Scoutin' Routes And The Broken Birthday Ride

[WoodsChick]

For the last few years I've been spending my birthday riding out in the eastern Sierra with some friends. This year would be no different.

Well, not exactly…

This year we would have David on his Super Tenere and Brendan on his brand new Yamaha FJ-09 with knobbies and hand guards. He had no skid plate, which was cause for concern in the rocky terrain. I really wanted him to have a great time, though, so felt it important to come up with a big-bike-friendly route. Eric and I went out there over Valentine's/Presidents Day and did some scouting.


Minor adjustments first thing in the morning, but this track looks perfect...

This is totally big-bike-friendly…

The road behind me goes up towards the east to a radio tower, pretty steep and sketchy for big bikes at the top. Good cell phone coverage here, though…

Looking towards the west…

We've seen this gang up here several times over the years…

The snow was almost impassible at 9000'…

Not much snow even on the north-facing tracks…

Well, this wouldn't be fun on a brand new FJ-09, I'm guessing…

Neither would this rocky downhill trough, but it's fun on my "little" 610 :laughing

Eric dropping down into the trough…

And exiting at the bottom…

We decided to drop down in elevation and hit our intended route from the north, trying to see if the snow was worse on that side. The valleys were sandy awesomeness…

By the way, this day was also the 25th anniversary of our first date…

Lots more to come…



WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

We headed up onto the ridge from the north and it was incredibly beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Modoc country, what with the volcanic landscapes and pumice soil. Perfect for the big bikes, but it got a little slidey in the shade…

And this concludes our expedition from the north…

We dropped back down and decided to see what was on the other side of the valley. The mountains behind it looked free of snow so what the heck.
Where we're going…

And where we've been…

We were the ones behind the remnants of fencing you can see in the foreground, not the horses. They were running free, and it was an incredible sight…

Handyman special, open floor plan, nice views…

Take note of the yellow strap running through the "window"…

Hmm…

Ahh…I see. Structural integrity…

Behind every structure in the desert…

Front porch needs a little work…

Happened upon a huge perfectly round stone corral up the road a piece…

A Googley shot of the corral…

We headed up into the hills behind the corral and found some super-rocky tracks through the trees that looked like they might take us in the direction we wanted to go, but no way in hell would an FJ make it through there unscathed…especially with no skid plate. Since we were working on a route and it was getting late we decided to save this bit of bumpy nirvana for another trip.



I knew he'd turn around and come back for me eventually…

140 miles on the day, and more route-finding planned for the morning.


Got back to camp right as the sun was setting, and spent the rest of the night here…

WoodsChick

 

[RightCoastBias]

Looking forward to some Sierra riding this year!

Thanks for sharing your photos, they're quite inspiring.

 

[WoodsChick]

Looking forward to some Sierra riding this year!

Thanks for sharing your photos, they're quite inspiring.

You are more than welcome :thumbup Thanks for checking them out!

You just can't beat the eastern Sierra for openness and grandeur. Well, except for Utah, maybe


More on the way soon!




WoodsChick

 

[two wheel tramp]

I need tracks!!!! Where were you and how do I get there? :teeth

 

[1962siia]

Another epic ride report. :thumbup

 

[WoodsChick]

We set out the next morning with a definite plan. We wanted to get our "work" done quickly so we could get back to camp early, cut some firewood and have some other kinds of fun.

Yay…no snow!

I think this route is going to work…

Not too sandy at all…

Until you get to this section, anyway…

We kind of took a little detour up through the rocks seen in the photo above. We soon realized the big bikes wouldn't make it, as it was steep, rocky, tight and narrow through the trees, with no real trail markings to speak of. We wanted to see how far it would go, though...

The views from up there were spectacular, and we could see some of the tracks we had come in on many miles away…

:love

We dropped back down, realized we could make a really nice loop out of what we already had, along with some stuff he and I had ridden before, and then decided to take the long way back to camp…

Not a big day, I'm guessing 80 miles or so. We got back in plenty of time to soak, hitch the trailer to the Jeep, cut some firewood, and play with a few other toys…

Eric likes his new gun. He fired it for the first time on this trip and hit everything with it! It was almost uncanny. The little hand clay thrower thingy was hurting my elbow so he said he'd throw his own clays. I'm like, yeah…right :rolleyes I couldn't believe it when he was hitting them not once but twice! It was pretty impressive…

We soaked all night, loaded up in the morning and headed home, knowing that only the weather could derail our plans for a stellar birthday ride…


…right?




WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

I need tracks!!!! Where were you and how do I get there? :teeth

:laughing I don't have tracks, but I could show you on a map where we went.
We were staged out of Benton Hot Springs and riding to the north, west and south of there. We went 88 to 395 south to 120 east to 6 east. It'll take you right there :thumbup

Another epic ride report. :thumbup

Thanks! `Bout time, eh? I've been seriously lagging. Don't know what my problem has been but I'm hoping to get a few posted before I go back to work





WoodsChick

 

[two wheel tramp]

Ok. I guess I just need to stalk you and keep a map handy so you can show me. :laughing I am definitely interested in checking it out for another ride some time this summer. It looks like my ride to Fields Station won't happen this year because the backwoods boogie is the same weekend. :x

 

[Nemo Brinker]

That shot of the horses is straight out of a dream.

Thanks for writing it all down for us, Woodschick. :applause

 

[WoodsChick]

The birthday weekend was fast approaching, conditions had been sunny and dry and sort of warm. I mean, hell, we rode in t-shirts and jackets in February, so conditions should be good, right? However, just as in the previous 2 years, there was a snowstorm in the Sierra the week before my birthday and temps had fallen to the teens at night and 30's and 40's during the days. I just knew the route was going to be snowed in! Oh well, nothing to do about it now. Eric and I pulled out of town on Thursday afternoon March 5th, and once again the heavens graced me with a beautiful birthday moon to guide us to the eastern Sierra…

We spent the night somewhere near Walker and finished the trip in the morning, catching the sunrise near Bridgeport…

Charles (HardWorkingDog on ADV) his son Bryn (HardWorkingPup) and his wife Julie were already in their private luxurious campsite when we arrived early Friday morning, March 6th. The guy that runs the place let us know that he'd been having issues with getting our hot springs tub up to temp. The best he could do was 97º. That wasn't really acceptable to me, and it caused me some anxiety, as the hot water is the main attraction for me here. Long story short, Eric figured out how to regulate it…the same way we'd been doing it for the last few years…and it was hot when we returned from our ride later in the afternoon. Huge sigh of relief from me!

Bryn went rock climbing down near Bishop, and Charles, Eric and I headed out to see what remained of our route. It was looking a little dusty but pretty damned good overall!

Much more snow on the mountains now than there was in February…

We rode enough to know that the route was completely open, so we decided to head north and check out that rocky track we'd abandoned the month before.
The three of us headed back to camp, Charles joining his lovely wife and Eric and I gassing up and heading out.


I kind of dropped the ball on this ride as far as photos goes, but in my defense we had a long way to go and a short time to get there! We were moving. Heading up…

We didn't make it all the way over the rocky track. We would have needed another hour or so of daylight for that, which we'd have on Sunday. Perfect! Route for Day 2 in the books! Besides, we wanted to get back to camp in order to hang out with Zak (Slackmeyer) and Guy (NomadGuy on ADV) as they were due in about 5pm. Heh…

We sat in the springs and watched the sun go down, all the while wondering where Zak and Guy were. Turns out the breakdown drama had just begun. Guy's new 4-runner experienced issues just outside of Pioneer on HWY 88. They got it towed it back to David's place in Pioneer, and dropped the trailer there while the 4-runner continued on to Oakland Toyota. Zak got on his KTM 640 and rode back to Berkeley, picked up his work truck, threw his 640 in the back and slogged back to Pioneer in Friday commute traffic. Meanwhile, David and Brendan were riding up to Pioneer loaded for bear. Notice the trailer tire and cooler on the SuperTenere in the background…

Hard to see in the previous photo, but David was sporting his fancy new beer-centric top case along with new tires and brakes…

They were going to hook up with Dave (Arsey here, formally Arsenalist) and his TE630, spend the night in Pioneer, then leave super-early the next morning in David's neighbor's truck and trailer. Zak and Guy didn't want to wait so they took off, arriving in camp about 3am that night. It would have been easy for them to bail and go back home, so I'm really stoked they did what they had to do to make it!



Birthday ride on the way!




GratefulChick

 

[WoodsChick]

Ok. I guess I just need to stalk you and keep a map handy so you can show me. :laughing I am definitely interested in checking it out for another ride some time this summer. It looks like my ride to Fields Station won't happen this year because the backwoods boogie is the same weekend. :x

You can stalk me whenever and wherever you like :laughing
Spring and fall are really nice times to be out there. Summer would be ungodly hot!

That shot of the horses is straight out of a dream.

Thanks for writing it all down for us, Woodschick. :applause

Weren't they incredible? There's a year round springs close by (barely visible in my first photo of the funky cabin) so they're pretty happy there. We've seen a lot of wild horses in our travels, but the only time we've seen that many at once was about 5 or so years ago up near the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon. They were contained in a huge newly fenced area, presumably for "relocation."


And, no, thank you for wading through my always-too-long reports




WoodsChick

 

[berth]

Those all look amazing. I took would like to see a more detailed route some time.

It's funny, after stamping Benton Hot Springs in to the Googles, I've been up and down 395 through Bishop countless times. And once, heading home to Nevada, we decided to take the 6 rather than the 395.

But I have no recollection of 395 being a "hard left" out of Bishop. Just funny. The mind is a terrible thing. I can even picture the intersection with the 6 (even though it's been forever since I've been there). I GUESS there could be left turn there, but it just looks abrupt on the map. I see a sweeping curve, that's probably why I miss it.

But the area looks amazing (did I say amazing too much?). I'd love to go romping around up there someday.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Your reports are never too long! I saw some horses on my way to Alvord last year while on Nevada 8A and yes, coming back was HOT because I had to boogie and slab the whole way home on 80. YUCK. :x Going there I was blessed with rain in the morning on 36, which washed all the bugs off :laughing, and then it was cloudy, only about 80 degrees at the warmest. It was much warmer over the weekend on the lake bed. It's so pretty out there!!! The stars were amazing.

I do wanna stalk you sometime, preferably when I have a map in my hand and you can point out some fun rides. :teeth

 

[SFMCjohn]

Neat-o! arty

Did the FJ-09 with knobbies wind up appearing? :ride

opcorn :bday :bday

 

[WoodsChick]

Neat-o! arty

Did the FJ-09 with knobbies wind up appearing? :ride

opcorn :bday :bday

Yeah, but those party animals showed up late :x


Starting the birthday ride day in a few minutes!




WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

Those all look amazing. I took would like to see a more detailed route some time.

It's funny, after stamping Benton Hot Springs in to the Googles, I've been up and down 395 through Bishop countless times. And once, heading home to Nevada, we decided to take the 6 rather than the 395.

But I have no recollection of 395 being a "hard left" out of Bishop. Just funny. The mind is a terrible thing. I can even picture the intersection with the 6 (even though it's been forever since I've been there). I GUESS there could be left turn there, but it just looks abrupt on the map. I see a sweeping curve, that's probably why I miss it.

But the area looks amazing (did I say amazing too much?). I'd love to go romping around up there someday.

Yeah, 395 does turn to the left and then to the right when leaving Bishop to the north. There's a light there, and it's a full 90º turn. If you take 6 north from there, just before you get to the NV state line you come to the small town of Benton Station. Hang a left there (I think it's listed as 120, maybe?) and it takes to you Benton Hot Springs. Just beyond that the road runs into 120 West. You could go right on 120 towards Lee Vining or you could hang a left onto Benton Crossing Rd and take it into Mammoth. It's beautiful country no matter how you look at it!




WoodsChick

 

[WoodsChick]

Saturday the 7th has finally come, and I don't want to miss a minute of it! As soon we woke up we made coffee and jumped in the hot springs. Our reward for getting up before the sun was a lovely moonset…

We soaked longer than we should have, then got out and prepared for the ride. David, Dave and Brendan were due in at 9, and we wanted to be ready to go at 10. We just sat around in the sun and shot the breeze, enjoying the beautiful day and not really being too worried about the time. Good thing..

This is Charles, aka HardWorkingDog. He was one of my imaginary friends on a usenet group, and we met for reals on a ride in Idaho about 14 years ago. He's always been a 2-stroke guy but now he rides a WR250X all over hell and gone. Seriously. He's in Death Valley at the moment celebrating his 37th wedding anniversary with his lovely bride Julie and her XT225...

This is Bryn, Charles' son. He was a lanky 11-year-old kid, goofy and crazy about riding his MX bikes when we met him. He's raced with his dad for many years, and they even did a 2-month unsupported ride down to Baja together. Needless to say, Bryn is no longer a goofy kid, and he rode my 650 like the undisputed champion of the world. It was great having him along!

This is Zak, aka slackmeyer. He left his new-to-him WR450 home and will be piloting his KTM640. He makes really good bread and beer from scratch…

And Zak's sidekick Guy, aka Nomad Guy. He'll be piloting his KTM 690 Enduro…assuming it starts this year. He's a super-cool dude, even if he dresses funny…

Guy's 690, ready to go…

And Eric, the man that makes it all possible for me…

Well, well, well…look who showed up at 10:30am! This is David (BattleVision here, although he never posts.) He is an absolute madman on his Super Tenere…or any other motorcycle, for that matter. I met him through Brendan almost 30 years ago when they were road racing together...

This is Brendan. We met at traffic school almost 30 years ago. He's been riding since he was a teenager, but he traded his FZ-09 in for an FJ-09 and now he's about to take it off road for the first time…

Get a load of all that big machinery…

I took some photos of the FJ so we'd remember what it used to look like when it was new…

These pipes don't look the same anymore…

Neither does that oil pan…

Let's get ready to ride!




WoodsChick

 

[Cabrito]

I have such a huge smile on my face right now... It's been way too long since you put up a ride report...

Too much to love so far in this story...

 

[WoodsChick]

I have such a huge smile on my face right now... It's been way too long since you put up a ride report...

Too much to love so far in this story...

Aww…thank you, Cabrito!
Too long, indeed! I plan on doing something about that in the next week :teeth





LaidUpChick