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I Have A Dream: Pozo On The 610's

WoodsChick

I Don't Do GPS
Joined
Jan 25, 2005
Location
Oakland
Moto(s)
GasGas EP280, CR125, Husky WR165, 2 SM610's, FE250, 2 TR650's, FZR400/600, GSXR750, KTM 450EXC
BARF perks
AMA #: 489282
Every year Eric and I celebrate the glory of Martin Luther King by going on a 3-day riding trip. Surprising, I know... This year we decided to do some trail riding down at Pozo in the Los Padres National Forest. Our friend Mark and his daughter Danielle joined us and were waiting for us when we got there. The drive in on Red Hill Road late Friday night was treacherous. We had no business being on that funky dirt road in our camper van with no ground clearance and trailer in tow. It was dicey! Anyway, we made it in one piece and woke up here bright and early on a beautiful and quiet Saturday morning...
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We loaded up for a fun and easy day as this would be the maiden voyage for Mark's new XR650L and he'd have Danielle on the back. The 610 stalled in the first little puddle we came to. Great...I hope it's not going to be like this all day!
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Mark was pretty happy with his bike...
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Arroyo Grande was hopping on this nice day...
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When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight...
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Winters are a bitch in California, aren't they?
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Heading out of Arroyo Grande we found ourselves on Upper Lopez Canyon Rd...
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This road quickly became known as Trail of 1000 Creek Crossings, as this kind of stuff was just non-stop...
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Hiking trails spelled the end for us motorized cretins...
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Oh, goody! Now we get to go through all those water crossings again!
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Mark and Danielle were having a blast!
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Should have been doing this right from the start...
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We headed back to camp for fire and food. Mark wasn't feeling well and would be packing up in the morning. Eric and I would be spending the day on the trails in Pozo :party


Day 2 coming up tomorrow!




WoodsChick
 
I'm jealous how come you never post your rides ? Imagine twenty of us out there :shocker
 
Sweet XRL....I mean husky.....actually both! :teeth
I cannot be convinced to get rid of either of mine. :ride
 
:thumbup More pics of the 610 please:)

Ok! More on the way in a bit. My wi-fi was down at the house yesterday and there was no way I was going to attempt a post with my iPhone...although I tried :laughing Forget it!

ooooh yeah!

:)

Hi WC,

Wow, lots of water epicness! :ride

Must try to get to Pozo someday ...

see you around the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn

Yeah, that road was a sweet surprise. We thought just a dirt road that dead ends up the road a piece. It was way more than that! Super fun.

I'm jealous how come you never post your rides ? Imagine twenty of us out there :shocker

Oh, I can totally imagine 20 of us out there in the dust...which is why I don't post my rides :laughing:laughing No, not really :laughing I've never been much of a "group ride" kind of person, though. On this ride it would have been ok, but for regular dirt riding it's been my experience that it just gets to be a mess. Differing abilities, unprepared bikes, weird attitudes...I don't know. I just
tend to see it as something that Eric and I do together. If you go back through my ride reports you'll see that it's usually just the 2 of us or our small core of good friends that we've been riding with for years. I hate to come off sounding like a snob, and I really enjoyed our ride out at Carnegie...a lot!, but I just never think to invite a ton of people on a ride. Maybe we should do that later this spring?



WoodsChick
 
Very cool report, WC.

Anyone besides me having trouble seeing these pics on a mobile phone? They show up as question marks as if the link is broken. Works fine with my computer.
 
Very cool report, WC.

Anyone besides me having trouble seeing these pics on a mobile phone? They show up as question marks as if the link is broken. Works fine with my computer.

That's weird...I just checked and they're showing up on my phone ok :confused




WoodsChick
 
That's weird...I just checked and they're showing up on my phone ok :confused

Must be something messed up with my phone. Had to get out of bed to read your report. But it was worth it. :laughing
 
Ok...sorry for the delay folks...been super busy!

Woke up to freezing temps. Literally. 32º. Had to go for my morning walk, though, because I'm really old and I need it. This trail was fun!
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Found a nicely flowing spring...
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Found this chain embedded in the dirt and sand at an abandoned campsite. Love is where you find it...
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To say Navajo Campground is an actual campground would be a bit of a stretch. There was room for our van and Mark's trailer and truck and that's it. We had the place to ourselves...
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Did I mention that it was cold?
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Mark packed up and left, Eric and I packed up the bikes and hit the trails. We wanted to take Trail 8 to the dreaded Stair Steps from the west side, as we'd been to them from the east...
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Eric zoomed in on me at the top of this downhill...
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Standard disclaimers apply, here. You know, steeper than it looks, etc. I was sliding the rear and the front by the time I got to the bottom...
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Heading up onto Trail 8...
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The trail followed a ridge and the views were pretty spectacular. This is looking down at Pozo Grade...
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This trail reminded me a lot of the eastern side of Stonyford. It went on forever and there were some huge drops and climbs...fun!
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Ahh...my first view of the lower Stair Steps...
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Eric says "Ladies first!"
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Hmm...time for a look-see...
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I don't know, man...




More later!
WoodsChick
 
OH DEAR GOD!!!

:laughing There was a nice little layer of sand and dirt on top of the cinder block things, and I got to sit at the top and watch Eric start sliding about halfway down. I also knew something was up when he grabbed the camera immediately after reaching the bottom :teeth It was slidey but no big deal...

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WoodsChick
 
Hmm...
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We decided we needed more than 2 people if we were going to attempt the Stair Steps, and also that it would be wiser to bring the 610's down rather than up for the first attempt. Would totally give it a go it on my 2-stroke, though. We bagged the idea, turned around, and burned tracks into Pozo for burgers and homemade lemonades at the Pozo Saloon...
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We got a huge piece of homemade carrot cake to go and headed up the dirty and super-twisty fun Pozo Grade and dropped down down onto Trail 5...
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An interesting place to stop and eat cake...
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If you ever find yourself at the Pozo Saloon, Do Not pass up a piece of carrot cake. It was almost as good as mine!
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The snow on the Sierra was clearly visible...
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Carrot cake makes me feel like Wonder Woman...
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My wi-fi just went down halfway through this post. Again. :mad I finished it off using my tablet as a hot spot but that's not a long-term solution. More later if/when I figure this crap out. Maybe I need some carrot cake...
 
Hey, that's my neck of the woods!

Yeah? You like Pozo? Ever ridden Ballinger Canyon? I love the central coast and wouldn't mind living there someday.



WoodsChick
 
Yeah? You like Pozo? Ever ridden Ballinger Canyon? I love the central coast and wouldn't mind living there someday.



WoodsChick

Yeah. I recognize every picture. High Mountain Road is a few miles from our home- I've even taken a Harley over it coming home from a show at the saloon.

Last time I was at Pozo, a few months ago, I crashed and burned though. Heatstroke is no joke.
 
LOL. Your Arroyo Grande Village pics were 5 minutes from my house. :laughing The rest is all our backyard. And NO, we don't need 20 more NorCal riders down here, thank you, so to those that suggested it.....KTFO! :twofinger :twofinger :twofinger
 
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