Touring Lassen National Park and Burney Falls

rickster

Member
I just spent a month in Italy away from my CTX. Don't get me wrong...I love Italy...my wife and I lived there for many years, we have a home in the Italian Alps and I love almost everything about spending time there. But....(there's always a "but" isn't there?) I haven't worked up to motorcycling there yet. There are several reasons for this, but I just haven't done it. So, while I enjoyed our Italian family and friends in our village, ate way too many pizzas and did my fair share to deplete the Italian wine and grappa supply I missed riding my bike. So, the morning after we returned I took the CTX out for a spin before the ravages of jet lag could take me out of play. When I was done and had returned home with a "Jeez, I really missed that" grin on my face, I reminded my wife that October was around the corner and if we wanted to take that tour up to Lassen National Park that we had talked about before leaving for Italy, that we needed to do it soon. As luck would have it, an early fall heat wave was about to hit California and bring our valley temps into the mid 90's. That would make riding in the mountains just about perfect!

A few days later after being pummeled with sleepless nights, then progressively getting up from bed at 3 am, then 4 am and so on, the misery caused by being in a tube that is rocketed from the Adriatic to the Pacific began to fade just as the temps began to rise.

We left our home in the foothills near Sacramento and with all of the gear that the two of us would need for a short three day tour packed onto the CTX we headed north on Highway 65, connected to Highway 70 going into Oroville and at Wick's Corner made the turn to continue on Highway 70 as it would wind along the canyon of the Feather River. There are a lot of roads that will take you into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but Highway 70 became my favorite this week! There was almost no traffic...the road surface was beyond excellent...the turns were a nice mix of long sweepers and tighter 30 mph type twisties. The riding was excellent. But it was the scenery that made the climb into the mountains so unusual. There is a railroad line that occupies the canyon as well as the road. Sometimes the trestles for the railway cross directly above or below the bridges for the roads. The interplay of the roadway and railway is magnificent, but yet it pales compared to the natural scenery in the canyon. As one climbs through the canyon, the Feather River descends toward it's ultimate confluence with the Sacramento River. The river bed is strewn with rocks, boulders, bends and sharp turns. Sometimes you will be riding directly beside the stream and at others you will be looking down upon it as you roll from one turn into the next. This is exactly what a tour bike cruise should be and my CTX climbed up the canyon and into the mountains with the two of us and our luggage aboard with ease.

At the junction with Highway 89 we left Highway 70 behind and headed north toward the small town of Chester which sits beside Lake Almanor. We were only 170 miles from home, but we had had a playful day in the Feather River Canyon, stopped for a very long lunch at the infamous motorcycle hangout called "Scooter's Cafe" and had enjoyed every inch of our ride so far. Chester, California is a classic small town U.S. A. It's full of hardworking people who struggle to earn a living from the industries that the towns location has given them. Basically, those industries are tourism from Lake Almanor and Lassen National Park and logging in the surrounding forests.

Lassen National Park is all about it's volcanoes and it's geothermal features. Lassen peak, it's namesake volcano dominates the landscape for miles. It is a barren, rugged mountain that is immediately recognizable as being volcanic in origin. It stands at 10,463 feet and is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Mountain range. As we left Chester behind we soon found ourselves on the well paved Highway 89 and were riding in a lush pine and fir forest. Around 30 miles later we were handing a young man our National Park pass and pulled over into the Lassen Park Visitor Center. The center is worth the stop to learn a bit about how the landscape before you was created. Each time I visit the center I learn something new and it makes the ride through the park more meaningful. We drank a cup of coffee on the outside patio and marveled at Lassen peak hovering over us. Then it was back on the bike and off to experience what we could see. The first feature you'll come to when traveling from south to north in the park is the “Sulfur Works”. If you've ever smelled rotting eggs, you'll know it when you get there. You'll notice all of the steam on the side of the road too... The 30 mile roadway is in good shape which was a surprise since it took the park until late July this year to finish digging it out from the heavy snowfall of last winter. As you ride the twisties through the park you will play hide-n'-seek with views of several lakes, you'll get various looks at Mount Lassen, and there are pull outs and parking areas that allow access to some of the parks off the road features. The one you'll not want to miss is Bumpass Hell, a collection of still boiling mud pots and fumaroles. It's the largest of the geothermal features in the park and is a 3 mile round-trip walk on a well marked trail. The smell and the sound of the geothermal action will tell you when you are near!

Once over the 8,512 foot summit of the park's main road the downhill section can be steep with sharp, unprotected turns. I like to take it easy on the throttle here because my x-ray vision has weakened and I can't see the rock fall or animals on the other side of the turns as well as I used to. Since I'm going along at a manageable pace, I've noticed how much I appreciate the scenery around me now. X-ray vision isn't all that it's cracked up to be...

Exiting the park we shed a few layers that only minutes ago we had needed. We took a right turn to stay on Highway 89 and headed toward Burney Falls. As we made our way up the road I said to my wife: “We should see Mount Shasta before long”. “It just popped up toward the left” she replied over our bluetooth headsets. There it was, the 14,180 foot jewel of the southern Cascades. The view from along Highway 89 is stunning. Even this late in the year (late September, 2017) there is a lot of snow on the mountainside. It was like riding through a beautiful forest with a diamond in front of us as it pierced the deep blue California sky.

Burney Falls drops 129 feet into a 20 foot deep pool beneath it. It isn't what one would call a terribly large waterfall. But, it's beauty is on par with the best waterfalls that I've seen in the U.S. or in Europe. What makes Burney Falls so spectacular is that in addition to the main falls which drop over 100 million gallons a day over it's edges, there are spouts of water that shoot out from the rocks below the top. It makes for a misty, loud and visually breathtaking scene. My wife walked the one mile trail which climbs from the bottom of the falls to the top and crosses the stream twice on bridges. I, meanwhile walked back up to the falls overlook and enjoyed the cacophony below.

We spent the night in the small town of Burney and made our way to Redding for lunch with one of our very best friends the next morning. Then it was south along Interstate 5 for 30 miles to Red Bluff, and onto Highway 99, Highway 70, and finally onto Highway 65 which would take us to our home town.

This is a great tour. It's only 500 miles and warranted the two nights out for us as we took our time to enjoy our surroundings. If you haven't been on this route before I highly recommend it. If you have done it, you may want to consider going back! We'll re-do this again next spring, just like we did it last spring. This year, doing it in the fall due to snow closures on the park's road was nice. But in the spring, a week or so after the road is opened the displays of melting ice on the lakes and mountainsides filled with mule ears and other flowering plants makes it even better. Trip photos are below. And, if you'd like to see the images that I made while in Italy, they are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickpappas2/sets/72157689549671245

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Scooters Cafe on Highway 70. Great burgers and fries and groups of friendly motorcyclists to talk to.

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My CTX700 and myself in front of Mount Lassen

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The beauty of Lassen reflected in a lake beside the roadway.

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Burney Falls..
All photos were taken by my wife on her Moto G4 phone.
 
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rickster

Member
ponydrvr, that 500 miles is probably what you ride before morning coffee when you tour... But, it is a beautiful part of California that is made more wonderful when on the CTX!
 

ponydrvr

Member
Trust me ... there are no 500 mile rides before coffee. I am a big breakfast type guy usually around 6-7 AM.

We had some beutiful scenery along the way but ours didn't compare to yours. Your wife is a terrific photographer. I see images like that and can only wish I knew how to get that quality of photos.

Well I did just finish a 1,540 mile ride yesterday. It took a leisurely 4 days to complete. Sunday and Tuesday were huge rain days and in places we rode through water that was up to the top of my boots (that was a new experience for me, but please don't ask how I know this). We were on the road by 8 am each day and finished by 6:30 pm each day.

We were doing a second proof-ride for the upcoming Lap of Kentucky ride sponsored by one of the local motorcycle groups I belong to. I do nearly all of the group monthly planned rides as ride lead Nearly all of the roads were named roads, goat paths and farmers lane type roads. Typical Kentucky back roads have a lot of sweepers, turns and more than a few switchbacks. We get some elevation change but not a lot.

The reminants from last weeks hurricanes from the Gulf were just getting into Louisana and Georgia as we left. Those of you from Texas will kinow what a "Frog Strangling" rain is. The storms were headed our way, and boy did we get it! In places we went through 6-8" per hour downpours. Thankfully those only lasted for a hour or so then it was back to more normal rain and drizzle.

I wore my BILT rainsuit on Sunday. I learned that rain suits don't work if you're riding 45-60 mph. They do however make excellent sauna enclosures. I didn't even put it on Tuesday and I was no more wet than if I was in a sauna all day. In fact the temps were in the low-mid 70's and the rain actually felt good.

My key learnings:

1. Michelin PR 4's are the best tires to have in the rain. Not a single slip or slide and the roads were typical KY roads.
2. Helmets can do a good job of keeping your head dry .... IF you keep the visor closed.
3. Windscreens deflect a lot of the rain -- but only at speed. Not so much if your stoped.
4. DO NOT OPEN the windscreen vent! I should have known better.
5. Rainsuits only work if you stand still!
6. NO boot is WATERPROOF!
7. Held WATERPROOF gloves are not WATERPROOF!
8. SENA 20S IS NOT WATERPROOF !!!! Just wasted $300 to find that out.
9. The CTX 700 is a hell of a good bike! It never faultered even once. Can't say that for my buddies BMW.

Riding in the rain is a lot like swimming. Don't do it if you don't want to get wet. Even in the rain the ride was very enjoyable. With one noteable exception! But that is for anoher thread.
 
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rickster

Member
Ponydrvr, now that is a hell of a ride story!!!! Kudos for being an active leader and ride organizer in your local motorcycling community. I used to do the same as a bicyclist and miss it now that I can't ride without a motor. Your description of riding through the remnants of the hurricanes is great... Having lived in Houston as a boy, I've been in "frog strangling" rain. I tell people in California about rain that comes down in sheets rather than drops and they smile back at me like I'm crazy. The description of your sauna like rain suit paints a pretty clear picture. Had me laughing out loud.

I went to the Lap of Kentucky website. It looks like a great four day event. I was impressed that one can do a four day moto ride for $25.00, T-shirt included these days. I know you folks put a lot of work into making this happen. I'm sure it will be something that the participants will appreciate and have fun doing...
 
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