March Madness - n00bs Rally, 2018

SFMCjohn · Mar 29, 2018

...climbing up the Temblor Range north of Hurricane Road,
looking for a spot to camp ... :ride

... looking south toward the snowy Los Padres National Forest
in the distance ...

... sunset over Soda Lake and the Carrizo Plain ...

... things were much greener than in December,
but still no wildflowers for which the Carrizo Plain
is famous ...

... the silt pits that surprised me
in December were completely gone and I had
an easy ride up to the area I like to camp
in off and up to the left on the far side of the first cattle gate
at the top of the long first climb ...

... the BLM is reporting that instead
of the 12” of rain the Carrizo Plain
gets during a “usual” winter, there has so
far only been one inch (thus the silt pits, ha)
and that there probably won’t be a “super”
wildflower bloom like we saw in the spring of 2017 ...

... Southern California Wildflower Reports On Desert USA ...

two wheel tramp · Mar 29, 2018

Stupid silt!

I'm looking forward to visiting carrizo in a few weeks, too. I'll be sure to bring my rotopak.

SFMCjohn · Mar 30, 2018

two wheel tramp said:
Stupid silt!

“... make silt your favorite!” :laughing

arty

two wheel tramp said:
I'm looking forward to visiting carrizo in a few weeks, too. I'll be sure to bring my rotopak.

... from Carrizo I took Comanche Point Road
up into the mountains toward Tehachapi ...

... a zoom-in-n-out map link ...

... Road didn’t seem to have seen much
use since the last rain, so I figured there
would be a wash-out or locked gate ahead ...

... but no, everything was as I remembered ...
came across a big cowboy wearing a 10 gallon hat
and handlebar mustache riding a little XT200 coming down
the hill who assured me I’d be able to get up to Tehachapi ...

... if you ever wondered what it would be like
to ride some of the ranch roads you can see
when you ride up Hwys 178 or 58, Comanche Point Road
delivers ... one of my most favorite dual-sport through-routes ... :ride

... for the most part the snow stayed up above 8000’
where it belonged, except for the last eight miles to
Benton Hot Springs, where I rode through a squall that
had me swiping snow from my visor every 30 feet ... :laughing

two wheel tramp · Mar 31, 2018

Are you there yet?

:laughing

budman · Mar 31, 2018

Very cool John!!

Looks pretty sweet. Bummer on the flower bloom.

Leo_jb · Mar 31, 2018

Hey John!
Do you know if I can ride the west loop of Arroyo Seco Rd from Carmel Valley Road to Jolon (via Sulphur Springs Rd)? Or is that routed closed off by gates?

HadesOmega · Mar 31, 2018

Are you running a fuel filter? My quad would suddenly cut out sometimes and found out the fuel filter wasn't allowing the fuel to flow but it looked clean to me (it's those clear ones). Might want to check the petcock, not sure which one your running but the stocker is one of the vacuum activated ones.

Also check for vacuum leaks like in the intake manifold. I found a cracked manifold boot on my quad and it was hiccuping/stalling. These old bikes

'

SFMCjohn · Apr 2, 2018

two wheel tramp said:
Are you there yet?

... I was trying to leave a pause in
case anyone else wanted to post a thread
about BHS, but I think I'll just go ahead and slam
my BHS part out ... :ride

budman said:
Very cool John!!

Looks pretty sweet. Bummer on the flower bloom.

... yes, the flowers come and go
according to their own schedule,
which is what makes them so special, I suppose ... :thumbup

... spent a lot of time in here over
the next three days ...

... Mark trying to find out what was going
on with our partners in crime on Friday night ...

... what we woke up to Saturday morning ...

... Eric finding the second chain that
they had lost, so he didn't have to buy a third set ... :laughing

Mark and Eric ...

... snowy Huskys ...

arty

... icy chain saw ... started right up
after Eric had the good idea to thaw it
out using hot spring water ... :laughing

SFMCjohn · Apr 2, 2018

... proof Husky chain saws can withstand
harsh conditions and still perform ... :cool

... happy time ... :toothless

... we all needed a rest and soak
day on Saturday, but hit some fantastic riding on Sunday ...

... Yellow Jacket Road, south of Benton Hot Springs ...

... Eric leading the way into Chidago Canyon ...

... Mark and Eric ...

WoodsChick pointing the plated-dirt-bike way ... :laughing

... Mark showing me the correct
way to use my parasol ...

... it was cold, but the wind didn't blow ...
our bathing suits froze before drying out ...
heard it was 6 deg F on Saturday night ...
I slept well with two 15 deg down bags and
three Thermarest pads ...

... I did get to sleep with huge down comforter
from the 2WD van on Sunday night ... :thumbup

... some fun pics WoodsChick sent me:

... me, looking scared to be following plated-dirt-bikes/real riderz ...

... good riders don't wear black leather ...

... happy, happy, joy, joy ... arty

... had a great time riding with the plated-dirt-bikes
and saw some fantastic riding I'd not have
seen left to myself ... can't wait to head
back and explore the area some more ...
wonderful company on this trip, too ...

SFMCjohn · Apr 2, 2018

... on Monday, 3/19/18, I packed up to head to
Saline Valley Warm Springs ...

... Casa Diablo Road ...

... my usual pic of the snow pack from Death Valley Road,
above Big Pine ...

... same spot in 2010 ...

... and the same spot in no-snow year 2012,
when we were able to ride over Tioga Pass in January ... :wow

SFMCjohn · Apr 2, 2018

Leo_jb said:
Hey John!
Do you know if I can ride the west loop of Arroyo Seco Rd from Carmel Valley Road to Jolon (via Sulphur Springs Rd)? Or is that routed closed off by gates?

Hey Leo!

... here's a map, so I can see what part of the
world we’re talking about ...:

... I've never heard of a way
to get to Jolon from Carmel Valley/Arroyo Seca ...

... my impression is that there's a big wilderness area in the way ... :dunno

... maybe someone else will chime in ...? :gsxrgrl

SFMCjohn · Apr 2, 2018

HadesOmega said:
Are you running a fuel filter? My quad would suddenly cut out sometimes and found out the fuel filter wasn't allowing the fuel to flow but it looked clean to me (it's those clear ones). Might want to check the petcock, not sure which one your running but the stocker is one of the vacuum activated ones.

Also check for vacuum leaks like in the intake manifold. I found a cracked manifold boot on my quad and it was hiccuping/stalling. These old bikes '

Hey HO,

... didn't think of checking for cracked carb boots, thanks ...
... don't run a fuel filter, but will have to check
out the silly vacuum petcock, too ...
I'll check the air filter and check back here ... :ride

Junkie · Apr 2, 2018

I think Reliz Canyon is a road, but street view shows a gate. It looks to me like it eventually reaches Sulphur Springs Road, but that's inside Hunter Liggett so even if you can get around the first gate I imagine you'll eventually hit more.

SFMCjohn · Apr 2, 2018

Junkie said:
I think Reliz Canyon is a road, but street view shows a gate. It looks to me like it eventually reaches Sulphur Springs Road, but that's inside Hunter Liggett so even if you can get around the first gate I imagine you'll eventually hit more.

... here's what I get trying to do a walking route
up Reliz Canyon Road (sends me up Pine Cyn to King City) ...
won't let me drag the Reliz Cyn Rd walking
route onto what looks like private land ... :dunno

... can't seem to find Sulfur Springs Road on google ... :facepalm

WoodsChick · Apr 2, 2018

two wheel tramp said:
Are you there yet?

SFMCjohn said:
... I was trying to leave a pause in
case anyone else wanted to post a thread
about BHS, but I think I'll just go ahead and slam
my BHS part out ...

... snowy Huskys ... arty

Sorry to keep you waiting, John :laughing

I wanted to get to it this weekend but things have been a little hectic here lately

I love your photos and I am stealing them to save! Thank you! And thank you for getting a photo of me and my guy together. I don't have very many of those! Feel free to post your photos up in my ride report...when I get to it...which I hope will be in a day or so! Promise!

LaggingChick

SFMCjohn · Apr 3, 2018

... haha, no worries, Tami! :thumbup

... so much fun listening to Eric
talking about pacing Wes Cooley
in the dark on a 600 at a Willow Springs
endurance race and Mark’s stories
about riding a BMW 800gs up to Belfort
and looping his Yamaha YZ490 doing a
stand-up wheelie in fifth gear a Jawbone ... :laughing

... that was quality campfire time ...

arty

SFMCjohn · Apr 3, 2018

... soon enough I was up and over North Pass on
Saline Valley Road and dropping down into
the warmer weather there, thank goodness ...

... airing down for the sand approaching the warm springs ...

... the famous and ever-evolving bat-sign ... :ride

... more bliss ... spent the next four nights here
watching the days go by ...

... my hippie-purple 2016 BARF Weaverville Midsummer Magic
rally t-shirt was a big hit with the nekkid morning sunrise soakers ... :laughing

Junkie · Apr 3, 2018

There's a Sulphur Springs Rd heading basically due North (a *touch* East) from Fort Hunter Liggett, that's the only one I can find in the vicinity.

And I agree, Reliz is almost certainly not an option due to the base.

SFMCjohn · Apr 3, 2018

Junkie said:
There's a Sulphur Springs Rd heading basically due North (a *touch* East) from Fort Hunter Liggett, that's the only one I can find in the vicinity.

And I agree, Reliz is almost certainly not an option due to the base.

Found it!

... my walking route on Sulfur Springs warned that
you may not be able to walk through due to private property ... :dunno

... maybe Hades Omega will chime in,
think he knows this part of the world ... :ride

arty

SFMCjohn · Apr 3, 2018

... zoom-in-and-out map link ...

... here's the basic route into Saline Valley Warm Springs ...
just an awesome part of the world ... one of the few places
I can think of that I can get on my KLR that when it is dark,
there are NO man-made lights in the distance that you can see ...
no street lights, no traffic lights, no towns, no paved roads ...

... plus, as a KLR guy, there is no camping fee ... :laughing

arty

March Madness - n00bs Rally, 2018

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