Lost On The Coast For Thanksgiving

[WoodsChick]

I've spent a few Thanksgivings camping up on the Lost Coast of CA. The last 3 years have been spent in the Nevada desert, though. We wanted to go to Nevada again this year but the cold front sweeping through the west was too much for me. Our camp spot was looking at -3 degrees on Wednesday night so we bailed at the last minute and headed for the Lost Coast instead. It was a good call.

One of the reasons I like camping here on Thanksgiving...

The only other campers were our friends Dan, Lesley and their daughter Ivy, and our friends Steve and Karen, with their daughters Stevie-Jean, Katie and Jaine.

Thanksgiving dawned clear and cold...

The day started off with a walk along the wild and deserted beach. Belle came with us and walked the labyrinth...

Suited up and ready to ride, Stevie, Steve, Dan, Eric and me...

We hit some fun goat-trail pavement, and some ridge-top dirt, too...

We dropped down into Ferndale and were the only people on the streets. It felt kinda like that Twilight Zone episode where the kid wakes up in a town and he's the only one there We hit the Ferndale Bakery for mochas and pastries...

Luckily none of us had to enter or exit via the back door...

The nice bakery lady told us about a really neat place north of there where we could get great views of the bay and ocean. We followed her advice and she was spot-on...

Yes, the views were spectacular...

This guy almost jumped off the cliff, but he was only practicing...

Hey! What's that down there?

More to come...




WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

We headed down off the bluff and found a nice long spit of sand that we could legally ride on. Not too many of those places left here in CA.
Let the games begin!

Hey, someone actually took a photo of me for a change!

Uh-oh...what are they looking at?

Street tires are kinda sucky in sand...

They would work ok for awhile until they didn't, then it was impossible to get going again...

I dug quite a trench trying to get out of there...

Staying off the soft stuff...

Look, Ma! No sidestand!

Arrghh...not again...

I ended up falling and picking my 610 up 3 times in about 30 minutes. That thing gets heavier and heavier after each fall!

WoodsChick

 

[Cereal KLR]

Beach riding is so fun, that is until you are in fourth gear and not moving forward, only excavating. And even Steve McQueen fell off on beach donuts, so you are in great company.

Thanks for more camp ride chronicles arty

 

[WoodsChick]

Beach riding is so fun, that is until you are in fourth gear and not moving forward, only excavating. And even Steve McQueen fell off on beach donuts, so you are in great company.

Thanks for more camp ride chronicles arty

Yeah, me and Steve McQueen...we're like this <crossing fingers> ...
almost twins! :laughing

Glad you're enjoying it. There's more to come...




BeachChick

 

[Z3n]

Yay, more to come!

 

[ElDiablo]

Great! Where is this? Can you legally ride on the beach?

 

[SFMCjohn]

Great photos! Looking forward to finding that spit of sand near Ferndale ...

Nevada and Death Valley looked brutal on the weather websites over T-day ... Looks like you avoided the snow by heading to the Lost Coast ...

Thanks for the "camp ride chronicle," WoodsChick!

See you round the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[WoodsChick]

Great! Where is this? Can you legally ride on the beach?

This is up on the Lost Coast, south of Eureka. There are a few places up there where it's still legal to ride on the beach. The rules say 15mph and only on the wave slope. Samoa Dunes on the north spit just west of Eureka is an actual OHV area with trails and everything. It's small but still fun...even on street tires :teeth

WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

Great photos! Looking forward to finding that spit of sand near Ferndale ...

Nevada and Death Valley looked brutal on the weather websites over T-day ... Looks like you avoided the snow by heading to the Lost Coast ...

Thanks for the "camp ride chronicle," WoodsChick!

See you round the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn

Hey, John! Yeah, no way was I going to endure below-zero temps for my desert fix this winter :laughing The Lost Coast made for a great Plan B, for sure. The south spit is off Table Bluff north of Ferndale, but there's riding west right out of Ferndale, too. It's not as long nor as interesting, but open beach is open beach arty




WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

The next day was cold and cloudy, with rain in the forecast. The ocean was eerily calm, and I figured this meant a storm was coming...

Found this on our morning walk...guess I could've called this the Thanksging ride report

Dan and his WR250X stayed in camp, so Steve, Stevie, Eric and I got an early start to out-run the coming rains. We headed south into the heart of the Lost Coast...

After some slippy slidey wet pavement we headed up into the coastal range on some dirt. This was some extremely fun stuff! Stevie and Steve were on their plated dirtbikes with full-on knobs. Eric and I were on our SM's with MT60's on the front (an exceptional rain tire!) and slidey Shinko 705's on the rear. This combo worked surprisingly well and we had a blast keeping up with the knobbies It was pretty incredible, really, how well those tires worked. Steve wasn't too crazy about them when he took over the reins on the LC4 while Eric rode his TE610...

I'll finish this up tomorrow...




WoodsChick

 

[budman]

Gawd..... I love your gang and only hope to join one day :hail

You guys are the bestest and I can only hope. ort

 

[WoodsChick]

Gawd..... I love your gang and only hope to join one day :hail

You guys are the bestest and I can only hope. ort

Dude! You have an open invitation...anytime anywhere :thumbup




WoodsChick

 

[wilderridgefish]

Amazing! Is that creek and bridge shown above on Kings Peak Road? If so I used to live up at the top of that 2 mile uphill behind the bikes at the end where it meets Wilder Ridge Road (hence my username). I rode that hill all the time on my mountain bike with my 60+ year old dad on the way over to explore the Kings Range. Great pics and look forward to the next update!

 

[Brewbacca]

that rules need dirt bike NOOOOW

 

[WoodsChick]

Amazing! Is that creek and bridge shown above on Kings Peak Road? If so I used to live up at the top of that 2 mile uphill behind the bikes at the end where it meets Wilder Ridge Road (hence my username). I rode that hill all the time on my mountain bike with my 60+ year old dad on the way over to explore the Kings Range. Great pics and look forward to the next update!

Yep, you nailed it! Lucky dude to live out there...one of the most beautiful places in CA, for sure. That hill would be fun going down on a mtb but don't know if I'd enjoy the grueling climb back up those gravelly switchbacks!
We took King Peak to Saddle Mt and messed around up there. Do you remember when it was all open to OHV and 4x4 and you could ride on Black Sand Beach?

that rules need dirt bike NOOOOW

No, you just need a supermoto with decent tires :teeth
But yeah, dirt bikes do indeed rule my world.



WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

So, let's wrap this up, shall we?

We goofed around up on the ridge, checking out campgrounds and such, and came upon this out in the woods...

Looks like fun, eh? Too bad it's for bicycles only. They had a nice fancy sign, too. What's wrong with this picture?

We bombed down the twisty, rutted dirt road, riding to beat the devil to keep up with the knobbies in front of us. When we hit the paved road down into Shelter Cove, though, it was a different story. Eric and I were G-O-N-E! Even so, I was surprised at how quick Stevie was going on her 400 with shredded knobs. That girl needs a supermoto! Don't tell her dad, though...he doesn't want to hear it

We pulled into the little cafe in Shelter Cove and ordered up some hot food. They have really good clam strips, chicken strips and chili, all of it nice and hot. It was getting cold!!

We watched the fishermen cleaning their catch (ugh...) and then headed to Black Sands Beach...

Ran into a guy that used to ride the 3-mile-long hillclimbs about 300 yards down the beach when he was young. He said it got closed down when he was 12. He has a supermoto'd XR600 now.

We pulled out and headed for camp. It was cold and raining and we wanted to bomb through the dirt sections ASAP before before the creek crossings got out of control and the dirt turned into a mess. We had a blast! I got a little squirelly on one of the creek exits and plowed into the dirt embankment on the other side and twisted my knee a little but other than that we all reached the pavement without hitting the ground. We then had wet funky pavement to contend with. I'm a big believer in my front MT60. That tire makes me feel like a superhero, but the slidey rear lets me know that I'm not :teeth

We hit another dirt road right before camp that took us high above the beach. The wind was howling up there but it was fun anyway...

We got back to camp right before dark...and right before it started pouring non-stop all night.


The next day was surprisingly calm with some blue sky poking out. Hellacious downpours would rage for a few minutes, then the sun would come out. It was pretty neat! Eric and I headed north and stopped in the aptly-named Petrolia...

Hard to believe but this place is even prettier in the spring...

It got a little cold coming down into Ferndale...

I've always wanted to check this place out...

Lots of GAR members here...

This guy, a printer, was a passenger on the Chillkat when it capsized on Humboldt Bar. The Chillkat was on its way to San Francisco carrying boxes of butter, hides, shingles, lumber, condensed milk and apples. I bought Eric a pair of snow boots the day before we left. They're called Chillkats...

We headed into Eureka for a killer lunch at the Lost Coast Brewery, waited out another outrageous downpour, then got a room at my favorite Best Western. We hunkered down here for the rest of the weekend while it rained outside...

Not a bad way to spend the holiday, eh?


Thanks for coming along!




WoodsChick

 

[Map8]

Thanks for making me jealous and reminding me what a crappy Thanksgiving weekend I had. :laughing

 

[WoodsChick]

Thanks for making me jealous and reminding me what a crappy Thanksgiving weekend I had. :laughing

You're welcome...I think :teeth




WoodsChick

 

[dukeryder]

YES!

That looks awesome!!!!

 

[WoodsChick]

YES!

That looks awesome!!!!

:laughing Took you long enough to find this thread :teeth


And, yeah...it was awesome! The Lost Coast always is :thumbup




WoodsChick