Where is that 250? In the back of the garage? Since the trip to the Death Valley in March this bike has been sitting quietly at a corner of the garage. I took it out, lubricated the chain, checked pressure in the tires, checked the oil.

Basic maintanance on the 250. September 4, 2011

Everything checked good, let’s go! But where? First thought was to go to my regular dirt hangouts off of Simonsen Rd. Instead, I decided to try Praire Mountain. And I was surprised by how nice the High Pass Rd is. It is the road that goes along the Praire Mountain, an east-west elevation in the Oregon Coastal Range.  Both the paved and non-paved portions of it are nice.

High Pass Rd. Praire Mountain, Oregon. September 4, 2011

The little Yamaha thrives on small dirt roads.

WR250R on Praire Mt. Oregon, September 4th, 2011

At a certain point the roads looked semi-abandoned. And this was just 20-odd miles from my house. I was glad to have the spot-tracker with me.

Narrow roads. Praire Mt. Oregon. September 4th, 2011

I had forgotten how much fun this little bike is!

Fun ended on a closed gate. I was not able to reach, from this road, the Praire Mt lookout.

Gate closed on the way to Praire Mt lookout. September 4th, 2011

There is another way to reach the lookout, via Hwy. 36.  In fact, I hear High Pass rd and Hwy 36 (Low pass rd) were the two options to go from Eugene to the coast.  The newer highway, Hwy 126, trumps both of them as the main route to the coast.

Here is a video of my return back home, following the exact route I used on the way to the closed gate.

I stopped for this picture, nice views, looking northeast, on that area.

View from High Pass rd. September 4th, 2011

An continued climbing this road.

High Pass Rd. September 4th, 2011

Not far from this point I came across a car with three people and a complete arsenal.

Guns... High Pass rd. September 4th, 2011

I try to be as nice as possible.  I would prefer people were not target practicing on public land.

Guns... High Pass Rd. September 4th, 2011

It is not an out law type of thing.  But it carries its dangers to people like me, who are traveling on these roads.  And these guns are, some of them, more than a hunters rifle. They can be sophisticated war type machines.

Guns... High Pass rd. September, 4th, 2011

It is frequent to hear guns being discharged, it is frequent to see practice targets left behind, spent cartridges, and well, other trash some people leave behind, including beer cans. Who knows, right? If people drink and shoot… Whenever I’m riding on these areas, I’m always conscious of this type of danger.

Descending the Praire Mt area, this is the view towards the east. September 4th, 2011

Soon after this area I hit pavement again.  There are a few wineries in this area, along with houses and farms.  Beautiful area, nice road to ride.  I had also forgotten how nice this little bike behaves on pavement.  It just doesn’t have the legs of the Dakar and the Tiger.  But it is fun nonetheless. Check how beautiful this area is on this video.

And I made it home soon after.  I did not realize how close my house is from this area.  The round trip was 75 miles.

Stats for the day. September 4th, 2011

All in all, it was good to get reacquainted with this little but fun machine.

Cesar