Nevada Loop from Lower Haight ... - BARF

SFMCjohn · 06-23-2012, 09:28 AM

Hi all,

Here's a very rough map of a loop we did from the Mercury Cafe at Octavia and Page, through Sonora Pass, Bridgeport, Bishop, Tonopah, Austin, and Markleeville ... the map does not show the dirt routes we took, but does give an idea of the area of the world and the distance, which was over 1000 miles according to this map ...

We used Benchmark Atlas pages taken on a color copy machine that our friend Kevin made for us ... he put the ride together for a group of riders from New Hampshire, who came out to visit with our friend Charlie R. of Rally Pan America fame ... so GPS gadgets were involved, but I can't tell you much about that ... we just used the maps (and got lost a lot ... ha.).

Getting ready to go ... Mercury Cafe coffee and a map ...

To get out of town and to 108 the usual path leads past Carnegie, Ripon, River Road, Knights Ferry and crosses 120 where we make a left after a bit on a dirt road called Rocky Creek to get to Red Hills BLM where there is a short dirt jeep trail, just south of Chinese Camp in Tuolumne County ...

A view of the jeep trail in the Red Hills BLM area ... fun.

We then headed for the Granstand Auto Route that starts in Long Barn ... stopped at the Ranger Station just down the hill to get maps and a campfire permit ... The Grandstand is basically a dirt way that parallels 108 for about 13 miles up the western slope of the Sierras, just south of 108 ...

Lots of nice views from Dodge Ridge, which the Grandstand Auto Route traverses in an east - west fashion ... we went uphill ...

Next, I wanted to find the county road that plunges down from the north side of Sonora Pass down to the Marine Training Center. The road is called Silver Creek and is dirt ... we found it, which was nice because I've been looking for it for several seasons ... it's a bit tricky to find, especially at the bottom, because you have to go right through the Marine Base gate to get to it ... which never seemed right to me ... but that's how you do it ... there is a sign there that says "Silver Creek County Road Access" or somesuch ...

Our campsite up around 9500 feet on Sonora Pass ...

We sat around the campfire and conducted a libation with coffee in memory of our friend Ben (BenJava on ADV Rider), who passed away recently on a motorcycle while crossing Sonora Pass ...

The next morning I noticed my other footpeg was falling off the bike (I'd just fixed the LHS one with Timeserts ... ) Drat! A pic of my lame fix ... how long do you think it worked?

A view of what the landscape looks like around Silver Creek Road above the treeline ... super pretty ...

And one of the Marine Base Training Center sign at the west end of Rt 108 ... to head uphill go through the gate past the sentry box (unmanned when we went through) and make an immediate left onto Silver Creek Road ...

Next: Pumice sand south of Mono Lake and Rt 120 ...

SFMCjohn · 06-24-2012, 07:58 AM

After negotiating Silver Creek Road, it was time to find a fix for my KLR's footpeg. We scouted around in Bridgeport for a welder, without success, before finding Kerry Kellog in Lee Vining ...

Kerry got me back on the trail, PDQ. He also turned out to be a Baja guy, and we chatted about Punta Chiavo, Mulege and Bay of LA ... he also told us about a bunch of nice dirt roads that run south off of Rt 120, south of Mono Lake towards Bishop. We took his route advice, and were rewarded with miles and miles of cool scenery, and got to warm up for Nevada sand on California pumice.

A quick stop to set the front and rear tire pressure of the KLRs to 20 psi at the intersection of the roads to Wet Meadow and Bald Mountain Springs (1S17 & 1S12).

The view up Bald Mountain Road (1S12). We stayed on the road to Wet Meadow and Taylor Canyon (1S17), which afforded spectacular riding back to Rt 120, where we hopped onto Benton Crossing Road (paved) and rode down to Casa Diablo Road (dirt).

Casa Diablo Road, which takes you down across a bridge over the Owens River close to Bishop ...

After gassing the KLRs up to be ready for an early start the next day, we found our way to Brown's Town, a private campground in Bishop, where we would meet up with the ten other guys who would be riding this part of the world for the next week ...

Kalle and Dave Peckham in camp, and gourmet burgers for dinner ...

The KTM horde ... the other ten guys on the trip were true dirt-bike guys, who planned to ride without tents, sleeping bags or camping gear, carrying only the bare minimum so they could ride fast and light ...

Next: Silver Canyon and the Patriarch Grove:

The KLRs at the top of Silver Canyon, near the road to the Ancient Bristlecone White Mountain Research Station ...

SRAD600 · 06-24-2012, 08:13 AM

Looks like an awesome ride so far. Two KLR's in a sea of orange

...cool.

Cabrito · 06-24-2012, 08:13 AM

Epic!

So what type of fix did you put on the foot peg?

SFMCjohn · 06-24-2012, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SRAD600

Looks like an awesome ride so far. Two KLR's in a sea of orange

...cool.

Hi SRAD600,

Thanks for reading and posting! We were a couple of apples mixed up with a bunch of oranges, in the sense that our dual-sport approach was very different from the rest of the gang. I had probably 40lbd of camping gear, and we were the only two who didn't truck our bikes to Bishop ...

There is a lot to be said for fast-n-light dual sporting, taking only a credit card and counting on making it to a motel ...

see you around the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn · 06-24-2012, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabrito

Epic!

So what type of fix did you put on the foot peg?

Hi Cabrito,

Kerry used his arc welder to fix me up ... I had just used Timeserts to helicoil (ha!) the failed fasteners on the left had side of the bike ... in hindsight, I should have figured the right-hand footpeg would soon follow suit ...

Anyway, the engine comes out of the left-hand side of the bike, and the right-hand weld is certainly a permanent fix ... cheap, too, Kerry only took $10, even though I offered more ...

see you in the garage,
-- SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn · 06-24-2012, 09:41 AM

Saturday was a day for folks to meet up in Bishop and do some loop routes in that area ...

In the morning we headed out with Bicycle Phil, Dave, Kevin and Art. Phil and Dave are Dakar-style rally racers, having worked with Rally Pan America to help train aspiring rally racers in the finer points of reading a road book, and have both raced in the Dos Sertos Rally, an eight-day round of the World Rally Championship held in Brazil. They were both mounted on their rally-prepped KTM 525s, as was Kevin ...

We headed out Warm Springs Road and made a left up Black Canyon Road where the KTMs left us as the route got steep, loose and rocky ... the KLR riders had anticipated this eventuality, and agreed with the KTM guys that Kalle and I might turn around if the going got too rough for us to keep up ... so we turned around and headed north to Silver Canyon ...

White Mountain Research Station Road, above the Silver Canyon/Wyman Creek Road intersection ...

The Patriarch Grove is up over 11,000 feet in elevation, at the upper edge of the timberline ... It is just simply spectacular scenery ... We took a short nature-hike, and learned a bunch about these impressive trees.

The weather had been hot in Bishop, in the upper 90s, so we wanted to get up high in order to enjoy the lower temperature in the Sierra's higher elevations ... We made our way past the Crooked Creek Research Station and explored Crooked Creek Canyon ...

From melting in Bishop, we actually needed our jackets once we got up to 12,000 feet ...

We found a small, cold stream in which to soak our feet in an area that reminded me of Joshua Tree NP ...

Lots of beautiful flowers up here ...

We got back to camp at the end of the day, and enjoyed a steak dinner prepared over the campfire ...

Next: Wyman Creek Road and we arrive in Nevada ...

seavoyage · 06-24-2012, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFMCjohn

And one of the Marine Base Training Center sign at the west end of Rt 108 ... to head uphill go through the gate past the sentry box

USMC Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport... tons of painful but nostalgic memories of alpine training, cross country skiing, and rock climbing from 6700 - 11000 FSL; laden with 120 lbs. of gear and weapons. It SUCKED! (all three times)

SFMCjohn · 06-25-2012, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seavoyage

Hey Drew,

Can't imagine carrying 120 lbs of equipment around up there ... we could feel the altitude just unloading our bikes and setting up camp ...

USMC Mountain Warfare training must be serious business!

thanks for your service,
-- SFMCjohn

SFMCjohn · 06-25-2012, 08:07 AM

The next day it was time to load up the KLRs and head off into Nevada ...

The alarm clock was set for 4:50am ... we might be on KLRs, but we could win the race to break camp and get out onto the trail ... which we did, ha.

The KTM horde needed to deal with finding long-term parking for their pick-up trucks, and Charlie R. needed to find a main jet for his XR, which he had forgotten to re-install as he was thrashing to prepare five other bikes for use by the New Hampshire crew ... which consisted of his Dakar veteran brother David and his son Davy, Kevin, who had prepared the GPS tacks and maps, and another father and son team, who were all mounted on KTMs ...

In any event, the logistics involved in getting that crew on the trail necessitated their taking a more northern route than Kalle and I ... we were on the trail by 6 am or so, and headed back up Silver Canyon to pick up Wyman Creek Road ...

Lots of water crossings on Silver Canyon ...

The view of Biship from the top of Silver Canyon ...

We crossed the road to the WMRS and began the plunge down Wyman Creek Road, stopping to check out the cabin and old mine buildings at Deep Springs ...

The cabin at Deep Springs ... suitable for an overnight stay ... looked for a sign-in register, which these cabins usually have, but could not find it ...

The abandoned mine house and old kiln ...

Kalle and the abandoned house ...

The creek and the road sharing the same bed on Wyman Creek Road ... we did a ton of water crossings making our way down to Eureka Valley Road ...

The bottom of Wyman Creek Road entered an area very much like Joshua Tree NP ... very pretty ...

Negotiating several cattle-gates at the bottom of Wyman Creek Road ...

We popped out to the asphalt road, Rt 168, and made a left to climb up and over Gilbert Pass, and down to a right onto Eureka Valley Road ... a view of Deep Springs Lake (dry) from the top of Gilbert Pass ...

A Joshua Tree forest on Eureka Valley Road ...

Some pink rock formations and a view down into Eureka Valley ... we made a left up here onto Cucomunga Canyon to head into Nevada and to say high and cool in the Tule Summit (7160') area ...

Next: Lost and found: mines, vintage cars, hot springs ...

**Nemo Brinker** · 06-25-2012, 09:29 AM

Yeah! Taking note of your detailed route descriptions, thank you!
How'd that footpeg fix hold up?

WoodsChick · 06-25-2012, 09:44 AM

Super cool stuff, John! Looking forward to the rest of the story and photos!
And good for you for kicking' ass and takin' names on the race to get out of camp

JealousChick

103 Moto · 06-25-2012, 12:10 PM

That looks like an awesome ride. I'll have to do a trip like it some day.

contacterich · 06-25-2012, 09:40 PM

- awesome! More please.

SFMCjohn · 06-26-2012, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo Brinker

Yeah! Taking note of your detailed route descriptions, thank you!
How'd that footpeg fix hold up?

Hey Nemo Brinker,

Thanks for reading and posting! I aspire to the "if I can do it, you can do it" school of ride report, so I hope maybe someone will ride through Red Hills or Dodge Ridge or take a trip to Nevada from Lower Haight ...

The weld on the right footpeg bracket is holding up well ... I'm pretty sure it will be a good fix ...

See you around the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn

06-23-2012, 09:28 AM	#1
SFMCjohn 13 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Francisco, 94102 Motorcycles: KLR, K75s, TR7V, FXSB, VTR250 racer Name: John A.	Nevada Loop from Lower Haight ... Hi all, Here's a very rough map of a loop we did from the Mercury Cafe at Octavia and Page, through Sonora Pass, Bridgeport, Bishop, Tonopah, Austin, and Markleeville ... the map does not show the dirt routes we took, but does give an idea of the area of the world and the distance, which was over 1000 miles according to this map ... We used Benchmark Atlas pages taken on a color copy machine that our friend Kevin made for us ... he put the ride together for a group of riders from New Hampshire, who came out to visit with our friend Charlie R. of Rally Pan America fame ... so GPS gadgets were involved, but I can't tell you much about that ... we just used the maps (and got lost a lot ... ha.). Getting ready to go ... Mercury Cafe coffee and a map ... To get out of town and to 108 the usual path leads past Carnegie, Ripon, River Road, Knights Ferry and crosses 120 where we make a left after a bit on a dirt road called Rocky Creek to get to Red Hills BLM where there is a short dirt jeep trail, just south of Chinese Camp in Tuolumne County ... A view of the jeep trail in the Red Hills BLM area ... fun. We then headed for the Granstand Auto Route that starts in Long Barn ... stopped at the Ranger Station just down the hill to get maps and a campfire permit ... The Grandstand is basically a dirt way that parallels 108 for about 13 miles up the western slope of the Sierras, just south of 108 ... Lots of nice views from Dodge Ridge, which the Grandstand Auto Route traverses in an east - west fashion ... we went uphill ... Next, I wanted to find the county road that plunges down from the north side of Sonora Pass down to the Marine Training Center. The road is called Silver Creek and is dirt ... we found it, which was nice because I've been looking for it for several seasons ... it's a bit tricky to find, especially at the bottom, because you have to go right through the Marine Base gate to get to it ... which never seemed right to me ... but that's how you do it ... there is a sign there that says "Silver Creek County Road Access" or somesuch ... Our campsite up around 9500 feet on Sonora Pass ... We sat around the campfire and conducted a libation with coffee in memory of our friend Ben (BenJava on ADV Rider), who passed away recently on a motorcycle while crossing Sonora Pass ... The next morning I noticed my other footpeg was falling off the bike (I'd just fixed the LHS one with Timeserts ... ) Drat! A pic of my lame fix ... how long do you think it worked? A view of what the landscape looks like around Silver Creek Road above the treeline ... super pretty ... And one of the Marine Base Training Center sign at the west end of Rt 108 ... to head uphill go through the gate past the sentry box (unmanned when we went through) and make an immediate left onto Silver Creek Road ... Next: Pumice sand south of Mono Lake and Rt 120 ... __________________ San Francisco Motorcycle Club Est. 1904, Oldest in the West ... http://caryandjohn.wordpress.com/ KLR Trip Reports, '73 Tiger Rides, AFM 250 Prod. Racing Nevada Loop; Sierra Loop; Vintage Death Valley Last edited by SFMCjohn; 06-23-2012 at 06:36 PM..

06-24-2012, 07:58 AM	#2
SFMCjohn 13 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Francisco, 94102 Motorcycles: KLR, K75s, TR7V, FXSB, VTR250 racer Name: John A.	Footpeg and Pumice Sand ... After negotiating Silver Creek Road, it was time to find a fix for my KLR's footpeg. We scouted around in Bridgeport for a welder, without success, before finding Kerry Kellog in Lee Vining ... Kerry got me back on the trail, PDQ. He also turned out to be a Baja guy, and we chatted about Punta Chiavo, Mulege and Bay of LA ... he also told us about a bunch of nice dirt roads that run south off of Rt 120, south of Mono Lake towards Bishop. We took his route advice, and were rewarded with miles and miles of cool scenery, and got to warm up for Nevada sand on California pumice. A quick stop to set the front and rear tire pressure of the KLRs to 20 psi at the intersection of the roads to Wet Meadow and Bald Mountain Springs (1S17 & 1S12). The view up Bald Mountain Road (1S12). We stayed on the road to Wet Meadow and Taylor Canyon (1S17), which afforded spectacular riding back to Rt 120, where we hopped onto Benton Crossing Road (paved) and rode down to Casa Diablo Road (dirt). Casa Diablo Road, which takes you down across a bridge over the Owens River close to Bishop ... After gassing the KLRs up to be ready for an early start the next day, we found our way to Brown's Town, a private campground in Bishop, where we would meet up with the ten other guys who would be riding this part of the world for the next week ... Kalle and Dave Peckham in camp, and gourmet burgers for dinner ... The KTM horde ... the other ten guys on the trip were true dirt-bike guys, who planned to ride without tents, sleeping bags or camping gear, carrying only the bare minimum so they could ride fast and light ... Next: Silver Canyon and the Patriarch Grove: The KLRs at the top of Silver Canyon, near the road to the Ancient Bristlecone White Mountain Research Station ... __________________ San Francisco Motorcycle Club Est. 1904, Oldest in the West ... http://caryandjohn.wordpress.com/ KLR Trip Reports, '73 Tiger Rides, AFM 250 Prod. Racing Nevada Loop; Sierra Loop; Vintage Death Valley Last edited by SFMCjohn; 06-24-2012 at 08:14 AM..

06-24-2012, 08:13 AM	#3
SRAD600 Veteran Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: midway between life and death Motorcycles: broken one's Name: Eldrick	Looks like an awesome ride so far. Two KLR's in a sea of orange ...cool. __________________ too dang stupid for a whitty tag line

06-24-2012, 09:41 AM	#7
SFMCjohn 13 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Francisco, 94102 Motorcycles: KLR, K75s, TR7V, FXSB, VTR250 racer Name: John A.	Patriarch Grove ... Saturday was a day for folks to meet up in Bishop and do some loop routes in that area ... In the morning we headed out with Bicycle Phil, Dave, Kevin and Art. Phil and Dave are Dakar-style rally racers, having worked with Rally Pan America to help train aspiring rally racers in the finer points of reading a road book, and have both raced in the Dos Sertos Rally, an eight-day round of the World Rally Championship held in Brazil. They were both mounted on their rally-prepped KTM 525s, as was Kevin ... We headed out Warm Springs Road and made a left up Black Canyon Road where the KTMs left us as the route got steep, loose and rocky ... the KLR riders had anticipated this eventuality, and agreed with the KTM guys that Kalle and I might turn around if the going got too rough for us to keep up ... so we turned around and headed north to Silver Canyon ... White Mountain Research Station Road, above the Silver Canyon/Wyman Creek Road intersection ... The Patriarch Grove is up over 11,000 feet in elevation, at the upper edge of the timberline ... It is just simply spectacular scenery ... We took a short nature-hike, and learned a bunch about these impressive trees. The weather had been hot in Bishop, in the upper 90s, so we wanted to get up high in order to enjoy the lower temperature in the Sierra's higher elevations ... We made our way past the Crooked Creek Research Station and explored Crooked Creek Canyon ... From melting in Bishop, we actually needed our jackets once we got up to 12,000 feet ... We found a small, cold stream in which to soak our feet in an area that reminded me of Joshua Tree NP ... Lots of beautiful flowers up here ... We got back to camp at the end of the day, and enjoyed a steak dinner prepared over the campfire ... Next: Wyman Creek Road and we arrive in Nevada ... __________________ San Francisco Motorcycle Club Est. 1904, Oldest in the West ... http://caryandjohn.wordpress.com/ KLR Trip Reports, '73 Tiger Rides, AFM 250 Prod. Racing Nevada Loop; Sierra Loop; Vintage Death Valley

06-25-2012, 08:07 AM	#10
SFMCjohn 13 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Francisco, 94102 Motorcycles: KLR, K75s, TR7V, FXSB, VTR250 racer Name: John A.	Silver Canyon, Wyman Creek, Eureka Valley ... The next day it was time to load up the KLRs and head off into Nevada ... The alarm clock was set for 4:50am ... we might be on KLRs, but we could win the race to break camp and get out onto the trail ... which we did, ha. The KTM horde needed to deal with finding long-term parking for their pick-up trucks, and Charlie R. needed to find a main jet for his XR, which he had forgotten to re-install as he was thrashing to prepare five other bikes for use by the New Hampshire crew ... which consisted of his Dakar veteran brother David and his son Davy, Kevin, who had prepared the GPS tacks and maps, and another father and son team, who were all mounted on KTMs ... In any event, the logistics involved in getting that crew on the trail necessitated their taking a more northern route than Kalle and I ... we were on the trail by 6 am or so, and headed back up Silver Canyon to pick up Wyman Creek Road ... Lots of water crossings on Silver Canyon ... The view of Biship from the top of Silver Canyon ... We crossed the road to the WMRS and began the plunge down Wyman Creek Road, stopping to check out the cabin and old mine buildings at Deep Springs ... The cabin at Deep Springs ... suitable for an overnight stay ... looked for a sign-in register, which these cabins usually have, but could not find it ... The abandoned mine house and old kiln ... Kalle and the abandoned house ... The creek and the road sharing the same bed on Wyman Creek Road ... we did a ton of water crossings making our way down to Eureka Valley Road ... The bottom of Wyman Creek Road entered an area very much like Joshua Tree NP ... very pretty ... Negotiating several cattle-gates at the bottom of Wyman Creek Road ... We popped out to the asphalt road, Rt 168, and made a left to climb up and over Gilbert Pass, and down to a right onto Eureka Valley Road ... a view of Deep Springs Lake (dry) from the top of Gilbert Pass ... A Joshua Tree forest on Eureka Valley Road ... Some pink rock formations and a view down into Eureka Valley ... we made a left up here onto Cucomunga Canyon to head into Nevada and to say high and cool in the Tule Summit (7160') area ... Next: Lost and found: mines, vintage cars, hot springs ... __________________ San Francisco Motorcycle Club Est. 1904, Oldest in the West ... http://caryandjohn.wordpress.com/ KLR Trip Reports, '73 Tiger Rides, AFM 250 Prod. Racing Nevada Loop; Sierra Loop; Vintage Death Valley

06-24-2012, 08:13 AM	#4
Cabrito Riding in SF since 1982 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Lurking, lurking, lurking.. Motorcycles: KLR650 Name: Michael G	Epic! So what type of fix did you put on the foot peg?

06-25-2012, 09:29 AM	#11
Nemo Brinker Tonight we ride Join Date: May 2006 Location: OAKLAND. Motorcycles: '04 919, '04 DR650 Name: Legion	Yeah! Taking note of your detailed route descriptions, thank you! How'd that footpeg fix hold up? __________________ Do it Right--Recycle Your Used Oil and Filters Ride Report--Baja Misadventure Ride Report--Colorado Passes BARF Terms of Service (TOS) ...Got that?

06-25-2012, 09:44 AM	#12
WoodsChick Veteran Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oakland Motorcycles: GasGas EP280, CR125, Husky WR165, SM610 & TR650, FZR400/600, GSXR750, SV650, Plated KTM 450 EXC Name:	Super cool stuff, John! Looking forward to the rest of the story and photos! And good for you for kicking' ass and takin' names on the race to get out of camp JealousChick __________________ AMA, D36, BRC, CORVA, USA-ALL, WMA Mom 1/23/2008

06-25-2012, 12:10 PM	#13
103 Moto ... Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sonoma County Motorcycles: 2010 KLX250SF Name: Kate	That looks like an awesome ride. I'll have to do a trip like it some day.

06-25-2012, 09:40 PM	#14
contacterich Veteran Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Erich Stiegler Insurance Agency Motorcycles: KTM...and...KTM Name: Erich	- awesome! More please. __________________ Erich Stiegler Insurance Agency - AFM and Supermoto USA sponsor. We put money back into the sport!

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