California - The Adventure Republic

Had a epic slip and slide crash in the green snot right below Davy Brown on a hot day years ago. Very refreshing for a second or two until the burning sensation began. Healthy respect for getting thru the water crossing.

Right? That stuff is hell! I really hope some scientist somewhere is researching low-friction commercial applications for it because wow! I feel more secure riding on ice over that stuff. Slipperiest anything I've ever come across anywhere.

@bigtodd is that McDonald's Pond? If so did someone put a flag up? I don't recall a flag there before?

@Desertskyy is that up around McIlver's and Nadeau Magnolia Mine up around Indian Wells? Any way you could share or DM your tracks?

BrockEvan

It is around Indian Wells Canyon rd

I had a little get off in a sand wash and I did not realize that my GPS was off for about 20 miles

We staged at the Lake Isabella 178 turn off about a few hundred yards from the 14 fwy and ran every canyon and road as we were heading north following the pipe line. We crossed 9 mile rd and were even riding on the bedding of an old railroad track. After about 70 plus miles of exploring we took the power line road that was some what next to or in view of the 395 back to the 178 to where our truck was. 96 miles for the day.

Looking at a map will give you a perspective of the area. Pretty easy to understand especially since the 14/395 is present as a land mark of reference

Some of the canyons we explored
Indian Wells Cyn rd
Short Cyn rd
Grapevine Cyn rd
Sand Cyn rd
and some no name rds including a lot of switch backs as we climbed in elevation as that was where the road was going. Where the road/trail went we went.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any additional info

My riding partner Docmark has full GPS tracks

@Desertskyy awesome much thanks for the details. Maybe @Docmark can post those tracks!

I've been lurking on this thread for a while but don't think I've ever actually posted here. Most of my rides I post in the 'Southern Humboldt Rides' thread (which is more 'The whole north coast' thread, really).

I just took my new 890 ADV R on a 2 day / 950 mi camping trip around northern California and I thought I'd share a ride report!

I live in Eureka. I suddenly have my weekends off (never have before in 24 years) and I decided to do a little break in trip on the 890. I figured on a long loop of norCal, sticking mainly to state maintained pavement only because a lot of forest roads are still snowed in at elevation. That wouldn't keep me from trying a few, but I had dismal results in almost every single case.

A couple guys I just met, Ben (T7) and Josh (XT250), were going to ride locally on Saturday morning, so we met up and did a few miles and had breakfast together before they turned back and I continued on by myself.

Upper Bear River Ridge Rd, Ferndale (NOAA satellite on the ridge in the background)







Bear River Ridge Rd, Rio Dell





We parted ways shortly after this. I continued over Hwy 36 east. There were some big fires through here fairly recently and the road had been shut down for a while. It's totally open now, but the devastation was evident all over.

Near Forest Glen (you can just barely see the bike in the middle there)



There's a lot of neat vistas of the Trinity Alps and Mount Shasta along 36. This is a cool little spot at the top of Three Towers Rd (really just a short power line hill climb, though it has a name according to mapping).

Oh, this is a good time to explain my gear. I travel fast and light. When I camp, it's more "sleep" than "camp", so I don't really have much with me. Yellow duffel has a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tool kit. Tank bag has personal use stuff and water. That's it. I don't have cookware, food, a ukulele, etc. I never know where I'm going to camp, I just find a place. For food, I usually eat one meal a day in a restaurant (breakfast, usually, to help me warm up and compose my plan for the day), then I normally skip lunch, and get a Subway sandwich for dinner which I take with me and eat after I have set up my campsite.



East of Red Bluff on Hwy 36 there is lava rock scattered everywhere



Still a lot of snow at over 5,000 feet; this along Hwy 36 near Lassen Park



Lots of pretty areas along 36; Mill Creek near Highland Meadows



I have never been on Hwy 32 before (drops from 36 to Chico) but I have had it on my list for a minute. I rode 32 south; tons of fun. No pics, though. I then rode through Paradise to see how reconstruction was going. Sad place. Lot of rebuilding going on but also a lot of vacant lots, scrap heaps, lots of campers with people living out of them... it was pretty depressing, really. I didn't take any pics out of respect.

From there, I got on Hwy 70 east. 70 is an awesome road - it runs along the Feather River and shares the canyon with the Union Pacific rail line and PG & E power stations. There's tons of trains, tunnels, dams, bridges on top of bridges... plus it's a damn sporty road. It's a nerdy motorcyclists' delight! *

*I am a nerdy motorcyclist









It was getting on dusk now so I stopped in Quincy and got my Subway takeout and a tall boy of beer. I rode on, towards Frenchman Lake, with intent to camp there. However, all the campgrounds were still gated shut and closed for the season. Never letting something like a gate hinder me, I set up camp above the lake, ate my sandwich, and drank my beer. It was 41 degrees when I went to bed (pic taken the following morning).



It got a little colder overnight!



No one has ever heard of Hwy 284... it really isn't even on maps (shows on mine as a county road, no number). However, it runs north off Hwy 70 in Chilcoot, and sluices through a fantastic dark canyon on its way to Frenchman Lake (where the state designation ends and it becomes a NF route, then turns to dirt).



I rode into Susanville, got breakfast and thawed out, and then tried to work my way around Eagle Lake on dirt. All roads snowed shut. I backtracked to Hwy 139 and rode that north around the east side of Eagle Lake.



More backtracking ensued as I kept trying to find some dirt that wasn't snowed shut...





I was successful at finding a few Lassen County roads that were open



This area is all in the shadow of Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, and one or the other is always in sight. Shasta:



Lassen from a vista along Hwy 299 near McArthur



Shasta looming over Hwy 89 near McCloud



They never let you forget the politics in Jefferson / rural norCal... I got a chuckle out of this particular sign



I was stymied by snow one last time, on Ramshorn Rd (between Castle Crags State Park and Hwy 3); it was closed 7 miles up. I did get this, my last pic of the trip, the back side of Castle Crags:



From there I rode on home. KTM was flawless and the trip was a good deal of fun. Side note, the gas mileage is stellar on this thing. I was seeing an easy 250 miles on a tank if I kept the speeds quasi-legal. On the final leg, I gassed up in Castella, then hammered it south on I-5 for 45 miles at 90+ mph consistently, then got on Hwy 299 and hammered it home at 70+ mph the entire way (299 ain't no fun at 55!). This is 210 miles... I made it on one tank and still have 25 miles of range showing. I love not having to worry about fuel on ADV rides and especially at higher speeds. Any ADV bike can return 45 mpg if you ride at 30 mph in 6th gear all day but who does that?

Did I read this right? 950 miles in two days? Those are big days taking pics and looking for dirt roads. Jefferson is indeed an odd place and beautiful place though.

Bridges on top of bridges. Truly. And well done.

Thanks for sharing.. beautiful sceneries.

Yes, big miles kind of my thing!

Great report. And humbling for me since I thought my Saturday ride out to Ruth store was adventurous.

@MeefZah SubWay Sandwiches every night, sleeping on picnic tables* and breakfast in a hayseed diner is exactly how this Veeblefetzer got from Maine to California back in 1994; and that was 28 days on a Laverda triple. Really tied the whole trip together. I didn't eat SubWay for another 5 years after that; I kept up my love affair with chicken fried steak and biscuits & gravy, though.

*I never thought to sleep under them, for some reason. Bugs, I think.

That's awesome. Back home (Ohio) I generally slept under church pavilions on top of their tables... or in village parks in the gazebo...or in baseball field dugouts... once under a semi trailer ...

I just don't feel comfortable doing that here. A different kind of people here, maybe.

I rode westbound on the feather river canyon hwy 70 on Saturday, probably before you though, i think i was in Oroville just after noon.@meefzah

Yeah I was around 4:00pm - ? on 70.

Great pics..Thanks for sharing. Glad the beast gets good fuel range.

meef....thanks for sharing many of the good riding and awesome landscapes up north of the adventure republic.

i rode through there last year but didn't really spend a lot of time since my front forks were leaking badly. just want to get home and get them fixed before the fluid gets to my brake pads. still planning to go back and ride more. also, congrats on the bike!

the 2021 DV nOObs rally happened this year and it was a success .............except for several peeps going home with broken bones...nothing a good surgeon cannot fix!

people were tired of getting stuck at home due to covid, and it was a good escape to get out of the city and enjoy the desert air.

RR with tons of pics here

teaser pics