2012 West Coast Discovery

[STBNE]

Hi Frank...once again a truly epic adventure and RR...the way everyone has their own GPS and can ride untethered to a group only intensifies the wilderness experience...As one great author...Edward Abbey used to say. Freedom and wilderness are synonymous...and you cant have true freedom without wilderness...

[DockingPilot]

We start to notice the road carving through canyonlands.




We also see our first Pacific Ocean influences out in the distance. Sea fog.


I zoom out to confirm my suspicions




From a rocky, craggy, shadeless terrain, I briefly descend into a small pocket of shade with tall and low vegetation punctuated with a running stream. A small slice of heaven.
So I shut the bike off and stay for 15 minutes or so. Knowing I was in the tail position, I would have total solitude.


I mean the water was crystal clear. Just incredible!




And black berries galore!




After the break, I'm quickly back up in elevation


You could clearly see where you would be, but the legs of these serpentines were very long ! Which is great, unless you really need to be somewhere else


The camera doesn't depict it very well, but I'm looking at the GPS and can then look up and across the canyon and see that I'll eventually be way out there on that road. You start to think to yourself "holy fok, what a place to dump a body"


Don't get hurt or break down out here fellas. It's a long way out !






Johns eye




It had been a few hours now since I had seen my brothers in adventure. I had complete faith in the DR to deliver me.


The road surface starts to get smoother and the road itself wider.




Wooded and fast again


Well, late afternoon we pop out onto the paved road and follow it to the Patrick Creek Lodge. Tony said it was a must, and dam if he wasn't right. The lodge is loaded with history.


And we check in.


That girl you see in the 1st lodge photo was interesting. She was from France, touring northern California. Alone. She had that bike, but that was it. No warm clothes, no tent, no money
She was just hanging out there, but not staying there. In fact when we asked, she had no idea where she would stay tonight. And it was getting cold and damp from the Pacific that was miles away but you could definitely feel the ocean influence here.
A women from the lodge called a native American girl she knew who came and took her home for the night thankfully. Poor thing, was she nuts ? As far s we could tell, we were near nothing but wilderness !


Lets take a walk around inside the lodge:




We were digging this place a lot.


Bruce and the native American Indian girl outside talking to the French girl, each trying to convince her they had the better digs for the night






Mike'ee taking it easy in a rocker


We enjoy a cold beer in the very cool lounge before dinner




Read this !




An excellent meal and good times as we rehash the day.


We get a great nights sleep that night. Quiet as a mouse.







NEXT UP:

We penetrate further into California, ride through the giant redwoods, see the Pacific for the 1st time and I meet this oldtimer out living in the woods.

[DockingPilot]

Originally Posted by STBNE

Hi Frank...once again a truly epic adventure and RR...the way everyone has their own GPS and can ride untethered to a group only intensifies the wilderness experience...As one great author...Edward Abbey used to say. Freedom and wilderness are synonymous...and you cant have true freedom without wilderness...

Thanks Benny ! Appreciate that. It's a lot of work! You don't realize how huge these trips are until you start to chronicle it. And of course once you breath life into it, you can't stop ! It's a monster that must be fed at least once a day!

[byways]

Could you tell what happened to the forest along Wimer Road? My heck ... looks like the place has been nuked.

You're rolling through "Don't ask. Don't tell" country now, and for some distance yet to come in your report. Since you survived, I take it you didn't ask, and aren't about to "tell."

I wonder what made that soup so good early on ... some secret local herb, perhaps?

You met two young women wandering alone, without resources, in a region where I was a crime reporter for a few years. Troubles me how people end up like that, in a place like that.

[DockingPilot]

Originally Posted by byways

Could you tell what happened to the forest along Wimer Road? My heck ... looks like the place has been nuked.

"Nuked",
I don't know, that's a good question. Maybe Larryboy knows ? Surreal though.

You're rolling through "Don't ask. Don't tell" country now, and for some distance yet to come in your report. Since you survived, I take it you didn't ask, and aren't about to "tell."

Yea, we got that feeling. A tacit agreement umongst locals

I wonder what made that soup so good early on ... some secret local herb, perhaps?



You met two young women wandering alone, without resources, in a region where I was a crime reporter for a few years. Troubles me how people end up like that, in a place like that.

Free spirit !

[byways]

I'm glad you liked Pat Creek Lodge. I thought it would be a welcomed surprise after a day on Wimer Road. It was for me when I first visited in the early 90s.

How were the sleeping quarters?

[bomose]

Was the waitress at Happy Camp Manti Teo's girlfriend? I don't see her in the pic.

[DockingPilot]

Originally Posted by bomose

Was the waitress at Happy Camp Manti Teo's girlfriend? I don't see her in the pic.

Good eye
Here she is !

[DockingPilot]

Originally Posted by byways

I'm glad you liked Pat Creek Lodge. I thought it would be a welcomed surprise after a day on Wimer Road. It was for me when I first visited in the early 90s.

How were the sleeping quarters?

Perfect T.

[bemiiten]

Originally Posted by byways

Could you tell what happened to the forest along Wimer Road? My heck ... looks like the place has been nuked.

Tony, The picks must capture it because that was how it felt. Something about the terrain screamed brutal, the bed of rocks that composed much of the road did nothing to discourage that impression!

Not sure why, but I was expecting a casual, see the sights, Hugel type afternoon ride. I remember saying to Frank, 'Must have been a long time since Tony's been down this one! Seriously , wasn't that bad , but was slow going and seemed to go on forever.

[byways]

Just tryin' to keep the surprises coming!

[byways]

"Long live the Haight!"

[Spinalcracker]

Great ride Frank !!

I wonder if the UN involvement has anything to do with Agenda 21 ?

[bemiiten]

As I rounded corners on the West facing ridges, I started noticing a huge set of switchbacks off in the distance. The pic's don't do them justice. At one point, Low Divide Road dips down to cross the North Fork Smith River and that's where the climb starts, eventually leading us over Gasquet Mountain.

Horace Gasquet was a French immigrant who was responsible for the Gasquet Toll Rd, A Corduroy Rd, witch is a road made of timbers. Built by Chinese workers in the late 1800's ,it provided a link between Del Norte County and Oregon.

[byways]

Wildland riding all day, hot tubs, pools, and dining with china and white napkins at night ... and oh yeah, a night beneath the stars now and then. What could be better?