Jump to content

Recommended Posts

With some strategic maneuvering, I created a window of opportunity to have 2 days to play.....

What a lucky dude!

With one eye on the weather, all choices were looking fantastic!

I seriously considered kayaking the Black canyon below Hoover dam as it is a fantastic paddle up and back from Willow Beach and who could complain about camping off of a kayak with natural hot springs to lounge in while sipping a cold one, and maybe I could throw in the Laughlin tracks so generously shared by Crawdaddy since I would be in the neighborhood..... or maybe mountain biking might be a good call.....or maybe a good golf trip to confirm how many fairways I could use from tee to green.... but instead, how about a adventure on motorized two wheels?? but of course, a simple easy decision to make.

I kept a close eye on Goofy's post of 2 days to play and was a little surprised not to see a batch of posts, but I did notice that many riders were merging play with family and had hunkered down in different spots in the desert.... that is nice... so I would do a solo trip to start, all good.

DAY ONE:

After a great evening on the deck with a bud in Ranchita, I headed east on 78, through Glamis, to find the Gold Rock Ranch that I had never seen before but had read about in a post for later next month..... and use it as a staging area for my loop, and heck, there was a sign that said microbrewery and golf course, sounds great :)

post-15577-0-95505400-1448474670_thumb.j

Fore!

post-15577-0-85913000-1448475103_thumb.j

Yet, not much was happening there, even though there didn't look to be a wait for a tee time, but with the office closed, and without a clear direction where the actual staging area was, I decided to find another spot to loop from as I was targeting a loop that included Picacho Peak, not just the boat ramp.

Next, I pulled into Quechan. Unloaded bike, strapped on rotopaks, set the Delorme, put cold ones in the fifty/fifty for the first trial of... "Will that beer really be cold sitting on top of rotopaks in 4-5 hours of off-road riding in the desert????" and headed out.

post-15577-0-59671900-1448475332_thumb.j

I had a goal, and there it was right in front of me for miles up Picacho Road... a nice target indeed.

post-15577-0-60981200-1448486199_thumb.j

A couple of miles before the actual campground I noticed a wash that seemed to head out towards the peak and it had some jeep tracks on it. The wash was tight and I followed it for quite some time until it dead ended into a 6 foot wall. I parked the bike and climbed out of the ravine and noticed another old rocky road up on the ridge that seemed to go further towards Picacho peak, now I just needed to find a way up there. I tracked back and noticed a little opening in the wash that allowed me to get up top and progress further towards the peak. Riding solo, I try very hard to use the rule, "Less Risk Now contributes to Greater Reward Later" More or less :) because it actually allows for some subjective interpretation :)

So, the trail got steeper, rockier, and more off camber, and actually required me to ride using a skill set that I had not yet acquired, meaning that I had never gone up anything like that in my 13 month riding experience.... and although I would have hoped that each mini climb would have been the most challenging, that wasn't the case. A couple of "half way up stalls" required a bit of brain over brawn to win the crest of the hill. I know.... it doesn't look steep here, but let me tell you!!!! smiles.

post-15577-0-44858000-1448479725_thumb.j

Eventually I rounded a corner to see the last climb up from the south towards the Peak (it was actually just east of the actual Picacho Peak). That would have gotten me very close to the actual peak.. but Oh my, it looked even more steep, and although I had just experienced some recent victories.... it was time to celebrate that I had gotten this far, and head back down to find a river, my salami cheese sandwiches, and to see if my fifty/fifty was going to reward me with something cold.

I rolled down carefully, but it was not without challenges through the undulations. Once down to mostly flat terrain, I decided to explore a bit along the upper ridge on rough roads that seemed to target mini mine sites and then I had planned to drop down into any ravine to exit, but after about 45 minutes of wandering, most every drop off was a 20 foot wall, so I had to follow my tracks back (luckily I had been the only one up there recently and I could follow the different colored soil upturned by my recent tires tracks, like bread crumbs) to get to point A to drop off the ridge. Good riders would really enjoy the challenges that the ridge riding offers as there were many wash outs from what looked like could have been made recently from hard rains. I had to pass on many as it was simply beyond my skill set, especially riding solo.

Next stop, a nice relaxed lunch having survived the recent adventure :)

approaching the north boat ramp in Picacho:

post-15577-0-57394200-1448480586_thumb.j

A COLD drink - so glad I trusted the SDAR's post that mentioned the value of such a purchase - you guys are great! You researched..... I trusted.... nice! Thank you.

post-15577-0-16746300-1448480724_thumb.j

Great lunch and then to complete the loop, heading north from Picacho along the river. Many great stops to see and I recall with such fond memories the night time kayak floats down river in this area, especially with full moons, paddling in the tullies, wild donkey hee-haws in the background... way good!

Taylor-

post-15577-0-48462800-1448480963_thumb.j

corrizo(?)

post-15577-0-22050100-1448481041_thumb.j

At some point I needed to head west again and so I turned west on Indian Pass road, which lead to, believe it or not.... Indian Pass. The next two pics has the bike in the same spot, one pic eastward, the other westward:

post-15577-0-00696600-1448481243_thumb.j

180 degrees:

post-15577-0-07663300-1448481313_thumb.j

From this point the road was fast heading west. A pleasant treat from the soft sand along the river. There were many sign posts along the way that seemed to designate other route options for the future... Hmmmmm, like EC 989 . I may have to find another map that has those hard to find single track routes clearly listed like those south of canyon sin nombre on S2 , with seemingly randomly selected numbers .... 782, 685, ..... Looks interesting out thata way - maybe that is where the Gold Rock Ranch folks ride??

post-15577-0-55053000-1448481828_thumb.j

Nice zip zam zoom to finish off the dirt, then a left turn south on Ogilby. A smooth ride on asphalt, and then an apparent shortcut if I head southeast at Sidewinder along the railroad tracks instead of taking the asphalt further south. It seemed to head the right way back to Quechan.... a nice hypotenuse short cut - why not - and then a treat - as I saw a long line of railroad cars being towed by an engine, and driven by an engineer who seemed to be enjoying that he was catching me. I twisted the throttle to catch back up with the engineer so we could look across at each other and wave, even though I had to navigate some water ditches that seemed to pop-up quite quickly as we were racing side by side... and yes, I did think about how it might be fun to see if I could get close enough to jump over to grab the train handrails at this rate of speed...not on a real horse, but on my steed instead... but thought best of it - haha.

post-15577-0-65603700-1448482281_thumb.j

My choice to avoid that challenge was a good one as right as I was about to repass that engineer, my engine sputtered to remind me to go to reserve. All good, the station was just across the freeway and that was one exit from Quechan. Everything went as planned - a perfect day. Now just a cruise back to Ranchita to again look out into the desert to watch shooting stars with a bud and a brew.

DAY TWO:

Another Great sunrise to start the day. Coffee in hand as I decided to leave my truck in Ranchita and wander down Montezuma grade to meet SDAR's Tuesday ride group. A treat for me as I normally work every Tuesday. But this Tuesday, it was to be used as my Day 2. I was on time and decided to ride slowly down the hill and save my 10 lb filled tires from the wear and tear of ripping into asphalt turns and save all the gas I could due to my stock tank, so I pulled over as I saw a KTM approaching from the rear with quickness in mind.

At least I knew I would be on time as this KTM still needed to be pulled off the back of the green truck :)

It can be slightly intimidating to pull up to a group of experienced riders surrounded by orange as a newbie on a shiny DRZ with rotopaks strapped to a luggage rack, but as a rider who could go solo any time, there is never really any pressure or worry. I never mind letting guys open it up and ride their route apart from me as that is food for the soul - so I do understand. A simple, "thanks for the spin time, I'll catch you guys later", and all is good. I have done this a few times. However, these guys, like all SDAR riders, welcome those of us who are giving it a go if we can stay close by when rolling along. Thank you! But yikes on occasion as their cruise speed is often still above my red-line. Regardless, this group was super friendly and helpful and my DAY TWO was spectacular as I not only got to ride with super experienced and knowledgable riders, but it was also nice getting my arse kicked by dudes older than me. Damn they are fast! I got some work to do here if this is gonna be one of my hobbies - haha.

post-15577-0-56119600-1448483911_thumb.j

The CID 100 recently posted by Bagstr was actually my day 2 ride, plus the addition of the ride down and then back up to Ranchita in the cold wind while those fellas were munching down good hot mexican food and cold ones. I'll bring my truck down the hill next time - smiles. Thanks guys, I was impressed and grateful for the experience of riding alongside. cheers.

And by the way, it isn't all bike - as my DRZ twin on this ride must have had rockets attached to his bike, just like I had witnessed on his KLR in Death Valley!! Atta Boy!

One last brew on the deck in Ranchita as the moon rises to the east and the cold wind and weather pushes in from the west.

post-15577-0-25001200-1448484100_thumb.j

post-15577-0-31365400-1448484161_thumb.j

It truly was a great " TWO DAYS to PLAY" !!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good times, that's a rich area through there. Nice write up John.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nicely done. Did you track your ride on day 1? I like to see the track map if you have one??

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey oracle, Some of my tracks were lost as my dang trackside cycle gear power adapter has started to turn off on occasion, but I have most of it. Some of the straight lines are when it turned off, and some were me walking around to find out where the heck I was :) The last straight line from sidewinder was along the train tracks back to hiway 8.

I can send you actual tracks, but it is an easy route - picacho road to Indian pass to ogilby... here are a few pics, but knowing you, you could easily navigate the pics and make tracks of your own. The dead end wash to the peak was just to the left (south, and not shown) of the track that is shown on the way up to the peak. I hope to see Kofa and the other side of the river in late december, but I would always be happy to roam this route again, and maybe camp off the bike a couple days as well. cheers.

post-15577-0-04865000-1448940059_thumb.p

post-15577-0-61582600-1448940122.png

post-15577-0-46625000-1448940153.png

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

^^^^^^^^^^ that's good, thanks. It confirmed my rough idea of your route. I've been wanting to do a similar route (I think we discussed it in another thread? Maybe that was your motivation? You definitely could make it a multi day camp off the bike trip.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×

Important Information