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| From California passes |
As the fall of '08 approached, a friend of mine from Atlanta notified me that he'd be in Ca for a month and located in Palmdale Ca. His wife had a temp gov job there for a couple months, and he would like to see California's best.
Well, in my opinion, Sherman, Tioga, Sonora, Monitor, and Ebbets passes are Ca's best, and that I could string them together into a 2 and a half day ride for us.
But first I'd have to change a rear tire on my ADV bike. shown here out in Monument Valley...
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| From Oceanside to GJ 2013 |
So I put the tire change off to the last possible minute, and then when my tail light showed to be on the fritz, there was no time to sort that problem out. Who needs a stinking tail light anyway. We planned to be riding in the daylight.
I did rig a wire that I could run from my heated vest outlet back across the tank and seat to the trailer outlet at the rear of the bike, which would power the tail light if it should turn dark on us.
Monday, Oct 6th (2008) was the jump off date. The rugrats were all gone and back in school, and the heat of the Valley floors was acceptable. I left Oceanside at 8am sharp and got to Palmdale an hour early. So I went over and had a Double cheeseburger at McDs to kill a little of time. Meetup was to be at 1:30pm near Bakersfield with a couple other riders.
I was loaded for bear with my dual Rolling Walmart luggages. I'm a little frugal, don't you know. I can haul a bunch, but the rig is a bit wide. So as I lane split the traffic in Los Angeles, I became aware of a little Zzzippps noises when I split between cars.
Hummmm.........the noise eventually broke into my consciousness......Holy shit, that zip was me dragging my Walmart bags on the mirrors of the cars that dared to squeeze me. Oops, maybe I better widen my strike zone. :freaky
Barry was ready and waiting With his 1800 goldwing and camp trailer....
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| From California passes |
I hadn't been riding since I got back from Colorado in Aug. My mood was set on stun......That would be stunning Ca scenery.
We would first ride up to a meetup place just east of Bakersfield to catch Bill Warner on an FJR coming from Salinas, as he was likewise ready to tour some twisties.
Barry led the way over the Tehachepi hills at a crisp 75 to 80. That little trailer didn't hold us back on the interstates. As we rolled thru the wind farms, I was singing in my helmet. Did I say the weather was beautiful? It was good to be on a ride.
That little trailer was air adjustable, and Barry has a remote control that pumps the air up till he gets the ride height that he wants...pretty slick.
Chairs out an waiting in the shade......This is nearly as good as it gets. :clap
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| From California passes |
Barry has it all in that trailer. We broke out some iced water bottles from one of his coolers, he carries 2, and settled down to what would be a pattern of slightly exaggerated stories, er lies..., and waited. Soon Hairston (Right), On another old Sabre, and Bill showed up.....
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
Time had passed us by and it was 2pm by the time we all were rolling toward Sherman Pass and beyond. We stopped in Kernville for gas. Hairston lived in Bakersfield, and had only come out for a howdy ride. I hadn't seen Hairston for a couple years.
As Hairston started back down the mtn we went north toward the Sherman pass and Kennedy Meadow road. Wow, as we got higher on the hill, and with all the recent fires, I could see most of the dirt side roads that I'd never noticed before. Gotta get back out there with the DR350.... We took a break half way up the hill to Sherman Pass.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
The Sherman pass road is deteriorating over the years. There are a few place where you can get in a light sand and get a little squirrelly, but in general, it's still a nice ride. Sherman was the one pass that Bill had never been over....and of course the Barrman thought it was awesome.....and me, I was singing in my helmet again. :clap
We were heading to a campground just south of Lone Pine called Deer Lake county campground. We didn't want to spend the night up on that hill at 8000 ft.
It was getting late.....we kinda refrained from further picture taking and kept moving in order to get camp set up in the daylight. Damn, that is a beautiful sight coming down off that mountain toward Hwy 395.
As it was it was near dark when we got to 395. I plugged my tail light in and we blasted 20 miles north to Olancha where we had Dinner at that cafe. Mixed reviews. Barry changed his tostada kinda thing from beef to chicken and got charged an extra 3.95 for doing it. Hummmm.....that didn't set well. :evil:evil
But nothing could change the mood. Life on the road was good. It took us another 20 miles to get to camp. We set up camp with flashlights. Barry has an 11 X 11 tent that sets up like an umbrella...pretty cool.
Bill was going to go blue burrito like I do. Nothing was going to hide the stars from me. The difference between me and Bill was the down sleeping bag that I found at a garage sale years ago. Bill froze his ass off in the low 40 degree temps, and I was snug as a bug in a rug, and enjoyed the stars when ever I woke up for a piss break.
I discovered P- bottles last year, and now I don't have to get out of the bag all night. :freaky
Tomorrow we would do Tioga Pass and Yosemite.......
We woke up at sunrise, and scurried with cold fingers to get coffee going. Bill and the Barrman (GreyGhost) both had percolated coffee while I had my trimixed instant (coffee crystals, creamer, and sugar).
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| From California passes |
Barry had a pecan pie that I had a piece of to hold me till something better would come along. I'm not sure just what is better than Pecan Pie.
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| From California passes |
There was a pay station where you put money in a tube type of thing. We skipped that the night before, and a couple of attendant came around to collect in the morning. They said it was 10 dollars if we all slept in the same tent. We affirmed that that was the case. .............cheap enough. We were packed up and riding by 8am. We paused to take a last look at Deer Lake campground with mtns.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
We had gotten in late last night. Tonight we vowed to stop early enough to have a good camp dinner of Steaks and fixing. So we stopped in Bishop some sixty miles away to make the purchase of said vittles. Bishop was early to buy food for dinner but we might not have a better chance later, and of course, Barry had two ice coolers to keep things cold. :freaky
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
There was a light snow last week, and all the peaks were dusted. We stopped at Crowley Lake for a smoke break. Barry couldn't stop rubber necking....wait till we start up the Tioga grade.....
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
I love hearing these guys impressions of the western US. Usually they are ultra impressed with just the size of everything. He says he was enjoying the weak dollar. I don't blame him.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
There were many cordial meetings with Harley riders, a Dutch couple, and a local that recommended Nicely's cafe for lunch. We had some lunch things, and soon were headed into the Park.
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| From California passes |
Bill was feeling like a bastard at the family reunion as he was the only one in our group without a geezer free pass into all National parks. The poor guy is only 60. :clap:clap
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| From California passes |
Right along here we past a car that had blown his engine and left an oilslick that ran down the street for 50 yards or so. We all ran thru it the long way and noted an immediate loss of traction. It was only a foot wide so we diagonaled our way out of it without incident, but it just shows that you have got to stay on your toes.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
Barry pulled up to the gate girl, and told her we were all older than Methuselah, and she let us all in on Barry's pass. Cool. We are in. Man, I've never seen so much Granite
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
We eventually jetted on out of the park. It only takes a couple hours to go thru Yosemite on Hwy 120, if you only make a couple stops. The last 10 miles was following a park ranger. That was no fun, but we took the good with the bad.
When you leave the park on the north west side there is a huge twisty hill, 5 or 6 miles long. That's great fun on a bike....unless you are following a trio of loaded lumber trucks. Damn.
And as you go over the top of the hill you can go straight and take a short cut almost straight down the hill. 15% grade or more. Be down the hill in a few minutes, but no, we spent a half hour behind those trucks. :evil
So by 5pm we had gassed up in Sonora and picked up a double six pack of beer, and had located Frasier Flats National campground about 20 miles to the east of Sonora. As beautiful as Yosemite is, it didn't stop us from being whipped. The early camp was a good thing. ........a night on the Sonora Pass road (hwy 108)
Frasier Flats is a Forest Service campground. It will only be open a week longer. There were no envelopes to put the fee in. We read the fee rate which said that there was only one vehicle per site. The fee was $15, half price for geezer pass, and $5 each for added vehicles.....Prices were soaring. :rofl
We arrived at Camp early enough to set up camp and make a nice dinner. To that end we had steaks, potatoes, an onion, and canned corn.
I'm basically a minimalist. My normal camp dinner is a bowl of Ramen noodles with a can of chicken mixed in. Done in 10 minutes. The Barrman is used to traveling with his wife and travels in relative style. ............but when the means are at hand, I see nothing wrong with a steak dinner on the trail now and then. Barry carrys a 2 burner propane stove that actually has a grill for steaks or burger, or hotdogs on one side. Woohoo :freaky
He also had pans, skillets and even hard plates. We used them all.....but my personal agenda was to cook my steak with my newly built alcohol stove. I have my version of the coke can stove which is fine for 5 minute burns....like morning coffee or even Ramen noodles or cup of soup. But a stake requires about 15 minutes of burn time. Here's my new stove.
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| From California passes |
The 5 minute stove is on the right, but the one on the left will go for about 20 minutes. This shows the 2 pieces of the left hand stove. The top may be turned which will shut off the upper row of holes by turning it so the holes don't line up....making it burn even longer.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
We cranked up music from my mp3 player thru a portable cassette player, (there's nobody better than Patsy Cline) drank a few beers, And talked of the old days......396s, 427' Vetts, old loves and past motos.
Soon our eyes grew heavy from the effects of fine food, drink, and good old BS stories.
Tomorrow Sonora and Ebbetts Passes Sonora Pass was discovered around 1845, and the first wagons hauling silver went through there a decade later. It was a toll road in the past also. A wagon should allow 3 weeks to make the trip to Bridgeport.
We got up late at Frasier Flats. Mostly because it was a few degrees colder than the night before. Bill was in his tent last night and did much better.
We had coffee, and I had another piece of the pecan pie. Good stuff. I almost single handedly ate that whole pie.
I looked up the camp host to get a fee envelope, put my $7.50 in it and felt paid up. I figured our three bikes was about the same as one Suburban.
So we are underway at 8:30. The weather is still brisk, but the sun is shining, and the day promises to be another great one. We are living right.
It's only about 50 miles to the pass. We stopped a couple times for pictures, and took some on the fly. This pictures is when I declared these lands for myself.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
We'd been 2 days of just potting along behind Barry mostly. If you stay behind the slowest member no one gets lost. I've been learning over the last few years that slower is better.....you see more. But Bill, the kid among us, was getting antsy with his FJR. He was finding reasons to get out front and then wait for us up ahead at the next intersection. It worked out well for us.
At the west side of the beginning of the pass, there was a traffic stop. Seems like Bridgestone was making a tire commercial up at the split rock section. When we got going again, I stopped for a picture and Barry waited...so he got to be a star.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
Bill jetted off down the 10 miles of very twistie hillside, and waited for us at 395. Barry scared up 5 does that ambled across the road in front of him. I finally got my camera out.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
We rode on north toward Walker, and stopped there for gas. The convenience store is run by an accommodating fellow. He sold out somewhere else, and has come to the country to enjoy life. I can dig that. We gassed up and had a hotdog for a food fix. We proceded on to hwy 89 and made the turn to Monitor pass.
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| From California passes |
We were making pretty good time today. We began discussions as to what the conclusion to the day would be.....none of us had an idea. Oh well, still beautimus riding. A lot of color on the way up the hill.
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| From California passes |
We almost had a party at the big view point near the top. The guy on the right is Edward Dilly........a CEO of [url]www.biohome.net[/url]. He has worked out a completely self sustainable living space completely free of outside water, electric, and sewage.
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
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| From California passes |
We went on over Monitor and then left on HWY 4 toward Ebbets. The road to Ebbets pass on the east side of the Sierras is not quite a 2 lane road. It makes it very interesting with oncoming traffic (which there is very little off).
There was lots more beautiful scenery, but none of us were still taking pictures. We finally arrived at hwy 49 in Angles Camp By 2:30. We stopped in the shade, and had a parley....and a cold drink out of Barry's coolers. Thank you very much.
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| From California passes |
We cussed and discussed our options. Barry called his wife. She needed to be in San Diego on Thursday......he decided to run for home in Palmdale. Bill figured he could be home in a lttle over three hour to Salinas. And I figured that I didn't want to camp in hot country so I would follow Barry south on 99 till Barry bailed on 58 east.
We took 59J south to Merced. There are some odd flat rock sticking out of the ground on their edges along that route.
But once we had gassed up in Merced and said goodby to Bill, it was time to let the big dogs hunt. We got in traffic and set the bikes on stun, and that wasn't for stunning scenery this time.
Only thing worth mentioning about the slab ride home was....... Heh, heh.....I was following Barry down 99, near Bakersfield, after dark at about 7pm. There was some sort of fire going on about a mile out to the right. So naturally I'm keeping track of whats going on out there. We're in the right lane.
I'm keying off the white line on the edge of the freeway. Shit, I look up and the freeway and Barry are gone, and I'm traveling off an offramp, right where that white line took me.
Damn, when I realized that, I was a bit disconcerted, to say the least. Took me 5 minutes to get back on the Freeway and find Barry, who was waiting on the freeway's edge a mile up the road..
A guys should keep his eyes on the road, I reckon.
I waved a warm goodbye to Barry at 58. Soon I was at the grapevine. The bike soared up the Tejon Pass taking no prisoners. I never had to slow down going thru LA, and I arrived home in Oceanside at just passed 10:30.
I'd been on the bike since 8 that morning.....It felt good to be home. [COLOR=#888888] [/COLOR]
