This is the first chapter of our motorcycle trip from Seattle to Yosemite motorcycle trip; eleven days riding down the West Coast of the United States to reach the park. We planned the trip back in January 2026, aiming for August, right after the World Cup. There’s nothing like booking that far ahead: flight and hotel prices swing wildly depending on when you book, and it really shows. Golden rule for anyone who wants to repeat the formula: the earlier, the better.
Seattle: JP, Nati, Malu, and the Support Car That Changed Everything
I flew back to Seattle to see my friend JP, my riding partner for years now. We’d be doing the trip together, and this time his wife Nati and their dog Malu joined too — an Akita who looks like he doesn’t trust anyone — following us in the car, although sometimes we had to help him climb in!
And here’s the first tip, free of charge: having a support car following you changes the whole trip. All the gear that didn’t fit on the bikes, spare parts, even the portable coffee machine (more on that later, promise) — it all went in the car. We also used it for side trips, for going out to dinner without lugging helmets and riding boots around, and for getting through towns and cities without hunting for parking for two big bikes.
Back in 2023 I’d already done another motorcycle trip with JP, that one to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, which you can also read on the blog, in Spanish and English. This time it was a new destination: Yosemite and Sequoia.
The Lost Luggage Drama (Again)
The plan was to arrive in Seattle two days before setting off, to adjust to the 9-hour time difference from Spain and have time to get the bikes ready — in my case, the one JP was lending me, a BMW 1250. He’d ride his Honda 300 Rally.
Good plan on paper. But the luggage didn’t show up. Just like in 2023. And this time I even had a 3.5-hour layover in London specifically to give it plenty of time to connect. At this point, I consider the Iberia-British Airways handoff broken by design.
The result: the bags turned up two days later, almost at night, just a few hours before we hit the road. So the whole “prepare the bikes calmly” plan went out the window — my GPS, my riding gear, and my helmet were all in there, held hostage in some hangar somewhere.
The upside: we still left on time and didn’t lose the first night’s hotel, which was already paid for. In trips like this, sometimes winning just means not losing what you already paid for.
Hummingbirds and Sunsets
As soon as we got to JP and Nati’s place, several hummingbirds showed up to drink from a feeder Nati keeps out for them. The photo isn’t the best, but you can make out one that used to come by almost every day — practically a neighbor.
The sunsets, on the other hand, need no excuse at all. The house faces the water, the weather cooperated, and watching the sun go down from the deck became the best way to close out the day before hitting the road.
Staying Connected: JP and Me
Riding with helmet comms is, simply put, a different world. We started with the Sena in classic intercom mode, the way you’d normally pair rider and passenger, until we discovered that Mesh mode worked far better between two separate bikes.
A typical day of helmet chatter sounds something like this: watch that pothole on the right, did you see that deer?, should we stop for coffee?, do we make it to the next gas station or play it safe?, watch the crosswind, what’s the temperature reading?, that truck is drifting a bit, should we put the rain gear on now?… and so on for a good while.
Being able to talk to each other is priceless. Though, to be fair, a good chunk of the trip is also ridden in silence, each of us alone with our thoughts and the scenery.
Which Way There and Back? The Route Plan
The idea was to head south along Highway 1 from Seattle almost all the way to LA; just before reaching LA, turn east toward Sequoia National Park and then Yosemite.
We’d make the way back through the interior, passing through Nevada, on roads and landscapes that — spoiler alert — left us speechless more than once. JP, on the fly, added a final stop at Mt Rainier, close to Seattle — one of the best calls of the whole trip.
📍 Resources and recommendations
- Book flights and hotels months ahead for a trip like this in August — the price difference is significant.
- If you’re checking motorcycle gear (helmet, jacket) on international flights, keep the essentials in your carry-on just in case: glasses, gloves, some technical clothing.
- The Sena’s Mesh mode is a big upgrade over the classic intercom when communicating between several bikes.
- You can also read about our 2023 trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, the direct precedent to this route.
Seattle to Yosemite Motorcycle Trip — Full Series
- Seattle to Yosemite: Planning an 11-Day Motorcycle Trip
- Highway 1: From Astoria to the Redwoods
- San Francisco to Big Sur Motorcycle Trip: Golden Gate, the Gremlin Myth, and a Wildfire Closure
- Sequoia National Park Motorcycle Trip: Heat & Gas
- Yosemite National Park Motorcycle Trip: El Capitan & Half Dome
- Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe, and the NF23: The Last Days of the Ride