Nestucca river road from Carlton to Beaver finally reopened. the BLM closed it for 3 years to put in a few culverts that had washed out. it had been 6 or 8 years since I had made that run before and back then there were 3 miles of gravel/dirt. All paved now, but in the upper elevation (it goes over the coast range) parts of the road, the road is in a pretty sorry state of repair. Of course the road is wet in the upper elevations. and with no traffic on it for 3 years, there was moss growing all over the road. lots of frost heaves. loose gravel and logging debris all over from the logging trucks that have been on it since it opened last month. The loose gravel, moss, and debris everywhere had me being perhaps a bit overly cautious, but we made it. Couple of the frost heaves were so bad that my butt got some air going over them. hmmm...... maybe slow down a bit. while we were still climbing over the pass from Carlton, and up in the mountain sides, I saw a suv and camp trailer that had slid off the road and down the slope for about 20 to 30 yards and were smashed up into the trees. Looks like it'd been there more than a week. Did i mention that the road surface was in poor shape in many places?
Anyway, it is still a terrifically scenic ride. I'll do it again but will wait for a month to see if the moss, gravel, and debris get cleared a bit more from traffic. hitting a tight switchback, leaned over pretty far, and seeing wet road, moss, and gravel in the corner makes one go..... hmmm.... Next time i might bring a packable fishing rod, though and give a go along the river for some trout too. None of the deciduous trees had put on leaves yet, so it will be a bit more scenic even in a few months.
I don't remember the upper section of that road being in such poor shape, but as i mentioned it's been closed for 3 years, which probably means that no road service crews have been up there either.
the campgrounds along the river were still gated closed. But at least the road through is open again.
Anyway, the Nestucca river road is now open from Carlton to Beaver. Very scenic ride. quite poor road in the upper elevations, but still worth riding.
-tdbru
Anyway, it is still a terrifically scenic ride. I'll do it again but will wait for a month to see if the moss, gravel, and debris get cleared a bit more from traffic. hitting a tight switchback, leaned over pretty far, and seeing wet road, moss, and gravel in the corner makes one go..... hmmm.... Next time i might bring a packable fishing rod, though and give a go along the river for some trout too. None of the deciduous trees had put on leaves yet, so it will be a bit more scenic even in a few months.
I don't remember the upper section of that road being in such poor shape, but as i mentioned it's been closed for 3 years, which probably means that no road service crews have been up there either.
the campgrounds along the river were still gated closed. But at least the road through is open again.
Anyway, the Nestucca river road is now open from Carlton to Beaver. Very scenic ride. quite poor road in the upper elevations, but still worth riding.
-tdbru
