After a fast ride north from Corvallis to Federal Way, Washington and a night spent at the local Super 8, I headed over to the annual gathering of the North West Union of Pacific Coast Operators and Sport Tourers.  Once per year the NW UPCOAST group gets together for a day ride somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.  This year’s Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD) ride started out on a hot Saturday morning.  Normally I am lucky to see another Honda Pacific Coast PC800 motorcycle.  The only other time that I was in such a large group of PC800s was when Emily and I went on the last day of the 2010 People On Pacific Coasts Optimistically Riding Northward (POPCORN) ride right after I returned from working in Australia, visiting Vanuatu, participating in the Trans-Australia Expedition with Zach, and campervanning across New Zealand with Kristen.

This is the story of the 2013 RAMROD ride and my adventures returning to Oregon.  Follow along as I pilot my 1989 Honda Pacific Coast around Mount Rainier and back to Oregon on forgotten back roads, across an old ferry, and as I meet a couple of steam engines along the way.  This is RAMROD 2013!

Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD)

• Morning RAMROD Pre-Ride Safety Briefing: As the asphalt started to heat up, the RAMROD riders met in the Federal Way, WA WalMart parking lot for a pre-flight safety briefing.
• Carbon River Bridge: A tall, spindly bridge across the Carbon River made for a great photo opportunity and the first stop of RAMROD.
• End of the Carbon River Road: After a lahar a few years back, the Carbon River Road ends at the Mount Rainier National Park boundary.
• Elbe Lunch Stop: RAMROD stops at the little town of Elbe for lunch, gas, a peak at a little church, and some railroad fun.
• Reflection Lakes: The Mountain Cloaking Device was engaged when we visited the lakes.  There was a good amount of snow laying around and even some ice still on the lake.
• Tipsoo Lake: Mount Rainier comes into view across a snow-covered vista.
• Gas at the Greenwater General Store: RAMROD takes a break at the country store on the way back to Federal Way.
• Post-RAMROD Festivities: The ride over, the riders and passengers reconvened in Federal Way for dinner and merriment thus ending another wildly successful NW UPCOAST group ride.

Post-RAMROD Return to Oregon

• Cathlamet: The sleepy river town of Cathlamet must have been a hopping place at some point in the past.
  
• Wahkiakum County Ferry: I crossed the last ferry on the lower Columbia River on the way home from RAMROD.
• Vernonia’s Wrecked Schools and a Steam Engine or Two: The town of Vernonia suffered a devastating flood a few years ago.  Now its schools have been moved to high ground.  The town also has a couple of neat steam engines.
• North Plains Rogue Outpost: I found a previously unknown (to me) Rogue Nation outpost in the small town of North Plains, Oregon.

After lunch at the Rogue Pub, I headed back to Corvallis to finish my RAMROD ride.  I rode about 1000 miles across three days through very hot weather and had an absolute ball doing it!