Cal North Coast to Nevada
Cal-Nevada Short Hop
This was a short 4 day run which I intended to run up the northwest coast
as far as the weather & my stamina dictated. Then I would head back via Nevada.
I started by crossing the bay delta and then up to hiway 20 by Clear Lake over to
Ft Bragg on 1. When I got there in the afternoon it was fogged in which I realized was
a risk this time of year. I had planned on making Eureka that nite so headed on up 1 to 101.
When I got to the 101, I had driven out of the fog so had a nice ride till I hit Fortuna just shy
Eureka & decided to spend the nite there. Has a great dinner of fish & chip at a little microbrewery
there & decided that if the fog didn't clear in the morning would run inland & cancel the rest of my
coastal ride. In the morning it was foggy & wet, so took 299 through the Shasta-Trinity Forest over
to Redding. From there, stayed on 299 to Northeast Cal and Alturas for the nite. Next morning, I crossed
into Nevada & into the black rock desert on the rough paved rode that goes to Gerlach. I peeled off the
pavement & took dirt roads by the west side of Pyramid lake down to the pavement & Fernley, then to Hawthorne
via 95. Next morning, headed south & west on some more great dirt roads over the hills and along the
Walker river to 182 & then Bridgeport. From there took 108 over the Sierras & kicked over to the 4 for the
home stretch.
Shasta-Trinity
* Big Foot burger joint on 299 after drove out of the fog. Strangely, the burgers tasted just like beef.
* Strange tree by the Big Foot burger joint with these weird prickly balls for nuts/fruit.
TrinityRiver
* Trinity/Klamath River on 299, looking up-stream. Traffic was light
& caught up with a couple on an HD at some road construction. We had
a nice little chat & rode together for a ways. Nice folks.
* Looking down from the 299, nice little swimmin hole & sandy river side.
West of Alturas
* Marine, Rancher, Motorcyclist, Heavy Metal Artist somewhere in the
NorCal hinterlands. Nice work.
* Semper Fi, little Honda.
Gerlach Road
* Peeling off the pavement towards Pyramid Lake
* Looks lonely down there, Huh. Man, I'm sure gonna make some dust!
Lonely Pitstop
* Interesting rock formation with lots of birds nests & small caves.
Didn't get up the courage to go climb it but thought about it a while as
I swigged from my water bottle.
* DRY lake bed off in the distance, that might have been the one they
hold the Burning Man in viewed from the west.
West Pyramid Lake
* Sure is a beautiful blue. Its on an Indian reservation & they know
how to take care of the land. Wish us palefaces could do half as good.
* Purdeeeee! Man, I sure enjoyed that road & the scenery.
One of My Top 5 Dirt Roads Ever
* This road went over the mountains and along the Walker River from
Hawthorne over to Bridgeport. Just awesome scenery, once the road
dropped into a little valley. I swear the river was so close & running so high
that it looked like the water was above the banks. Passed by a little grove
of some kind of tall pointy pine trees that looked like they were from some
artist's imagination. Should have stopped & took some pics but I was enjoying
the ride so much that I decided to keep that one in my memory. At one point,
I came around a corner & there was a narrow lane with barbwire fence close in.
A sign that said slow down to 15MPH. I couldn't see anything around except what
looked like a hedgerow at the end of the lane. Turned out to be a stream crossing
with about a 6 foot bank down into & out of it. I could see it had a pretty
solid bed & wasn't too deep, so I motored thru it briskly. I staying mostly ahead of the
water., then gassed it up the bank. I got a little air on the other side, not a lot, but
enough to justify a loud "wahoo". Turns out I landed in a ranchers front yard, that's
why he wanted us to slow down. I backed off expecting a load of rock salt any
moment but the dogs just looked up, yawned & laid back down. I rode past the
barn & corrals & away up the road. Sweet. Hope I get to do it again some time.
* Had to stop & put on my coat, it was chilly up there.
High Sierra Rest Stop
* Sierra scenery at rest stop on Hiway 108 not too long after the
Sonora Pass.
* Almost home, I hooked up with another BMWer rider a few miles down
the road. He was on a RT1150, I think. I followed his lead as it looked
like he was a local. Anyway we motored on down to a little town called
Knight's Ferry. I peeled off towards Hiway 4 and home. There was a
white water rafting setup there on the Stanislaus River. Also, a neat
50's style restaurant/diner. Been meaning to get back over there & try
out the diner, but haven't made it yet. Betcha they have geat burgers.
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