Slug Ride 11-05 (Mud, Sweat and Gears)

[Zen Slug]

The plan was a weekend of dirt riding and camping

in the Mt. Pinos Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest.

This is one of my favorite places to ride in southern California

It’s only 60 miles north of Los Angeles…

...but feels like a whole ‘nother world!

[Zen Slug]

Here is the group that rode with us last weekend:



Rider914



sdmdm8



alcesito



Dils



DannyG



Yo-Ram



Torrey45



ojaichris



zenslug

[Zen Slug]

We met at 8:30am at the ‘Flying J’ in Frazier Park



I think the breakfast buffet was left over from the previous weekend



Toyanvil & Mrs. T stopped by for the company (couldn't have been the food)



Once everybody was 'satisfied' it was time to find some dirt



We stopped to air down the tires, of course



And then rode along 7N03 towards Thorn Meadows Camp



Recent rains had filled the water crossings



Dils made a wrong turn towards a mud-hole and his 1150 took a nap in some sand



Then he gave it a bath



The road out to camp is pretty fun



It's hard to keep Rider914 in focus



The campers unloaded our gear at Thorn Meadows
]

[Zen Slug]

With our camp secured we headed off to hit some trails!



Dils found some slick mud near Yellowjacket CanyonTrail



And took a soil sample for his friends in San Diego



Now he’s got serious street cred



Next we headed back out to Lockwood Valley Rd.



And slabbed it northeast about 6 miles

[Zen Slug]

Then we turned south on Lockwood Creek Rd.



And up West Frazier Mine Rd. (8N42)



It sure was pretty up there!



But don't take your eyes off the road



There were some pretty deep ruts in places



Not sure what happened here



Looks like Yo-Ram was helping turn somebody's napping pig around

[Zen Slug]

W. Frazier Mine Rd. ducked in and out of the woods



And gained some decent altitude, too



By this time Dils had found his groove



And everybody was doing really well!



Of courserider914 showed us how it was done



AndYo-Ram was an inspiration to the GS crew



Did I mention this trail was FUN?



We all got good practice picking a line



And following one, too



But after a 6 mile roller coaster ride, the road came to an end

[Zen Slug]

Next we shot past Chuchupate on 8N04



Towards Frazier Mtn. Lookout



There's some cellphone towers at the top



So the reception is pretty good



It's a nice place to rest



And take in the view



We did some minor surgery on Dils' leaky banjo nut



And bid our day-tripping friends good bye

[Zen Slug]

Then the overnighters stopped at Mike's Pizza



For some fine grub



Before riding out to camp by the light of the full moon







...to be continued

[Yellow Pig]

Looks like my kind of ride! Keep it comming..

[MotoMike]

Thanks for the invite Zen, wish I could have made it. Looks like a great ride!

[DSM8]

Thanks to ZenSlug for putting this all together and orchestrating a great outing. I did not take my 1150GSA but after seeing what those folks were able to do with theirs will definitely be bringing it out next time.



Great ride report.

[Beez]

Great report! You're making me homesick.

Now get on with it.

[ojaichris]

And now for a smiley synopsis of the evening:

[sandiegoland]

[waltert]

Oh man did I miss a winner of a trip. Next time.

Great writeup and pics.