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Ride to the Snow 3/11/2009

Mar22

Written by:ezyeric
3/22/2009 5:56 PM

It was a beautiful day in Salem. In the 50s and mostly sunny. I only had to work from home for a couple of hours and then a few errands and it was time to hit the road. I took out about 12:00 PM. I stopped for some lunch and then I was off. I started from the airport and headed for Turner. Past Turner I headed for Aumsville. I really didn't have a destination or a route at that point I was just riding. It was just great out.The sun was shining, the temperature was in the 50s and it was just beautiful. As I was heading towards Aumsville I could see snow on the mountains and pulled over to get a few pictures

The snow looked might far off so I was pretty sure I would be safe from that. We had planned a group ride for Saturday so I thought I would check out the route. We we going to ride through Silver Falls State Park so I headed that way. Our plan was to go though Silverton and then come into the park from the north. I was already south of the park so I was going to do the reverse route. The road was clear from any gravel and was dry. It was also pretty warm so I started laying into the corners pretty good. I started up the hill to the park and all was looking good. I was going around a corner at a pretty good clip when all of a sudden I say a patch of snow on the side of the road. The further I went the thicker the snow got. Then the road started having some wet spots. I notice there was melting snow in the trees dropping water on the road. At that point I had slowed way down.

Then I started to see some snow in the middle of the road. I looked in my rearview and saw another bike behind me quite a ways backI got to the first lookout and pulled over and took these pictures.

Southern most lookout at Silver Falls State ParkNorth Falls lookoutNorth Falls lookout

Well the Harley pulled in just after I did. It looked like a Sportster with an older gentleman and a lady on it. The just pulled in and then headed up the mountain. So I figured what the heck, I'm going too. If a Harley can make it I surely can. So I headed out and slide a little on the ice coming out of the parking lot. As I proceeded up the mountain the snow kept getting thicker and thicker. The road kept getting wetter and wetter and I thought I was seeing some ice in it. So I was going slower and slower but just kept going. I got up to the North Falls lookout and pulled in to take some pictures.

Well that was about enough snow for me. I also knew that the last bridge out of the park has had snow and ice on it even when the road right up to it were clear. It scared the crap out of me once when there was no snow in sight and I hit that corner on the bridge and it was all ice. Luckily that time I manage to slow enough and keep the bike going straight through the snow. But my shorts were a bit

skwishy the rest of the way home. At any rate this time I decided to go back the way I came. Even then I hit a patch of ice and slide just enough to make my but hug the seat just a bit more.
I got down the mountain just fine and pulled over for some more pictures of a great day. Here is the direction I just came from.

And here is the direction I was going. Heading home after another wonderful ride in gorgeous Oregon.

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