Cocoa, Campfires and Carrizo with SFMCJohn

SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
two wheel tramp said:
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Last sunset photo, I swear ... We sat around the campfire and talked about adventures we'd been on, life in the city and the joy that comes with being on two wheels.
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... boom! ... to me, that pic is what
"adventure riding" is all about ... :gsxrgrl

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... our camp fire on
Williams Hill ... the lights
are Jolon,
I believe ...
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
Eric B said:
Great stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRX6hSGeZs4

I love the Carizzo Plain. The road running north/south on top of the Tembler Range(I think that's the name) is great fun.

Found Williams Hill & San Ardo dirt by accident one time. Need to go back.
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youtu.be/hRX6hSGeZs4

Ferrer.jpg


I like Saint Vincent Ferrer:
"Endeavor to persevere in a life of virtue."
per·se·vere: verb; continue
in a course of action
even in the face of difficulty or with
little or no prospect of success. :laughing

We went up that Temblor Range road north of Hurricane Road
(I call it Hurricane Ridge ...?)
and hit deep silt pits ... which I'd never seen before ...
it's usually an easy KLR road ... I'm thinking they
must be doing work on the radio towers up there ... :dunno

two wheel tramp said:
John, I volunteer to help you have more Carrizo time. Because I'm a giver like that.
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:thumbup:ride:party
 
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SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
Rumbo Sur said:
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The twisty sections are pretty fun on a dual sport.
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I think both this pic and the one just above
are on Elkhorn Road/Elkhorn Grade Road
south of Hurricane Road ...?

We didn't get
that far ... wanted to leave
some stuff for TWT
for next time ... :laughing
 
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two wheel tramp

two wheel tramp

exploring!
Once it warmed up Saturday morning we headed out from Williams Hill to San Ardo to get gas. John bought some more cocoa at the gas station. We went to the cafe in town and had coffee and cookies. Our plan was to hit Parkfield and get a cheeseburger there. mmm, cheeseburger.

I followed John around some backroads, to 198 and over to Peach Tree. There, he had me lead for a while. We rode into San Miguel to get some gas as we'd be on backroads the rest of the day. His KLR gets better mpg than my DR650, because I have a sweet lil' pumper carb, and he has a bigger tank. So it was more for me than him. We doubled back a few miles and took Vineyard Canyon to Parkfield (earthquake capital of the world!) only to find that the restaurant was closed. No cheeseburgers. :cry

We were relatively easily consoled with some sweet roads. We took Cholame to Bitterwater. I hadn't ridden Bitterwater before. I swear, it was made for the DR650. John resumed leading the way. We passed the sign that said "Carrizo National Monument" and puttered further down the road before John made two quick turns and voila - we were on dirt. I was feeling great on the DR and John was moving at a fun pace.

We made another turn and snaked up a little canyon before we started climbing a hill up, up, up above the plain. Everything was going great. The road leveled out.

Then got silty. HARRUMPH. It was quite a bit like sand. I hate sand. I scooted through. We encountered more and more silty stuff. John decided that the top of the nearest hill seemed a swell spot to set up camp. He was right. We could see the plains, below, and behind us the towns of Taft and McKittrick.

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I ended up passing out at some obscenely early hour- like 7:00 PM? The wind had kept me up the night before and I was beat.
 
SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
elkhornsign.jpg


... we stopped on the Plain for some
photo opportunities of the
famous street signs ... :cool

hrbikes.jpg


... we made a left at the top
of Hurricane Road and headed
north ... negotiated some nasty
silt pits and scouted a couple of
work arounds, bull-dogged a silty
hairpin and were soon enough
at a camping spot I’d used years before ... :afm199

hrsunset.jpg


... seemed to recall that this spot had
met my sunset/sunrise viewing requirements ... :teeth

hrtents.jpg


hrcmpfire.jpg


... it was windy, but not too windy
to set up the tents and then enjoy
some Jet-Boil hot chocolate
around the campfire ...

... the moon
was down and
the cold headwind
we had fought all day
scoured the haze from the sky
and a band of
coyotes squabbled
in the dark
and the countless stars
whirled around Polaris
counter-clockwise
in the firmament ... :party
 
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SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
hrsunrise.jpg


... sunrise over the Temblor Range, Taft
and the Los Padres National Forest ...

... fun facts:
Sunrise/sunset 12/17/17:
San Francisco, 7:19a/4:52p = 9:33 daylength
..............Taft, 7:00a/4:48p = 9:47 daylength

... was suprised at the
19 minute difference
in the sunrise ... :dunno
 
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two wheel tramp

two wheel tramp

exploring!
Sunday morning I peeked out of my tent around 7:30. John was up.

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I ambled out of bed and went over to him. He poured a camp mocha into my cup. I took a look across the plain. The day was clear and cold but quickly warmed up. We packed up and prepared for departure. Before leaving we snapped a quick photo to send to Budman. This adventure brought to you by BARF!

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And we were off. Back through the silty stuff. The DR felt great and I was relaxed heading towards Parkfield. I followed John up Bitterwater to Cholame then took the lead. Six miles from Parkfield I hit reserve. Next town was about 30 miles from Parkfield. John has said we could siphon gas from his bike. I had another plan. I pulled into the Cal-Fire station in Parkfield. My dad manages a county park in Oregon. They have tanks of fuel. I figured I could pay the guys at the fire station for enough gas to get me to Coalinga without worrying about it. Mitch was the man on duty. He put some gas in my tank and told me to keep my money. I promised him I would pay it forward and he told me of running into another traveler he'd helped while out camping. I need another RotoPak mount on the DR for my gas can. I chose to bring my water pak for this trip. I don't regret it.

We headed up Parkfield Grade. At the top where it became paved again I asked John if he wanted to hop on the DR for a spell. After eight months of telling him he REALLY should ride my bike, he did. I watched him zip down the road while I putted along on his KLR and enjoyed the amazing view towards Coalinga. At the bottom of the road we switched bikes again and rode into town. I told John I knew a decent breakfast place in Coalinga. I'd discovered it on my way to WARPED earlier this year. So we stopped in and had a damn good breakfast at Cafe 101. The folks who work there are very friendly and the food was good, too. Inexpensive as well. After we'd had our fill we left to find another spot for the night. But first... like all intrepid adventure bike riders, we like Starbucks. :laughing

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SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn

13
two wheel tramp said:
... I had another plan. I pulled into the Cal-Fire station in Parkfield ... Mitch was the man on duty. He put some gas in my tank and told me to keep my money.
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... Mitch was the man! :party

calfiregas.jpg


two wheel tramp said:
I asked John if he wanted to hop on the DR for a spell. After eight months of telling him he REALLY should ride my bike, he did. :gsxrgrl
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... I was sorry to ride your DR cuz it was aWeSoMe! :laughing
... what a racebike ... :ride
... yer gonna rip in the
silt and sand with some DOT knobbies ... :thumbup
 
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ThumperX

ThumperX

Well-known member
Oh my God! Why am I here and not there? 2018 will see more ride reports I hope.

Thanks for taking us along.
 
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