tough Motorcycle Fuel Containers, & More
Designed or Curated by an experienced adventure motorcycle
world traveler
Based in Oregon
You won't find these exact products anywhere else;
these are available only from Coyotetrips
(my husband)
Return to the Coyotebroad travel
home page.
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Quick
Links
My posts on social media are mostly about travel and motorcycle
riding, but in some places, I also talk about my professional
stuff which, sadly, is not about travel and motorcycle riding.
Disclaimer: Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty.
Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and is credited to Jayne Cravens.
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