Yosemite / Cherry Lake / Rim Fire

[Ezekiel]

Saturday March 15th I decided to take a little ride up to Yosemite Valley. Plan was to take a longer, but more fun route there which included CottonWood Road / Cherry Lake. I'd ridden this road a few times in the past buts it's been a few years. Woke up early, droned up Highway 4, Right at Copperopolis, Left up 108, Right on E17 into Tuolumne and now I'm looking for Buchanan Road which is the beginning of my adventure. Miss it the first time but loop back and get started.
As soon as I enter the road I see a sign that says Cherry Lake is closed. hmmmmmm. I didn't think there'd be much snow but maybe there is? My other option is do a lot of back tracking to get back to Highway 120...I decide to press on.

The road starts out a little rough

but quickly turns into a freshly paved wonderland

 

[Ezekiel]

Soon I came up to this sign...I'm starting to wonder if I made the right decision to press on. Enlarged the sign so you can read it

And later after more perfect twisty goodness

I come up on these signs

Hmmm...decision time. Did they forget to take these signs down? That Rim Fire was back in August!! I didn't write the comments on the sign but I have to agree with them, seems silly to still have the road closed all these many months later. What to do...what to do. Well, lets go a little further

And hey, if they REALLY meant the road was closed they would have closed the gate right?!?! It's open though, so lets just see how far up we can go

Ahhh, back to the beautiful road

 

[Ezekiel]

Pretty quickly the landscape changes and I see what the Rim Fire really did to this area

The next hour or more is spent riding this desolate road. Still great pavement, a little dirty in spots but the majority clean and unused. The smell of smoke/fire is still heavy in spots. I pass through areas that were untouched by the fire but the majority of this road seems to have been right in the middle of it all. It's both sad and yet strangely beautiful at the same time.

This was really the only area that scared me. Big drop off to one side, and dirty on my side of the road. Ride on the dirt, or ride on the pavement? I was making the wrong choice in this photo...I found a happy medium where I rode slowly on the dirty side. Long way down.

 

[Ezekiel]

I'm about 10 miles from where the road meets up with Highway 120 when around the corner comes my friend Johnny...Johhny Law! He signals he'd like to have a chat.

He asks where I came form and I motion behind me and say back there. He asks Tuolumne? I say yeah. He then says "So you passed the sign saying road closed...matter of fact you passed 3 of them in different areas" and proceeds to list each sign and how far before the closure it was and what it said...now I really feel like an asshole.

End result was a Federal ticket for being inside the Rim Fire closure area. $175 fine Although the officer gave me the ticket I have to say he was professional and pleasant about it, no hard feelings, he was just doing his job, I rolled the dice and lost, my fault. I guess they were serious about the road being closed after all.

 

[Ezekiel]

I had turned off my camera while I was getting my ticket, but when we were done I figured I'm paying for this, may as well get my full enjoyment from it so camera back on for the few miles left out of the place...

And soon I have left that road behind, hooked up to Highway 120 and was on my way...and inside of Yosemite National Park.

 

[Ezekiel]

Yosemite is looking very DRY for this time of year. What would normally be lush green fields are a dry brown.

Beautiful weather means lots of traffic

Off to Curry Village for an ice cream and Pizza

Figure it's about time to head home so I start making tracks back that way. A few last sights to see and I'm out of here

So Yosemite has pretty low speed limits. 35MPH through much of the park. On the way home I'm happily cruising along through one of the tunnels when I pass a cop going the other way. I look in my mirror and he hits the lights. Damn. Although he still has to get out of the tunnel and turn around I figure I may as well just look for a safe spot and pull over now so that's what I do. I'm sitting there, bike off, hands on the tank when he comes FLYING out of the tunnel, sees me pulled over, gets hard on the brakes and pulls behind me. I tell him looks like he was expecting a chase! We both laugh and mood is good...I'm hoping that me pulling over right away will buy me some good will but apparently I was doing 60 in a 35...so I received yet another federal ticket. This day is getting expensive! I've always said it's not the ticket that pisses me off, it's the points on my record. I can now say I was correct in that...no points for federal tickets, no problem. Pay it and done. I would have MUCH rather not gotten the tickets but ehhh, such is life.

 

[Ezekiel]

After that I'm really not looking for a three-fer so I'm pretty mellow the rest of the way home. Get to ride Priests Grade on the way home which is always a treat though! If you haven't ridden it yet I highly recommend it. It's worth the trip up there just for that little stretch of road alone.

After this, easy miles through the valley...

And soon enough, I'm home. LOVED the ride through Cottonwood, best part of the day for sure. If you can get up there once the road opens again I think you'll enjoy it too.

Ready for the next adventure!

 

[Overcomb3]

Thanks for the pics & write up. I've been interested to know what those roads were gonna be like. Sorry bout the tix. At least no points. I can't believe how dry the valley looked. Damned scary! It's gonna be so dry up there this year I won't be surprised to see another fire.

Oh yeah. Nice pics. I liked the helmet smiling with 1/2dome in the background. Good shit!

 

[sckego]

Two tickets in one ride. Nice!

Awesome pics, looks like fun.

 

[mototireguy]

Two performance awards on the same day followed by a happy grin instead of rants of police state USA revenue grubbing grumbling.

 

[RightCoastBias]

That's an awesome looking ride. What was your total ride time? I'd like to to a day trip somewhere besides my normal jaunt to Bodega Bay. This is very tempting.

 

[louemc]

Sorry that the ticket book came out. Riding here, takes some adjustment.

When Ya live here, this is the easy place to ride. And for us, the Bay area takes adjustment.

Thanks for the current pictures

 

[Ezekiel]

Yeah, crazy scary how dry it all is up there. I'd expect more fires this season too. The ranger was telling me the fire is actually STILL burning in some areas up there which is why the road is still closed. Crazy. I was expecting at least a little bit of snow on the sides of the road or something but nope...nothing.

No reason for me to complain about the tickets, I earned them! I always ask myself "If I was this cop, would I give me the ticket?" and usually, as was the case here, the answer is yes. I MAY have let myself slide for the second speeding one, but I couldn't hold it against him for writing it. They were comparatively cheap anyway...and it's amusing that I got them so close together! Didn't ruin my day, all part of the adventure

I left for this ride about 8AM and was home by 5PM I think. If the roads in the foothills are open, it's a great time to ride them. Usually going east isn't much of an option for us this time of year but there's a lot of roads in those foothills just begging to be ridden right now. I think up that way would make for a wonderful alternative to the usual Bodega Bay run.

 

[Rel]

What were the sections you were cited for? (I'm just curious if you got 2 1 point tickets or not)....

 

[louemc]

I left for this ride about 8AM and was home by 5PM I think. If the roads in the foothills are open, it's a great time to ride them. Usually going east isn't much of an option for us this time of year but there's a lot of roads in those foothills just begging to be ridden right now. I think up that way would make for a wonderful alternative to the usual Bodega Bay run.

The foothills are stunning now that the rain we have had, brought fresh (early lush)
green to this place.

I was marveling at the beauty, this morning...Hwy 4, Roller coaster ride from Copperopolis to Angels camp...
Sweet scenery and turns up Murphys Grade to Murphys.

At the Hwy 49 level, from Hwy 108 to Coulterville and on to (not the ski area) Bear Valley, And the Priest grade (both the old one and the new one) Sweet.


The passes may open early this year because of the less snow to plow...
But no one is giving an early date.

After they open, (and for riders that like them) The Sierra passes are the finest ride, and a full day, is do a loop, cross over on one pass, to 395, return on another pass.

Hwy 4 - Ebbetts pass, Monitor pass, to 395.
Hwy 108 Sonora pass...Those two are nice.

Hwy 120 going though Yosemite is a wow, of course...But the traffic is thick and Ya know about tickets

 

[Rel]

Hwy 120 going though Yosemite is a wow, of course...But the traffic is thick and Ya know about tickets

Last Saturday 120 was closed for 7 hours just outside Groveland due to a major wreck. Good thing you went another route.

 

[louemc]

Last Saturday 120 was closed for 7 hours just outside Groveland due to a major wreck. Good thing you went another route.

Holy Crap, it must of been hideous... 7 hours...

 

[Ezekiel]

No points, they were both Federal tickets.
Is this where I say "Thanks Obama!"?!?!

1 wasn't a moving violation but was for being inside of the Rim Fire Closure Area, and the other was for speeding in Yosemite. The officer said no points go on the record as long as I pay it, which I will. Seems fair, do a crime, pay for it right away...rather than right away AND for the next 3 years on multiple vehicles.

I ride the passes a few times every summer. I like 4 to 89 to 395 and back over 108 for a day ride. As Lou said 120 is pretty...but a lot of slow traffic. I like all the roads in that area though, good stuff up that way. Shame it's mostly only the cruiser crowd that ventures up, the sportbikers don't know what they're missing!

That accident on 120, it was still in progress when I was on my way home, but the detour wasn't long at all and I barely lost any time because of it...must have been nasty to be closed for 7 hours though.

 

[Rel]

Holy Crap, it must of been hideous... 7 hours...

Four hurt, road damaged, traffic tied up in crash on Highway 120 near Groveland

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/03/17/3244176/four-hurt-road-damaged-traffic.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Rel]

No points, they were both Federal tickets.
Is this where I say "Thanks Obama!"?!?!

A: http://www.cvb.uscourts.gov/faq.html

B: I called DMV and asked, and the employee stated that yes, CA DMV assess a point for every moving violation.

Not stating that Obama is wrong, but I'd double check just to protect you and your insurance rates.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but better to be safe than sorry.