California - The Adventure Republic

Are you starting in Yuma?

Teaser pic from the NEW CABDR route

keeping an eye on the SE gang....this is going to be good.

2018.12.27-29 POST X-MAS COLD CALICO CAMPING AND RIDE

Several days before, we languish where to camp since the President decided to shutdown the National Parks and BLM lands. However, that didn't stop us, we want to ride.....

Also, we knew it’s going to be cold, but we're in a dire need to do one last ride in the desert for 2018, and so we did. The riding was a blast even though there were many sections that reminds me of Mengle Pass mixed with deep sand, steep downhill and uphill climb. It was a challenged and pushed me beyond my comfort level. Thankfully, we have a great team and very strong sweep.
Thanks Matt for connecting the rides we did in 2015 into a loop. I am impressed with your google magic and navigational skill.





Before heading to camp at Owl Canyon I met the guys in Barstow for dinner



Troy and Migilito.....nice shirts...



Chu and Robbie



Matt and I enjoyed sharing this one




After dinner, we headed to camp in the cold dark




Matt and I brought plenty of firewood which kept us warm. It ain't camping if no bs around the camp fire.



more coming....

Next morning was bright and cold..............wearing flipflops...



The BRP again feels at home in the desert. You can also see Migilito's KTM 500 wants to sleep inside the van....




Matt and Alan. Breakfast in camp, bacon and eggs, english muffins, orange juice and hot coffee.

Robbie brought his Italian mistress







Our fearless leader Rider914




















note the image is smaller than in actual








finally for me, the much needed break




the dry desert getting its much needed moisture from northern nevada.....

time to get back in motion















best sweep ever







matt took us to this dead end, it was nice and what a huge drop off! think only jarvis could ride this one down




we turned around and came back the same rocky sections we went in. sorry no pics








































one more of our dedicated sweep

chu enjoying the view or contemplating on the next challenge




going down the steep trail




every time we ride down, we have to go up












haha....even for someone with long legs, finding a rock to rest your foot is great.



wtp! no sunglasses!















what's this car doing here?

man, I missed all the good stuff on Friday!

work keeps getting in the way of my riding...so I only made it out for Saturday.

good temps, good crew (nice to meet Matt and the others), and a fun shake down day for me with new boots/shock re-valve. It was my first desert ride since march...before that it was mostly street/forest fire roads/pismo/snow/mx...so I paced myself to made sure I didn't burn out.



started out covering graded desert service roads (the only time I felt chilly)...some whoops (re-valved shock worked great!)...and a paved hill climb


stopped for a pic, then rode into a sandy/berm canyon - again, rear shock was awesome when the whoops were mid-turn

stopped by wells cabin



I had never been here, but cool spot since its inception in 1931. people have been upgrading and still using it to camp and keep warm. Still cool to continue discovering things I never knew existed in the desert...makes me wonder what else is out there.

Troy and I split off for a leisurely ride back.

tonka town - again, my first time - smaller than it looked in the Polaris TV show





on the way back to the truck, we found this area of soft silt/sand hills


^ find Troy in the pic!

we stayed here for a bit, and it was tons of fun! fast elevation changes, and tight riding! we just did loops, jumps, ridge riding, and hill climbs



then cruised back to the truck for some sandwiches and chill...surprisingly 45-48 degrees felt PERFECT. did not feel cold at all after a few hours of good riding...sore toes from the new boots, broken headlight straps, and I need to move the shift lever up one spline.

I keep looking at these pics wanting to go back out there. Any day we are riding in the desert in good health without a broken bike and good people, we are living a good life. Can't take that for granted.

Excellent way to round out 2018....can't wait for more rides in 2019!

regrouping



matt's favorite spot to ambush riders with his camera




there are always lots of dirt options




rock climbimg here is also good




historic calico at the bottom




we had time to play in the mud hills
















starting to get the impression that troy likes exploring big holes in the hills



coming out of one of them holes

2 thumbs up for the mud hills




awesome jersey in honor of the great malcom




we could not get a spot here to camp



next was a long straight track but very sandy. looks like someone did some digging here....




no name will be mentioned to protect the rider covered in dust

Calicooooo

The hills out there are fun

And I know that photo spot

Well bummer! I’ve been wanting to ride there!

Looks like a good time was had by all.

the hills don't disappoint and there are too many of them.

time to get the cobwebs off the 350!

I've noticed when the going gets tough the XR shows up?

Anyone save some tracks to share?

Awesome pics thanks for sharing guys
Sad I missed out but glad you all braved the cold

I'll get them cleaned up and posted later

-M

Ready for some confusion?

Joel did a great job covering Day 2 (friday) and Bhavesh already got a start on Day 3 (saturday)

I will add to both of those a bit later, but first let's jump back to Day 1 (thursday)

**********

A few of us aimed for an early thursday morning arrival at Owl Canyon, partly to see if the campground 'facilities' were open (and they were ), but also to leave time for a ride

The four horsemen this day were Troy (HBSURFDAD), Mike (migilito), Chuck (cbig), and myself

Blue sky and sunshine as we rolled out of camp, but only about 45F


Bouncing northwest on Fossil Bed road


Right turn at County Rd 20771 and we head towards Opal Mtn


Regrouping... Mike, Troy, and Chuck sneaking in behind the bush


Over the pass and heading down the other side... Troy mentioned we were reversing some parts of LA2B2V


Quick stop at Scouts Cove to check out the 'bunker'... a one room vault carved into a tuffa dome


From inside looking out


Pushing on towards Inscription Canyon, we found this vehicle occupying the road


"Gone to charge battery" but no indication of when.


Interior was packed with 'homeless' type junk. There were also several water jugs (full) behind the vehicle, and clothing articles (some childrens) scattered all around

Very sketchy


Continued...

-M

Next stop... Inscription Canyon


Lots of petroglyphs if you look for them


Big horn sheep and other critters


I've been here (and other nearby sites) many times and always figured they were just natural hunting location.

Chuck told us there was much more to the area than that.

A little googling found this > https://www.army.mil/article/117552...quest_to_preserve_black_mountain_battleground

Interesting

Continued...

-M