OT: Riding the Northwest US Coast to Vancouver, British Columbia

thomasacto · 07-08-2009, 08:05 AM

Anybody ever ride up the Northern California, Oregon and Washington coasts up to Port Angeles and ferry across to BC? Anything that I should check out or avoid along the way?

- Tom

EenyBear · 07-08-2009, 04:21 PM

Yes.

A word of caution (unless your subject header was a typo)...

If you take the Coho ferry from Port Angeles you will arrive in the beautiful city of Victoria, BC, Canada (on Vancouver Island). If your intention is to get to Vancouver (mainland city), you'll have to head over to Blaine Washington and then north on I5 to the border then onward up to Vancouver.

Typo or not, I suggest you come and play on Vancouver Island in and around Victoria.

As for the route... the 101 is great all the way up. Nothing but beauty unsurpassed ... until to get to Victoria, that is.

Google "Coast Highway 101 attractions". You'll have a ball.

Cheers,
Ian

thomasacto · 07-08-2009, 04:54 PM

Yo! Thanks for the info! I thought that Schwartz ferry from the North end of Victoria would take me to Vancouver?

Droptarotter · Droptarotter's Garage

The Swartz Bay ferry will take you to Tsawwassen...........just south of Vancouver..........it's a good starting point for traveling when back on the mainland.
If you need any other specific info...........just shoot me a PM.
Cheers

SeabeckS · 07-08-2009, 09:39 PM

Not certain, but I think you need a passport now to cross the border...

And yeah, I've ridden the coast from SF to Port Angeles...you're gonna have a great time. Oregon Coast can be a bit clogged with turistas and motorhomes, but still worth the time and effort....

Good luck! BJ

samuidave · 07-09-2009, 03:19 AM

I have ridden that road over a dozen times from NorCal to BC so I would offer one suggestion -- don't be in a rush, and enjoy the small communities along the way.

When do you plan on making the trip?

FYI, once you land in Victoria, it is a short 35-45 minute ride out of town to the Shwartz Bay terminal which then takes 1hr 35 minutes to cross over to the mainland, arriving in Tsawassen. From there it is another short jaunt, maybe 45 minutes, to downtown Vancouver.

Droptarotter · Droptarotter's Garage

[QUOTE=SeabeckS;4767504]Not certain, but I think you need a passport now to cross the border...

Yes........passport is required now.
Cheers

thomasacto · 07-23-2009, 10:14 PM

Yo! Nothing nearly as epic as Alaska, but if you're interested - you can check out my trip (since this forum does not allow four-lettered words, you may have to type the URL in manually): bctrip.ultrash i t.com - without the spaces, of course!

- tom

thomasacto · 11:16 AM

Welp - the trip was a success! Below is the official map of stops along the way - and I was able to cover roughly 2400 miles in 13 days... not bad at all. The R1100S does make a surprisingly wonderful touring machine!!! I still want that GSA, but will certainly keep the R1100S in the arsenal.

...so who in Victoria owns the silver R1100S??

- they don't seem to like to wave back in BC!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=sacramento,+ca&daddr=ukiah,+ca+to:eureka,+ca+to:Tahkenitch+Campgr ound+to:345+S+Shore+Rd,+Quinault,+WA+98575-9700+(Lake+Quinault+Lodge)+to

ort+angeles,+wa+to: victoria,+bc+to:north+vancouver,+bc+to:whistler,+b c+to:west+seattle,+wa+to:woodland,+wa+to:la+pine,+ or+to:sacramento,+ca&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3B%3BFcBVnAIdYGKa-CHBDNsrjaMJaA%3BCWdAewsEkUT7Fb1J1AIdQTme-CHvwxhKCxLM0g%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B%3B&mra=pe&mrcr=3,4&sll=44.329002,-122.845275&sspn=15.27256,39.331055&ie=UTF8&ll=45.089036,-119.750977&spn=15.078311,39.331055&t=p&z=5

KerQ · 08-13-2009, 12:16 PM

[Even further off topic]
Hey Tom, Google thinks your site has been infected with malware... might want to check into it.

http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http://ctrip.ultra****.com/&client=googlechrome&hl=en-US

zustation · 08-13-2009, 12:18 PM

Wow, awesome looking map, I did the road up around the Olympic Penninsula in the car a few months ago and would love to return on the bike!

EenyBear · 04:12 PM

Glad you had a nice visit in our neck of the woods.

Quote:

...so who in Victoria owns the silver R1100S?? - they don't seem to like to wave back in BC!

Clearly you saw old Bill McGillicuddy on his silver R11S. This is the same guy that swears at Ducatis because they're "too loud". Plate in his head must have shifted... yet again. He'd wave if you offered him a shiny bit of foil. Then again, he's legally blind so he probably didn't know you were waving.

It has just occurred to me that if this actually stands out as the major crisis of your trip, you must have had an AMAZING time!

Great weather, eh?

Cheers,
Ian