So this weekend we went on a camping trip. We left friday night and came back sunday. We also picked up another person who is interested in doing half the Alaska ride with us and we took him (david) camping with us. He bought a KLR just to go on the ride. He rode to my house and we left. His is the green one. We rode from Orange County down to San Diego County and out towards Anzo-Borrego. We are lunch in Borrego Springs, bought some beer and went to Ocotillo Wells in Anzo-Borrego. We went to the Ranger station and got some advice. This is the first time in dirt for both Natalie and David(friend of ours). So we left the Ranger station to look for a good camping spot to unload our gear and go for a small ride. Well the first dirt trail we went down has very, very deep sand. I was struggling so I figured they were both struggling. David did surprisingly well and Natalie was having some issues. She fell once pretty hard. I went to go help her pick the bike up and she was stuck under the bike. (no pics). She kinked her neck a bit so I rode her bike to the closest camp site and she walked there. I walked back to ride my bike back. So I am now thinking "this trip is going to suck". We unloaded the bikes and set up our tents to put out luggage in. I decided to go look for trails right after unloading. I managed about 5 minutes of some serious sand action on hills and managed to drop my bike. My shift lever got super bent out of shape and scratched the heck out of my engine case. I luckily brought a spare and managed to change it out. We then went on another ride to find some dirt, not sand, trails. After some time we find some decent trails but Natalie isn't having any fun. We decide to call it a night and go get some camp wood and eat dinner. This was our first time using our Dragonfly Stove and pot. We bought some beef kabobs and they turned out great. Beans were good also. Originally this was only going to be an overnight trip, but we decided to stay an extra night to get a full day of riding in. DAY 2 In the morning we cooked up some bacon! We decided our plan for the day was to go check out the Salton Sea and do whatever from there. We head out on the freeway and hit the first dirt road to the sea. This is the closest we could get and be able to use the kickstand. There werent any rocks around. Dead fish do not make good kickstand anti-sinkers. On that note, it stunk here, I am guesting from the thousands of dead fish. Our plan of action was to try to ride up to the Salton City along the Salton Sea. This lastest for about a mile until we hit way to much mud and sand. Natalie said she was having fun! Up to this point she only dropped her bike once when she go stuck explorer some wooden ruins. She tried to turn around but picked a bad location to turn around at. I rode back and helped her pick up the bike. I tried to do the same turn around and it wasn't possible for me either. I ended up taking an easier way. I am glad she is enjoying it. After some serious mud action, and sliding around. Natalie did a 360 and kept the bike up. We decided to head back to the highway to take up the Salton City. So we hit some dirt roads trying to find a way to the highway. It took us about an hour to finally get back. We hit: steep sandy hills, sandy whoops, sand turns, and some fun and exciting things. Natalie managed to complete all the hard tasks and only seems to drop it on the easy stuff?/???????? I am super impressed that she was able to do all of it on the giant bike. All of the tip overs were almost at a stop and could have been prevented with a smaller bike. After the Alaska trip we will be getting her a smaller dual sport. We head up to Salton City and eat at a greek or italian place. It felt like is was 3 pm, but it ended up only being noon. We picked up some steaks and headed back to camp. David and I went on a small dirt(sandy) ride around camp and an hour later came back exhausted with camp wood and some beans for dinner. We relax with some Bud (it actually tasted decent when you are dead tired, I am more of a IPA kind of guy). We grill up some steaks and beans! It tasted wonderful. We ate with our hands. Sleep came easy that night. In the morning we packed up and headed to Julian. Had brunch and went home. This trip was done as a tester for Alaska. See my trip planning. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=810964
Fun ride choice ParaMud. An extra night of camping always is great. That sticky mud looks like the Black Rock Playa sandpaper muck. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for posting this report. As strange as the Salton Sea seems to be portrayed it has always intrigued me.. Great report!
I've ridden all over that area, but never camped there. I stayed on the asphalt too because I was no good at sand at the time. Ocotillo would have been fun to explore but I wasn't willing to truck my ATV out there. Looks like you had a real nice camping spot! And the best way to make for great camping is good food!! I bet those steaks were fantastic. Rob
Great report! Personally I hate sand but sometimes it is unavoidable... Good luck on the Alaska ride!
Nice report Mud. Especially like the two toned pink KLR! Totally jealous of your ability to camp right now. I've been freezin my ass off up here dreaming of camping.
