Day 2: Susanville to Westwood

May 17, 2024

Today is the first true bicycle travel day of the tour. I got a late start because the storage company office doesn't open until 9 and it takes time to do the paperwork, park the car in the assigned space, unload the bike, install panniers, etc. I pedaled out of the secure parking lot at 9:30. That's okay because today's distance and climbing are reasonable. Besides, it was still kind of chilly an hour earlier, at 4200 feet elevation.

My car is parked at a storage company 2 miles east of Susanville that is also the only U Haul dealer in Susanville. It will be easy to get to my car when I return in a U Haul truck after the tour.

The storage company is east of town in open high desert. The tour starts with a few miles of typical Great Basin desert scenery.

The tour started at a storage company 2 miles east of Susanville, in the Great Basin looking west at the Sierra Nevada.

Today's route starts with 2+ miles on a county road to get into Susanville. Then 2 miles on a poorly maintained city recreational path along the Susan river. I detoured a few blocks off the path to go through downtown one more time.

Downtown Susanville is at the foot of the forested Sierra Nevada. Still in the Great Basin, but it resembles a mountain town when looking west.

Lassen County Courthouse in Susanville. Not sure why they need so many stairs for the two doors.

Old Lassen County Jail next to the courthouse.

A few blocks south of downtown I stopped to look at the old train station for the Union Pacific rail spur that operated from 1914 to 1952. The rail spur connected Westwood and Susanville, then continued east to connect to a Union Pacific trunk line in Nevada. Most of today's route is on the rail spur which is now the Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail.

Former train station for a Union Pacific spur that operated from 1914 to 1952. Trailhead for the Bizz Johnson trail.

The 25.2 mile Bizz Johnson trail is unpaved and in my direction all but the last 2 miles are uphill. Gentle at first, but mostly 2 percent grade. The surface is relatively coarse gravel. Slower than crushed limestone, much slower than pavement. At least the surface was firm thanks to no recent rain and above normal temperatures for several days.

Bizz Johnson trail crossing the Susan river.

I saw a lot of people, mostly walkers, on the first two miles of the trail. I saw occasional cyclists for the first 8 miles. After that I was the only person on the trail.

Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail in the Susan River canyon.

The first 12 miles of the trail are in the narrow roadless canyon of the Susan river. Most of the trail has no nearby roads. To some extent, today's route is in my private canyon on my private trail.

Approaching the first tunnel. About 1000 feet long.

The first tunnel is at least 1000 feet long. The tunnel has no lights and I didn't bring a headlight. But it's totally straight, so I just kept pedaling towards the light ahead when I couldn't see the walls or the surface I'm rolling on. I stopped to take a picture in the middle darkest part of the tunnel. The tunnel doesn't look very dark in the photo because of flash and image processing.

The trail crosses the Susan river just outside both ends of the tunnel. I didn't count them, but the trail has about 15 small bridges that cross the Susan river or side creeks.

The second tunnel is shorter and also straight, so it wasn't extremely difficult to see the surface ahead in the middle of the tunnel. Of course I have to remember to take off my sunglasses.

Approaching the second tunnel. About 500 feet long.

I'm not a huge fan of recreational trails, but I like trails in roadless environments where the scenic and psychic benefits outweigh the slowness factor. The serene atmosphere of the Bizz Johnson trail is similar to the Northern Pacific trail that I pedaled in 2019 in Idaho. I don't like suburban recreational trails that have complex navigation and grade level crossings of busy multi-lane roads, but I do like trails that follow rivers or rail grades with easy navigation and no road crossings.

Climbing above the Susan river in a roadless canyon.

The Bizz Johnson trail has one tall trestle which has an interesting history because it has been built 5 times since 1913. Sometimes because of damage, sometimes for upgrades. The existing roadway was built in 2010 after a 2000 fire. During that 10 years the trail was diverted onto the abandoned road bridge visible in the photo below.

This is the 5th incarnation of the Devil's Corral trestle since 1913. This version was built in 2010 after a 2000 fire.

The 1920's road bridge was abandoned in 1965. View from the trestle.

After the trestle I entered the destruction zone of the 2009 Goat fire. It was an extremely hot fire that sterilized the soil in most places. Vegetation grows back very slowly as a result. It's incredibly barren considering that the fire was 15 years ago.

Now climbing in the burn zone of the 2009 Goat fire. It burned extremely hot. The understory has not recovered very much.

Soon after the trestle I was out of the Susan river canyon, still climbing steadily at 2% grade through the forested and burned hills.

Climbing through the 2009 Goat fire. Started by lightning.

Burned areas dramatically open up the view of the sky and surrounding hills. After several miles through the Goat fire, the trail seems claustrophobic when back in pine forest.

Insects weren't much of a problem until now. When returning to the forest I was suddenly swarmed with black flies. I got many bites and swatted often. I wanted to take a rest stop when I got into the shade, but stopping for longer than a quick photo was not an option. Snow melted very recently in this area.

Out of the canyon but still climbing. Now in a tunnel of trees.

The swarming black flies were annoying, but it got worse. I had to carry the bike across a fallen tree. Then another fallen tree a quarter mile ahead. Then another fallen tree. Then clusters of fallen trees. Carrying the bike over the smaller trees and around the larger trees was strenuous and dirty work.

I had to go over or around about 25 fallen trees.

Before I was done with the fallen trees I also started seeing patches of residual snow. The surface became extremely soft and slow because of the recent snow melt. I had to pedal vigorously to go 4 MPH up the 2% grade.

I haven't seen another cyclist in the last 10 miles. Now I know why. Apparently the upper part of the trail isn't officially open yet. The fallen trees will probably be removed next week to open the trail for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The surface will be firmer then.

I also had several patches of snow on the trail.

I escaped the black flies when entering another burn zone. This one is really stark, with all the dead trees cut down near the trail to eliminate falling hazards. This area burned in the super hot Goat fire in 2009, then again in the 2021 Dixie fire. There is almost no re-growth.

This area burned in the 2009 Goat fire, then again in the 2021 Dixie fire. The ground is still barren.

The stark burn only lasted a couple miles. The last several miles to Westwood are unburned pine forest. The summit is on the trail about 2 miles before it terminates at a county road. Behind me the water evaporates in the Great Basin. Ahead the water flows to the Pacific Ocean.

After the summit the grade is gradual downhill to Westwood. Black flies were less of a problem because of the higher speed. The last 5 miles are on a low traffic county road.

Westwood was founded in 1914 by Sierra Pacific Industries. In 1914 it was home to the largest and most advanced lumber mill in the western U.S. It was a company owned town until 1956 when the lumber mill shut down and the town was sold. The Westwood mill shut down but Sierra Pacific Industries still exists. Today it's the second largest lumber producer in the U.S. and the largest private land owner in California.

Approaching Westwood. It was a company-owned lumber mill town from 1914 to 1956.

Sierra Pacific Industries moved from Massachusetts to California in 1914 in search of new virgin forest to exploit. The company introduced the long-established eastern Paul Bunyan legend to the west. Westwood has a large statue of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe, the oldest Paul Bunyan statue in the western U.S.

Sierra Pacific Industries introduced the Paul Bunyan legend to the western U.S.

Dinner was at the only restaurant in town, Buffalo Chip's Pizza and Pub. It's Friday night. It was crowded.

Dinner at Buffalo Chip's Pizza, the only restaurant in town.

Westwood doesn't have a motel. Tonight's home is the 1914 Walker Mansion Inn. It must have been built for a corporate executive.

Tonight's home is Walker Mansion Inn. Built in 1914.

My room is huge, with a fridge and microwave but no air conditioning. The upstairs room heats up easily with 3 south facing windows and 5 west facing windows. The high temperature today was in the low 80's, far above normal. Fortunately after sunset I could open all 8 windows and cool the room almost instantly. The temperature drops quickly at 5128 feet elevation, the highest overnight of the tour.

I had Walker Mansion Inn entirely to myself. I was the only guest and the hosts were gone to San Francisco for a medical appointment. The bike stayed downstairs in the locked atrium.

My room has south and west facing windows with no air conditioning, but it cools rapidly when I open all 8 windows after sunset.

Today was more difficult than I expected. I knew it's mostly uphill and unpaved, but didn't realize that the trail wasn't fully open. The top section was quite challenging because of fallen trees, extremely soft surface, and black flies. I greatly enjoyed most of the trail and highly recommend it to both traveling cyclists and day trippers.

Distance: 36.5 miles
Average Speed: 6.9 mph
Ascent/Descent: +1539/-671 feet

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 52 miles (84 km)

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Kelly IniguezDid you have to take your panniers off to muscle the bike over the trees?
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6 months ago

Wayne EstesTo Kelly IniguezNo, I lifted the bike with the panniers on. Sometimes as much as 2 feet to get over the branches, one wheel at a time. The biggest trees often had the trunk 2 feet above the trail. Too high, so I had to go around them. The biggest tree had the trunk 3+ feet above the ground and I was able to squeeze the bike under the tree. Even with the smaller trees, the panniers rubbed extensively against the pine branches of the fallen trees. In one afternoon the panniers went from new looking to old looking.
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6 months ago