Carrizo Plain!

I got an Africa Twin a few weeks ago after my GSA was totalled and was looking for an opportunity to put it through its paces in the dirt and with my wife out of town for the weekend and my mom willing to watch the kiddo, the planets aligned for a trip down to Carrizo Plain.

I met up with my buddy Monte, who's been my partner in crime on my ADV getaways of late, in San Juan Bautista after work on Friday and we beat feet south, aiming for the Clear Creek area before darkness set in. We took a detour off Hwy 25 to ride Old Hernandez Road, which was new to me.

We were treated to a killer sky as the sun started going down and with everything green right now, it was a beautiful ride!




That's Monte on his GSA. I showed up with a Rotopax tank strapped to my rear rack and he was giving me a hard time about it since I switched over to the Twin and don't have the range I used to have with the GSA. It was all in good fun though.


It was dark when we pulled into the Condon Peak campground. We set up camp, smoked cigars, and worked on solving the world's problems before turning in...

sweet AT and pics!

Old Hernandez is fun ...

After a chilly night, we were greeted with a spectacular sunrise!




After breakfast and breaking camp, we decided to check out the dirt road headed up the hill from the campground with the sign that says "4x4 Recommended." We were treated to some pretty stunning views of the Diablo Range!



We explored up that road a ways then decided to turn back because we wanted to take a roundabout way into Carrizo Plain via Parkfield Grade...


...and lunch at the Parkfield Cafe. It was a beautiful afternoon, mid-70s. Perfect for a burger and a beer under the oak grove out front.


After lunch, we headed for Taft via Hwy 58 and Hwy 33, stopping in town for firewood, beer, and sandwiches for dinner before continuing into Carrizo Plain via Elkhorn Grade.


It was dusk when we pulled into the Selby Campground...there was a group of overlanders from Ventura/LA area who had taken up the entire campground, but they were really cool and allowed us to set up in some unused space. One of them, a Canadian transplant named Duane (who also rides a Yamaha Super Tenere), introduced himself and offered us some beef stew he had cooked in camp earlier. Hell yeah! I love these random acts of kindness one can witness while on the road. After dinner, we joined the overland crowd at their bonfire before calling it a night.

Sunday morning kicked off with another beautiful sunrise...


And because we were going to be staying two nights here, I could strip all this luggage off the bike to go exploring today!


We had a leisurely morning chatting with our neighbors and having a second round of coffee before hitting the trails...



This place is AWESOME! I have a hard time thinking of a better place to build up confidence on the dirt with an unfamiliar bike. This Africa Twin is downright PLAYFUL in the dirt, which wasn't my experience on the hefty GSA. Long stretches of gravel roads helped me get comfortable with the bike getting loose. The relative lack of obstacles and wide open, flat areas gave me the confidence to work on throttle steering and breaking the rear end loose and the bike just wanted to GO!



We stopped for lunch on a ridge top in the Elkhorn hills and feasted on the sandwiches that were supposed to be our dinner the night before, girl scout cookies purchased in Parkfield, and we split an IPA that was still pretty cold! Another day of mid-70s, perfect riding weather. Life is good!


We spent the rest of the day tearing around up and down the valley and exploring the hills.


Our plan was to head into Taft for an early dinner of Mexican food and to replenish firewood and gas. I met my match climbing a steep hill when the bike stalled in loose dirt and decided it was time for a nap. Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to document this. Discretion took over and we decided to turn back and head to Taft via Hurricane Ridge. We got back to camp around dusk, bellies full of Mexican food, and built a fire, which we shared with our camp neighbors...


After awhile, the wind really picked up and the temperature plummeted so we called it a night...

Great Pics! I had to look up this place, is on my "to do" list now!!!

Awesome!

Nice to know you can have a fire at the campgrounds.

No flowers yet though eh?

Nope, no flowers.

nice

Nice pics and write up Looks like a fun time.

I need to get out that way before it gets too hot.

Sweet write up and pics. Thanks for sharing your ride.

Glad you enjoyed the new bike

Continuing...

Monday morning was cold and windy...we broke camp, loaded up the bikes, and set out at around 9am. The temperature readout on my bike showed 49 Degrees. Did I mention the Africa Twin has heated grips with five power settings?



We meandered our way generally northwest via Hwy 58 with a small detour on the road to Pozo (Forest Rte 29S15), decided we wanted to skip the 30 miles of dirt into Santa Margarita for another trip, and took Fernandez Rd back to 58, then Shell Creek Rd up to Hwy 46. Shell Creek is a fun stretch of shitty pavement, perfect for long-travel ADV bikes! From Hwy 46, we took Estrella Rd. into San Miguel, where we stopped for gas, a warm-up, and breakfast at Leo's Cafe. After two hours of riding at a windy 50 degrees, eggs, bacon, and biscuits n' gravy were the order of the day!

After breakfast, we continued north via Indian Valley Rd, which becomes Peach Tree Rd...which connects to the 198/Hwy 25 junction.




Lots of neat geology going on here...



This area was new to me and was the highlight of the ride home. I'll DEFINITELY be riding these roads again!

...and one last detour back to Old Hernandez Rd. before slabbing home on Hwy 101, where I got some gratuitous hero shots...




And one last shot to show the vastness of Carrizo Plain.


This was my first time visiting Carrizo Plain, but it won't be my last. I can highly recommend it as a winter/early spring destination, chock full of fun roads. There's a lot of biodiversity here too, if you look closely.

Good times had!

budman said:

Good times had!

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Absolutely! This whole motorcycle thing as pretty dadgummed cool

Still waiting to see you get your Multistrada dirty!

That last set of pics is freakin awesome!

Great write up! I'm planning on doing this next weekend and will probably do many of the same roads. I've been there during a couple super blooms and it was absolutely gorgeous. One super bloom year was a dual sport on 500's that started in Pozo and ended up at Ballinger Canyon. Unreal to ride through that Technicolor landscape.

I got lucky on my way home from the CABDR a while back the flowers started blooming

Wow, that's cool! I'll have to catch the bloom one of these days.

HadesOmega said:

I got lucky on my way home from the CABDR a while back the flowers started blooming

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That's a beautiful picture

HadesOmega said:

I got lucky on my way home from the CABDR a while back the flowers started blooming

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Sweet pic! I hope I get some of that next weekend!