"Mendo NF, 5/11 - 5/14: Mt Hull, Bald Mtn, Deer Valley

[SFMCjohn]

Hey BARF ARers,

I know most of you are heading up to the Sheet Iron today,
so here's a couple of pics
of what parts looked like on Wednesday up on Mendo Pass
and up by M1/Hull Mountain/M61 ...

I was up there Monday through Thursday, and lets just
say that the weather was ... variable ...

Heading south on M1 towards Mt Hull after being turned around on Mendo Pass by 4"
of snow that fell in an hour in a thunderstorm ...

Snow up on FH7 (Mendo Pass) from M1 ...

Looking back north on M1 near M61 ...

And a couple of pics of the intersection of M1 and M61 ...
I was trying to take M61 to M3 to avoid 6000' Mt Hull
to get back to hang out with some of the early Funduro
guys in Deer Valley up by Lake Pillsbury ...

Anyway, thought you all may enjoy the pics ...
this was my consolation
ride since I'm working weekends these days
(first SI I've missed in years ... )

So, after freezing a few times on the SI, I always try to pack some warm
clothes ...
this week I was packed for camping, of course, so when things got tough up by
Anthony Peak I could just turn around ...
Not so easy to do when your stuff is in Ft. Bragg ...

The snow should be gone by this weekend,
and I don't think the SI has gone over Mendo Pass for a long time, so you all should be good ... arty

Have fun at the SI and/or the Funduro this weekend!
-- SFMCjohn

 

[TwoWheelsRule]

HOLY SHIT! I was up there just this past weekend. Am i glad we missed that, we were not prepared for snow!

 

[HadesOmega]

Wow cool.

Haha that sign Yuki Wilderness. Couldn't be farther from the truth, yuki means snow in japanese.

 

[SFMCjohn]

HOLY SHIT! I was up there just this past weekend. Am i glad we missed that, we were not prepared for snow!

Hey TWR,

We had a parasol, a collapsible umbrella I cary mostly to use for
shade in the desert, but we put it to good use waiting, uselessly, for the
stom to move along ...

On a couple of moto-trips to Alaska I learned a hard lesson about
keeping dry if at all possible ... but when the rain turned to snow
on Wednesday it was time to move ... Needless to say, we got wet, but only a
half hour down the road we had ridden out of the storm ... By
the time we got to Deer Valley it was a beautiful day ...

Wow cool.

Haha that sign Yuki Wilderness. Couldn't be farther from the truth, yuki means snow in japanese.

Interesting ... I wonder if it was some play on the Snow Mountain Wilderness
nearby?

 

[SFMCjohn]

Monday afternoon was also beautiful, and we got to the top of
Hull Mountain a few hours after leaving San Francisco at 2pm
and lane-splitting past a couple of accidents on 101 ...

Our campsite on Mt Hull ...

Clouds rolling in ...

Lake Pillsbury ...

Sunset from 6000' ...

The puppy approves ...

Obligatory campfire pic ...

Sunrise he next morning ...

 

[SFMCjohn]

On Tuesday it was on to Bald Mountain by the intersection
of M1 and M61 ... maybe not the best plan with the puppy,
as I had a feet off the pegs moment getting to the top ...

It isn't particularly hard to get up there, just a couple of sharp,
rutted turns that are tough for me on a loaded KLR ...

You can see Mt. Hull, the Snow Mountain Wilderness (in the clouds), Mt. St. John and
Sheetiron Mountain in the distance ... so I guess
this is a view more or less to the east ...

My campsite and campfire ...
Leo taught me the trick to take my campfire pic during the daylight ...
That's Covelo in the distance, to the west, maybe ...

A bit of the road over Bald Mountain ...

And a pic looking south on the M1 back at Mt. Hull and
Lake Pillsbury ...

Some flower pics ... bluebells in the snow on Wednesday ...

... happiness is a warm puppy ...

 

[TwoWheelsRule]

Great pics John! This is making me want to get back there over memorial day weekend!

 

[SFMCjohn]

Great pics John! This is making me want to
get back there over memorial day weekend!

Hey TWR,

Thanks for the kind words about the pics ...
I was horrified when my brand-new wife called AT&T and ordered us smart-phones,
replacing my 8-year-old flip phone, but now I love my I-Phone ...

Here's a rough map of the area I was in:

I camped out on top of Hull Mountain, and camped the next night on Bald Mountain,
which is kind of between Four Pines and Hays Place on this map ...
Forest Hyw 7 is the white line that heads east from Covelo and is
also known as Mendocino Pass or Hwy 168 ...
M1 is the dotted blue line over Hull Mtn to Covelo ...
I was trying to get to Anthony Peak when we got caught in the
snow/lightning/thunderstorm ...
I decided to turn around and head back on M1 to M61 that cuts
between M1 and M6 (M61 isn't really shown on this map) ...
M6 leads you back to Lake Pillsbury
along the Eel River ...

I did get to see the rear end of absolutely enormous black bear up
on the M1 ... I've seen several over the years up in the Mendo NF,
usually on M6, but this one on M1 must have been a big male ...

 

[budman]

Sweet John.

Very cool to take the pooch too.

Looks like an awesome experience... another for you.

 

[boney]

Adventure Dog! How was the traction in the snow? I've found that riding in a few inches of fresh wet snow is sometimes the best conditions around.

 

[RightCoastBias]

Awesome stuff, John!

How do you carry the pup?

 

[SFMCjohn]

Sweet John.

Very cool to take the pooch too.

Looks like an awesome experience... another for you.

Hey budman,

God bless BARF and California! arty

see you in a Bruce Springsteen song,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Adventure Dog! How was the traction in the snow? I've found that riding in a few inches of fresh wet snow is sometimes the best conditions around.

Hi boney,

Yes, it was exactly that, the snow mainly made for pretty
riding ... lots of traction, and the snow level must have been
at around 5000' so it disappeared quickly ... found one of those
ten-cent grocery bags they sell these days in my
saddle-bags to keep
Adventure Dog warm ...

see you around the campfire,
--SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Awesome stuff, John!

How do you carry the pup?

I just use a backpack, like Cary is doing here:

But she also has been experimenting with tank bags:

Guess Schnitzel weighs 10 lbs ... pretty small, but was surprised
the first time how heavy 10 lbs feels like hung around
one's neck for the first time ...

 

[SFMCjohn]

So, we finished up the ride on Thursday morning,
taking in the sunrise from the High Glenn watch tower
after hanging out with early Funduro guys on
Wednesday night in the Deer Valley BLM campground ...

Rain in our future ...

Clear Lake ...

I had a cool moment with maybe a fifteen-year-old youngster
who ripped up to the watch tower just as my jet-boil
was getting my coffee and Schnitzel's breakfast ready ...

"Just out for a ride before school!"

We chatted for a minute about the four-stroke racebike he was on,
how much he spent recently to rebuild his two-stroke ($85), how
cheap that was compared to rebuilding the recent crop of four-stroke
motor cross engines, and how
he'd like a bigger tank for the four stroke for more range (stock was 24 miles) ...

Super-friendly kid, he was soon ripping back down
Plaskett Ridge so he wouldn't be late for home-room,
I guess ...

Left me shaking my head, sorry I didn't think to snap a pic
of him and glad I avoided being passed like I was standing still
on his way up ...

see you around the corner,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[Saltwater]

Great pics John. I bet the dog is having a blast in the front seat. Me and the family are heading up to Lake Pillsbury early on Friday to camp for a few days, I can't wait. It's. Beautiful area up there.