Day 1: Portland to Klamath Fall, OR - 292 miles
I don't like to travel with anything showing in the back seat. but, the M850 trunk is shorter than the M5's and we had various winter coats and boots along - plus tire chains - so the back seat was fairly full. You can't get much more than 2 suitcases and a couple of small duffels in the trunk. The car is 4 inches longer, but it's all in the hood. And there is no room in there for anything else.
Willamette Pass over the Cascades on Hwy 58 out of Eugene seemed to be the best option, at 5,000 feet. All the passes were showing snow and snow was in the forecast for our first 750 miles. Down I-5 in the rain and east on Hwy 58 at Eugene brought us to the scrappy little lumber town of Oakridge. I spent a couple weeks surveying for new logging roads out of here in the summer before my senior year in college. Not my favorite job.
It rained steadily, temps dropped to mid 30's F and we began our ascent through the snowy forest to Willamette Pass. It was 32F and snowing hard at the summit, but not sticking. So far, so good at 5,128 feet.
It was incredibly scenic as we made our way down the other side to eventually join Hwy 97, a main travel route from The Dalles to Northern California. The snow stayed with us, as the central Oregon plain is still above 4,500 feet. Got to Klamath Falls around 4:30. There's a neat old downtown, several blocks long.
Klamath Falls Downtown
Kingsley Air Base is nearby and was depicted in a nice mural
Off to a pizza joint for dinner. Day one in the books. So far, so good.