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a year ago, i asked my wife jenny to think about how she wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday, the following moto-camping trip is the result...

over the course of almost 3 weeks, we rode our ’06 triumph tiger 955i to northern california, as neither of us had explored north of the bay area. we both enjoy hiking in remote areas and minimalist camping. most of the photos are not of the bike or roads we followed, but of the areas of the state the bike so capably delivered us to. we wanted to see the western side of the sierra nevada mountains and the coastline north of san francisco, and we settled on camping and hiking in yosemite, lassen volcanic nat’l park, shasta-trinity wilderness, the lost coast/king range and jackson state forest and use scenic routes to link them. wildfires necessitated some route tweaking, we skipped crater lake and reversed the direction of our loop, but being adaptable to the conditions given was our mantra, and we agreed we’d leave options open to change routing further if we felt it was warranted.

preparations for the trip included getting the bike’s 24k mile service done, and thanks to a couple members of san diego adventure riders, i was able to complete all the needed maintenance
items. dsm8 dave held a tech day at his well-appointed garage, where i replaced air filter, brake fluid and spark plugs (kkug ken drove me to ncy for plugs, as i ordered the wrong ones), and tntmo tom shamed me into checking the valves. then, tntmo tom and i changed fork oil and seals at his house -- big thanks to all you guys for your help, it was much easier to take on the work having your encouragement and support. new oil and chain done in my home garage, and the bike was ready... a trip to colorado for work (http://dualsport-sd.com/forums/index.php?/ topic/23427-colorado-for-work/) was a confidence-inspiring shakedown ride completed two weeks prior to our norcal departure.

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day 1: encinitas to paso robles — a sign of things to come?
we left before dawn to get through l.a. and avoid as much traffic as possible. i was cruising at 75-ish in the left lane of the the 405, when a metal projectile shot across from the right lane on a line-drive trajectory and
hit dead center of the windscreen, punching a hole in it and cracking it to the bottom. i didn’t see clearly what it was, but my nanosecond viewing convinced me it was a broken off tie-rod end (or something similar in size and shape). the weight of it was startling, and the impact shook the whole bike. i checked the structural integrity of the screen (i flexed it with my left hand without slowing) and we continued on... we made good time, so we stopped in san luis obispo to see the mission, then headed out to the coast through morro bay and cambria, such a pretty area! we stayed in paso robles with an advrider inmate, acerph roger and his lovely wife diane, in their beautiful home. on arrival, we inspected the windscreen and decided a krazy glue and gorilla tape repair would suffice.

 

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day 2: paso robles to ft ross
we got directions from our host roger to the coast along the carmel valley watershed. beautiful weather and route... we had our first wildlife sighting, a
bald eagle being chased off by a red-tailed hawk. we don’t get bald eagles in san diego county, as far as i know... a while later, i spotted our second, a tarantula, and we quickly turned around to get a photo (these guys move pretty fast!). when i rolled up to it, it squared up to us and dropped its front end like it wanted to take us on. we continued north along the coast, through santa cruz, half- moon bay, making our way through san francisco traffic and across the golden gate bridge.

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we followed 101 north from san francisco, then turned west and followed the russian river out to the coast. within a few miles of the ocean, heavy mist required full attention on the narrow, winding roads. we had planned on staying at wright’s beach campground, but they were full up with rv’s, running generators and a grumpy host. we continued north, hoping we’d find somewhere else and our decision to look further paid off. less than 15 miles later we were rewarded with an empty campground (except for the host) at ft ross. i missed the campground driveway, and had trouble finding a suitable turnout to reverse direction. i pulled into a gravel spot on the side of the road and right before my stop was completed, my front tire plowed the softer stones at the edge of the gravel, i lost my balance and very slowly the bike went down. we quickly righted it and were back on board, heading to camp. dinner was made, consumed and then a short walk before bed.

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days 3 & 4: ft ross to jackson state forest
today was to be a short ride, so we took a morning walk to look at ft ross, about a half mile north of our campground. 

after checking out the fort, we made our way to mendocino for lunch and a few groceries. we would spend the next two nights camped out in jackson state forest, an area that had been clear-cut some years ago. the new growth of trees surround the stumps of their fallen ancestors.

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we hiked up a gated dirt road for a few hours, and using the rudimentary map the campground provided, connected a smaller loop trail back to our site. lots of ferns and other plants along the hike. we didn’t get many good vistas, as the forest was pretty dense...

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when we were almost back to camp, we met a young guy who asked us for directions for a hike. we sent him on a reverse loop of our route, and he stopped by our site a few hours later, and ended up joining us for dinner and a fire. i had a wicked headache, and jenny got some ibuprofen from a passing car that was looking for a site. she asked if they had any, and they gave her a small bottle with a dozen or so... score!

day 5: jackson state forest to lost coast
cold morning, less damp than yesterday. we broke camp and headed to the lost coast. we followed 1 to 101, a great ride full of sweeping curves. a few stops to resupply groceries and other sundries, and at our final gas stop, i found a $100 bill on the floor in front of the register. i asked the woman in front of me if it was hers, she said no... score! we shared a bag of smartfood popcorn in the gas station lot, then continued on to our campsite. the lost coast is created by the king range, which is essentially a mountain range right along the ocean. there are several 2000’ peaks within a mile of the shore, a couple 3000’+ within 2 miles, and king’s peak at over 4000’, just 3 miles from the ocean. this area is also the most geologically unstable in california, and we saw evidence of the last major earthquake, which raised the king range 3-4’ in 1991.

 

days 6 hiking and exploring
our site, wailaki campground, is located just east of the first ridgeline off of the ocean. our hike had us climb onto the ridge, then follow it south to a “viewpoint” loop. the terrain was what my friend ted always called “pitchy”... the trail was well groomed with a few spots of semi-rutted drainages. the vistas along this route were so-so — one could catch glimpses of the tree- covered hillside going down toward the ocean, but that was all. it was beautiful nonetheless, and we rested in utter solitude, lying in the grass at the edge of the continent. we didn’t see any notable wildlife, but avoided lots of bear scat on the trail and what we guessed to be bobcat poop. sorry, no pictures to verify...

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we made lunch after the hike, then got on the bike to explore shelter cove.IMG_6345.thumb.jpg.22db8122446813f58db546c5c28f8717.jpg

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back to camp for dinner and bed...

day 7 lost coast trail from shelter cove north
we walked this trail (follow the beach) north till we got tired, which coincided with where the high tide met the cliff face. we passed many southbound hikers, some carrying surfboards — there’s a beach campground and surf break about 10 miles north of shelter cove, and many folks from the area spend the weekend out there amidst the through hikers. another place to visit...

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on the way back south, we knew we’d passed the last of the southbound hikers, as the tide made the beach impassable. we had passed a creek emptying out onto the beach, with a tangle of sun-bleached tree trunks spanning the water. we climbed up the drainage a bit and found a waist-deep pool below a log to climb out on. we used the solitude and warm day to get in our first bath of the trip, albeit a chilly one.

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end of week 1.

 

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Nice trip, I did the most off route on our way up to Oregon this summer, Just with my wife and a car. I remember the green bridge and Military area.

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2nd to last pic looks like just when your boys hit the water.  Great trip and glad to see another two up member.

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What a cool memory you made with your wife.    I also did the same for my 50th birthday, my wife will not ride on back of my bike but she lets me go on trips and on my 50tjh I did a 7 day trip with a buddy.   Congrats on the ride.

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What a great Way to celebrate a 50th birthday, wish I would of thought of that back then?

Wish your wife a belated B-Day from SDAR ??

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thanks for the replies! i'm working on week 2, but work keeps getting in the way...

9 hours ago, TrophyHunter said:

:thumbsup_anim:

Outstanding stuff. The fish pic - is that a cleaning station?

yes, in shelter cove.

12 hours ago, Mikey777 said:

2nd to last pic looks like just when your boys hit the water.  Great trip and glad to see another two up member.

yes, the water was about this cold (holding thumb and forefinger an inch apart).

best regards,

johnnyg

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16 minutes ago, johnnyg said:

week 2 is up... sorry to just attach it, but i worked hard on the panoramas.

 

norcal '17, week 2.pdf

Wow! That is epic! Love the Bonanza/Cartwright Family pic...:thumbsup_anim:

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Nicely done, glad I could be of some assistance and awesome that the shop was able to help you out like that. 

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14 hours ago, Dress4Less said:

Wow! That is epic! Love the Bonanza/Cartwright Family pic...:thumbsup_anim:

chris, it was the first image that came to mind as we traveled south from lassen through gold rush country. i want to go explore more of that area...

11 hours ago, Wierdrider said:

Thanks for sharing, what a great trip!

jim, thanks! we had a terrific time, and both felt like we could have kept going...

1 hour ago, tntmo said:

Nicely done, glad I could be of some assistance and awesome that the shop was able to help you out like that. 

tom, yeah, the shop manager was really helpful, as was electrosport. and, again, thanks for your input and help with getting the bike prepped. you da man. 

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