southern humboldt rides

I knew that had to be Mendo Chevron (I'm in Comptche right now, coincidentally.) I once neglected to fuel up in Ukiah and didn't realize it until about Low Gap on the Comtche-Ukiah Road and ended up at that gas station. People were looking at me like they'd never seen anyone actually buy gas there. Took the same photo.

Came home from the vet this morning to find some old dirty bastard sitting on my rocker on my front porch waiting to ride

@Bike Guy

So 2x Tenere 700s went out on Snow Camp, Bair, Hundred Acre Prairie and associated roads

Front porch crasher....

Probably only had to buy a gallon though... or maybe half a gallon till you reached Ft Bragg ?

I'm new up there and just assumed every gas station is $6 once you hit the coast...$25 lesson learned.

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I paid 100$ for 4 gallons of regular gas, and was so happy I gave a 20 dollar tip?

I think you just did!

But I love details. Baja?

With a 20% tip it has to be a great story.
The bait has been taken by many

hope there was a happy ending.

Not moto related but Meredith and I finally (after nearly 5 years) went to the Punta Gorda Lighthouse (Petrolia). We took Prosper Ridge to Windy Point BLM 4WD Rd and dropped it down, which meant we had to hike down (and then back up) from the prairie on the bluff to the beach. This as opposed to hiking the LCT south from the mouth of the Mattole River.

Super cool. Unbelievable that it was still in use as late as 1951. No road access so the keepers lived on site and rode a horse to Petrolia for supplies.

Be a fun ad-on to an ADV tour of the Lost Coast. Riding down Windy Point Road is awesome, fairly safe short term motorcycle parking on the prairie (only ever seen one other person there, ever) and then a short hike in and out to the lighthouse.

I didn’t know you had malamutes, right on!
I had a great one for 10 years.....(Tonka)

Long story, but If you guys don’t mind poor grammar and not much punctuation, I’ll give it a go.
The set up:
In November of 2016 I rode to Guatemala. My wife flew in with her riding gear, and we spent a couple of weeks riding around the country.
I put her back on a plane for home just before New Years and I headed north on my 990.
Here is when things started to get interesting and a slight deviation from the story is required.
At that time, fuel prices were set nationally. You pull up to any gas station in the country and the price is the same.
Also all wholesale prices are set by the federal government.
A big price increase was scheduled for January first. This increase was at every step from the oil well to the pump. So two things happened ...every Mexican filled every car, truck, gas can and bucket they could at the lower price.
Which had the effect of draining the fuel station storage tanks.....
Every Wholesale fuel delivery truck and pipe line, filled at the lower price, but wouldn’t deliver until after the price hike took effect after the first of the year.
So back to the back story......
I managed to just find gas at just the last moment over the next couple of weeks as I worked my way north..
Once I got north of Puerto Vallarta things appeared to be back to normal( though I was told P.V. was out of gas completely for over two days)
I always spend my last night on the mainland in Puerto Penazco which is about 200 or so miles from where I leave my truck in El Centro Ca.
But since I don’t speak Spanish, and hadn’t kept up on the news, was that there was ongoing riots/protests/ blockades at the only fuel terminal supplying northern Baja and the northern mainland.
So enough of the setup......
I pull into Penazco In the late afternoon with mostly empty fuel tanks on the 990, and start seeing closed gas stations...
Shit
I forgot to mention my wife was flying into San Diego the next day at around 2 pm and there was an expectation that I would pick her up on time and we would then go to a scheduled business meeting.
I drive down the strip there is one open station with a line 4 blocks long.. that’s a no go
I go to the boat dock and get in a line almost 2 blocks long but the pump runs dry with still 10 cars in front of me
Shit
I check into my motel and start doing some math....
I need 5 gallons of gas plus whatever is in my tank to for sure make it out of the country.
So I figured it was time to go big if I wanted to go home so to speak.
I left my motel and walked to the main tourist part of town, And walked right down the middle of the Plaza.
Of course one of the facilitators that book fishing charters etc came up and asked if I would like to go fishing.
“ no I want to buy 5 gallons of gas”
“Sorry sir there is no gas in town and might not be for days”
So I pulled a hundred dollar bill out of my pocket and repeated my self.
“ you will pay a hundred dollars for 5 gallons of gas?”
“Yes”
“Give me an hour“
“ no I’ll give you 20 minutes and then I’ll go ask the next guy down the street. That’s my motel”
15 minutes later he is back with some friends in a beat up old car that we took the back seat out of to access the fuel tank with a chunk of garden hose.
Much silliness ensued between the kid drinking gas and the car being lower then the gas can we had borrowed
But he will only sell me 4 gallons....
And we can only get about 2 gallons at a time out of the car
So that’s how I spent a hundred dollars for 4 gallons of gas
Then I gave the guy who put the deal together a twenty.
Oh yea....
The next morning I left town just before sunrise and rode to the border at what I thought was the optimum speed for fuel economy ( about 50) in a full tuck to reduce wind drag.
I never passed an open station, and my low fuel light came on 20 miles before I crossed the border.
But I made it to the airport on time....
Like I tell folks.....
“ it’s Mexico, what could possibly go wrong”

Congrats on the most words you've ever uttered at once!!!!!!

Edit, also that is a baller story and you need to contribute more!!!!

The one on the left is a female malamute. The one on the right is a male husky. Good / awful dogs.... quite lovable though.

@stormdog
Was hoping you would post the story

I met the dogs last Monday before our ride. Cool dogs

"So I pulled a hundred dollar bill out of my pocket and repeated my self.
“ you will pay a hundred dollars for 5 gallons of gas?”
“Yes”
“Give me an hour“
“ no I’ll give you 20 minutes and then I’ll go ask the next guy down the street.

Love the negation skills.
I also met Meef's dogs. They wouldn't let me get a word in. Kept pulling a Trump and interrupting.

Yeah, TZ indicated there was a way to drive mosta the way to PG Lighthouse. Thanks for the more specific instructions. If I visit with my gal, we'll use that as she's not much of a hiker. I've done the hike from the Mattole River mouth a couple times, timed for early in the morning at the summer minus tide (close to 4 July most years) to spend a few hours tidepooling while hiking to the lighthouse and saying hey to the Sea Elephants when I got there. Pix from a couple years ago. Last pic is the only time I've ever captured a fogbow on camera.

Well to be fair the hike from Mattole is probably easier though longer. The hill from the bluff to the ocean off Windy Point Rd is pretty steep.

Beach hike is not easy, the comeback hike is usually going into the screaming wind out of the NW.
Sand gives way under your feet, and the slope of the beach wrecks your knees ! Done it twice.
There used to be the start of a paved road out of the Mattole end of the beach.
Pavement has long since disappeared.

------ excerpt from 'Lighthouse Friends'
------ nice article: https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=63

The government finally built a road from the Mattole River along the foot of the bluffs to Windy Point in 1935 and another section from Windy Point to the lighthouse. With a jeep and a tractor, life at the station seemed much easier, but then the winter storms arrived. After heavy rains, water would stream down the canyons, severing the road in several places, and powerful, storm-driven surf would deposit large logs and other debris on the roadway. It was a good thing Old Bill was still on hand for an occasional supply trek to civilization.

(Sighs) I know because my dad drove a Mercury down to the end of the road, and got stuck... long ago.

Punta Gorda is the northen-most extent of a 'Kelp Forest'.

Sheriffs burned the old Coast Guard houses down in the late 60's. (? on date)
Hippies were living in them. They also burned down the old Bear Harbor Railroad houses at Bear Harbor. (Sinkyone Park now).