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With rain in the schedule I wasn't expecting much of a turnout. I have had a pinched nerve in my hand for the last few days, so I was also kind of being a wuss and trying to have a reason not to go. Since I put the ride together I couldn't do that, so I geared up and rolled into the 7/11 gas station right at 0900. There were already a few people there so it was looking good. We hung around until 0930 and rolled out with eight total. Not bad! Birdi said she was going to meet us at the gate, so that was going to be nine. Sure enough, she showed up a few minutes after we got there so we started riding. Headed up the trail and took a right, following the trail all the way to the back side of Pio Pico campground. It looks like there's a little workaround to get through there if a person had to but we turned around. On the way back up and out I saw another rider heading our way. Sure enough, it was SanRider who was able to track us down and our group grew to ten. We did another loop on that side of the mountain and then Aaron on the T7 said he had to head home so we escorted him back to the gate. I wanted to ride up and over to connect to Otay Truck Trail so we took the trail on the left (east?) and that proved to be a good challenge for a few of our riders. A few tip overs but nothing too bad, scuffs and scrapes. The seasonal ponds were about as full as I've seen them in a long time and everything out there was so nice and green. Definitely get out and ride the area in the next several weeks before it browns up. The trail had a few mud holes, most of them had ways around and I don't believe anyone decided to just blast through any of them. Traction was pretty good, a few slick muddy areas but definitely no dust. We continued on to the intersection with OTT and CVRick said he was going to follow it south to his place. Pokey 151 headed straight home once we got to Hwy 94. The rest of the group stopped at the Dulzura store for their amazing tacos and some cold drinks. It turned out to be a pretty good day and a really good ride. I hope everyone had a good time and a few people learned about some new places to explore. There's more there to see, so post up and we will check it out. Post your pictures and experiences on this thread please!!!

Adventure is not about the bike, it’s about the ride. I end all my YouTube videos with this statement: “Get out there and find YOUR adventure”. So, adventure away.

Agree with Udo. Videos like that are kind of silly, the guy said how “everyone is doing it wrong” but they are just doing it differently than he does. Getting wrapped up in how someone else does things is a waste of time, just go do it!

@moto_rph and I met up with a mutual friend, Scott on his lovely Husaberg 570 yesterday. They trucked their skinnies out, and I met them on my 690 because even geared down, it eats up pavement like a hungry hippo. We met at grapevine on the banner side, and set off. We had a nice continuous ride through grapevine, banged a right to head up toward old culp, to exit on Monetzuma. Grapevine is much less fluffy than it was just before the rains, @moto_rph was attempting to make full use of the hero sand, but zigs may have been zigged instead of zagged, and he had a hard fall, in an area I have seen claim a few others as well. We made sure he still knew he has 13 fingers, and that it was a Tuesday in July, but it was also smart to check his collarbone area out, so he was off to urgent care. He checked in a couple times the rest of the day in good spirits, and with a nice X ray of a collarbone in need of healing. So then Scott and I had a rough idea of what to do next, but Scott sold me on exploring the desert below, and south of fonts point where there is a bunch of sand wash and jeep trails. It was really excellent riding, and a really beautiful day. I have not been doing as much desert dualsport riding as I like for the last while, the ride with Padu last weekend was critical in making yesterday a good one - I feel like I'm getting back in to it We rode a nice 25 mile desert loop out there, lots of variation in the terrain beautiful day. Afterward we went to the Red Ocotillo and had lunch, we met a few riders there on BMW/KTM ADV Bikes and then we decided to ride Old Culp and Grapevine in reverse back to Scott's truck, and then on home. Good day of riding, Perry when your back on the bike we will take you there! Maybe we make it a ride with some folks here. Vid/Photos linked below. Video at this link Photos at this link

Going to head up Otay Truck Trail Sunday Feb 5th. Leaving at 9am from TBD location. Looking to explore and try some of the trail offshoots ….and meet some new riders ‘14 KTM 500 EXCF with DOT knobbies PS I’m new to the forum. First time setting up a ride. EDIT: Let’s do Salt Creek Recreation Center 2710 Otay Lakes Rd, Chula Vista, CA 91915

On the other side of this trail is some great camping and riding. there's some neat washes to explore and sleep in. (Turn volume down I'm still learning how to edit video) I spent a few days riding up to Vegas just tooling around .Studying Bradshaw led me to taking the cabdr journey. Great history on this trail thankyou goofyfooter for posting it. I caught the backside of Bradshaw . It leads to a very nice area. I'd love to take this trail to get lunch in blythe some day (hint hint). The ride was so beautiful I just kept going and rode all the way up through 3 states. All I had on me was a blanket,phone, some wet wipes,a tooth brush, snacks,water , and my go pro. I got up to Crystal Nevada north of Vegas and was wondering if I should keep going 🤔. Here's a shot of the strip just before making camp. My favorite place to eat in blythe is Garcias restaurant And gas I like to get over in Arizona at Pilot on the other side of the river. Great ride. I started my cabdr trip in yuma from Ocotillo. Gas is super cheap in yuma.like 3 bucks. Next time I hit the cabdr I'll probly take Bradshaw from Ocotillo.

There are historic trails in our local deserts - some of you have ridden them. One is called the Bradshaw Trail. Many are familiar with the Great Overland Stage Route along S2 in Shelter Valley. The Bradshaw Trail is much longer and remains much more a rideable dirt trail today. For those who have taken the CABDR you rode part of it as you entered into Blythe at the end of Section One. Story as taken from the Desert Sun, written by Tracy Conrad (unrelated to @bikeslut) https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2021/12/19/history-little-known-desert-history-bradshaw-trail/8945424002/ The humble contribution of a scarce book by Francis J. Johnston entitled “The Bradshaw Trail” to the Palm Springs Historical Society was important. The book preserves a largely unknown part of the history of the Coachella Valley. Thoughtfully gifted by Bud Hoover — who has contributed to the entire desert in myriad ways, small and large — the little volume chronicles the taming of a daunting expanse of land, the New Mexico and Arizona Territories, which separated civilization on the East Coast and the emerging settlements of Southern California at the end of the 19th century. Johnston explains it was “wild, barren and lonely, consisting of endless desert and great mountains. The white man found the land inhospitable and repelling. They looked upon its Indian cultures and civilizations as exotic, unpredictable and often very efficiently warlike.” For centuries, the land was traversed by Indian tribes. The Spanish began colonizing it in the very early 17th century, unbeknownst to the fledgling settlers at Plymouth Rock. But the unforgiving desert prohibited any real connection or travel between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and San Bernardino, California, until enterprising frontiersmen blazed a trail. Johnston explains: “By the 1820s this virtual ‘no-man’s land’ — free abode of the aboriginal American — was being penetrated by scouts and explorers of the eastern seaboard civilization. ... mountain men and trappers wandered into and out of Arizona, following no real route. A few ... came on to California and settled there under the Mexican regime. After the war with Mexico, still more Americans made their precarious way into this land which was without government and scarcely had legal status as part of the United States.” The discovery of gold in Northern California made for through traffic en route to the gold fields. Southern cities promoted the overland passage for the commerce it brought along with it. According to Johnston: “New Orleans, Shreveport, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas, all encouraged or sent parties overland to California by the southern route” from Santa Fe westward following old wagon trails. But in early 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, the New Mexico and Arizona territories were a wild, untamed land. William Bradshaw had come to California in the Gold Rush of 1849 to find his fortune. Realizing that the strike was playing out, in June 1862 he gathered a party of adventurers and headed eastward from Los Angeles to a rumored new discovery of gold in La Paz ahead of what he anticipated would be another rush for gold and the boom that might make him wealthy. Johnston writes that the effect was to “awaken this virtually undisturbed giant of raw wealth. The route they followed, the trail they broke, has become firmly and rightfully named The Bradshaw Trail. From its inception, central Arizona became accessible to California. By 1864 the California connection had been extended eastward into New Mexico. By the end of the Civil War, the link was complete to the eastern states. Bradshaw had, in fact, opened Arizona and joined it to the United States.” The route began in San Bernardino, California, through great Banning plateau that included Highland Springs, Gilman Ranch and Whitewater, through the San Gorgonio Pass to Agua Caliente, current day Palm Springs. Bradshaw established stagecoach stations every 15 to 30 miles or so. “Palm Springs, called Sexhi by the Cahuilla and Agua Caliente by the Spaniard and Mexican, had an important stop built of adobe ...” The earliest accounts mark the next stop at Sand Hole, an unreliable watering spot on the trail beyond Agua Caliente in what is now Palm Desert. The route trekked eastward toward Point Happy. “Indian Wells was just that. First called Old Rancheria on the maps, it was originally a Cahuilla village, and the present name developed from the known presence of a deep well dug there by the Indians ... where a permanent station was built of stone and adobe.” Probing further eastward to the Salton sink, the depression that would become a sea by the escape of the Colorado river from its banks some four decades later, Bradshaw was befriended by Cabazon a Cahuilla chief and a visiting Maricopa Indian from Arizona who shared their knowledge of the ancient trade routes through the Colorado Desert and the location of springs and water holes, where Bradshaw would establish stations. From the sink, Bradshaw pressed on. “Meandering on around the jutting Santa Rosas the road reached Toro Spring at the mouth of Toro Canyon. This area was heavily occupied by Desert Cahuilla, and their villages were found throughout it. Cabazon lived here. ... Another permanent station was established here. ... It is listed as Toro Mail Station in one table. The name Martinez, that applies to part of the Indian Reservation which includes this section came from Martin’s House, a part of Toro Village ...” The road went on to “Palma Seca, a place of bitter water that could not be used for men or teams” recorded as "Bitter Spring" on some maps. The trail continued through the Orocopia and Chocolate Mountains to Dos Palmas, a lush oasis a few miles east and south of Palma Seca. “It has been in use as a way point since prehistoric times. The ancient Cahuilla-Maricopa trail passes through this grove as it follows the mesas and desert pavement from Tucson to San Bernardino Valley. From the abundance of artifacts and potsherd still scattered through the swamp grass and among the gravel on the periphery of the grove, it appears that the early Cahuilla not only passed through but often stayed in semipermanent camp.” Further, Canyon Spring, Chuckwalla Well, Mule Spring, Laguna and Willow Spring station stops were established until the arduous trail finally encountered the mighty Colorado River. Here, Bradshaw built a ferry to shuttle gold miners across the river. On Nov. 7, 1864, the territorial legislature permitted the ferry to charge $4 for a wagon and two horses, $3 for a carriage and 1 horse, $1 for saddle horse, $.50 for a man afoot, $.50 per head for cattle and horses, $.25 per head for sheep. Two-hundred fifty miles east of Los Angeles in La Paz there was gold. The inevitable exodus of miners and fortune-seekers from Northern California would now follow, availing themselves of Bradshaw’s trail, stagecoach and ferry. Other companies, like Wells Fargo, leisure travelers and traders in all sorts of goods began using the trail and, having no alternative, were obliged to use Bradshaw’s expensive ferry service across the river. By 1870, the gold at La Paz was pretty well exhausted, but the trail remained a vital connection through the southwest desert. Much of the route would be paralleled by the interstate highway in the 20th century, speeding motorists from Blythe to Los Angeles, blissfully unaware of the fortitude and ingenuity it took to find the way.

There's some good stuff back in there you'd like, if you can find it.

As an ex Backpacker i can attest to this 100%. Light is not always Right. I tried to be a gram weenie but ran out of $$ quick. I was never a "I went X amount of miles or checked of Trailhead A, B & Z". It was always the journey, sounds and sites i craved. I often stayed for a while at a waypoint because the area just felt right and didn't see a need to go further. I went from Stainless Steel cookware (Pot, Cup & Plate) to Boy Scout stuff to Military Surplus to Titanium. Love Titanium for it's lack of triggering even a postal scale but HHAATTEE everything else about it. Titanium boils water in 3sec but is cold by the time your cup is full. Boil water IN the Ti cup and your lips are gone for a month from the water and container burns. makes some grub in a Ti pan and good luck getting it clean cause regulating the heat is never going to happen as it is on/off. Weight vs Efficiency is key for me. Now i use a GSI Haulite pot and Pan. Here is my still used SP Ti cup that i use at home on occasion. If you recall i am a cheap bastard. You can pay big $$ for Silicone lip protector things or use what is around you.

My 2002 GSX-R 750 was my first adventure bike, I webbed my belongings to the bare tail and would ride up to Cupertino to see family. And... my current 690, and the red pasta bike thing are both 'adventure bikes'... Adventure bike: Any bike you plan on having adventures on. How to pack it: However it suits your intended use/riding this time.

Seems like Pod racing down Fish Creek wash is just around the corner...

He definitely has an attitude about overloaded riding and if you watch some of his others you’ll see some superiority coming out over BMWs and clean middleweights. I don’t care about that. I liked his message of going light, since almost all of us take too much crap which diminishes the bikes handling greatly. Like anything, just eat the fish and spit out the bones. I think it’s episode 3 of his Warhorse series where he biffs pretty hard in England. You can tell it ring his bell pretty good. the guy is pretty amazing on a dirt bike though.

That road is tricky because of all the rain channels and many tight turns. For me, not a place to carry a lot of speed. As my eyes aged (71), seeing clearly the details became a problem. Note that the injury sight is in the shade. Transitions, I.e. in and out of shade at speed became a crap shoot. The good news is that there is help available. After three eye surgeries, the details have returned and my riding has improved. Plus, I feel much more in control. Bagstr, On the Trail.

Im sorry about this happening to you. Been there... If you get time could you expand on what happened so we can learn from it? Did you wad it up in deep sand or hit a buried rock , or find a huge dust cloud? Curious. I hope you heal quick with less pain.

Hey everyone! Got a new to me ‘14 KTM 500 and looking to stretch its legs. I love everything on two wheels. Been riding for many years on street and now dirt. Why not combine the two? P.S. The plate is there just to get me to the trail.

Here is a pin map that might help with planning some adv rides, colors are based on an ‘avg adventure bike rider’ Green is scenic and easy, orange is scenic and easier but with some intermediate stuff, red is stuff that could potentially get folks in over their head, buddy system advised https://shutterrev.com/sdadvmap Also, in conjunction with planning where you want to explore, you can download really good trail data from CALIFORNIA TRAIL MAP, and that will give you the track level detail when you start your rides. Welcome and have a great time, post a ride up on the calendar here on the site and if folks can make it they will, self included 🤙🏻

I know a lot of us ride and camp out at OW, take a morning off to help make sure the place stays clean and stays open. https://www.clean-dezert.org/

Sure . . . but first . . . . I just renewed my annual Baja policy. Didn't notice any help with legal. Thanks for the tip, I'll dig into the small print and check it out. My friends (husband and wife) were heading down from Arizona to their home in San Felipe. She was driving at the border crossing, and he had forgotten that he had a magazine from his pistol in the center console of their rig. No pistol or course, just a few bullets in a magazine that had fallen to the bottom of the console. An easy mistake for those of us involved in shooting sports. Upon entering Baja they got waived over and searched. No biggie. Happens all the time. Except.... they found the mag and proceeded to dismantle the whole rig looking for the pistol. They spent the night in jail and on the phones until they ran dead. They needed $30grand, cash in hand by 9am to not go to prison where they would sit for months until trial. They had a friend in San Felipe drive to San Diego and pick up the cash, returned just before 9am where they went with the cops to the bank and deposited it with receipt. It's easy to get weirded out about stuff like this, but now even he admits it was his stupidity that cost them so much, moreso than any abnormal graft or corruption. I make it a point to tell anyone coming down south with me that if they have any weapons or drugs . . . I do not know you, and you are on your own!! Other than that, I'll go to Hades and back to help you get home safe. It's a wonderful, beautiful country and culture and I seem to just spend more and more time down there each year. But no matter what country you travel in, and yes the USA too, you should know what kind of trouble awaits when breaking laws. I have 20 days scheduled in the next 3 months. Can't wait to get rolling.

@J5ive 30 days would be amazing, I had two weeks off between a huge career change back in 2019, and I wandered Solo back home to Oregon, camped along the way, it was pretty awesome. High school friends that I joined the military with met me on their bikes in Oregon, it was a good trip. It's really disarming to people when you pull in to a USFS campsite on a motorcycle, I met so many nice folks camping, or even at gas stations. People are excited to learn where you've ridden from and talk to you about this strange adventure bike thing. Also got some good tips on where to make route adjustments by listening to old timers at gas stations that would walk by and reminisce about their riding days - What an epic way to just do a brain defragmentation, enjoy each day however you want, camp wherever you want, be wherever, whenever, just with a general idea of when you need to return. Here is some pics from that trip, and I can't wait to have another one like it I agree with @Zubb above, There is the ride, the bike, and the people and places along the way. I'm in it for all of those things, with riding as the keystone.

I'm so bummed for you. Man you were just getting to the good stuff with that 500. Let me know if you need someone to go ring it out to keep the gas fresh.