Lost Valley Road 01/17/09

[dirt dame 561]

Originally this would have been a day at Pinnacles, but due mostly because I had a cold at the end of the work week, I chose do an easy ride close to home. The wonderfully warm weather we are having would make for a perfect riding day. Jeff and I loaded up and headed out to Christi20's place. We weren't going to go track riding, but I wanted Jeff to see the track and meet John. Christi had desert plans already, so we missed saying howdy to her.

No matter what kind of a day we were having, some people weren't having any day at all ever again. We came across one of them. As we drove up highway 79, I noticed a bunch of police cars up ahead and an area of the road cordoned off. Behind the tape, by the curb was a compact car and next to the compact car was a body, lying half in the street and half on the sidewalk. He was dressed in light colored slacks and a plaid shirt and was lying in a pool of blood almost larger than himself. Bleh..... All the police officers were about 30 feet away having a discussion. I wondered if he was murdered or if he killed himself. It was a disturbing beginning to the day, but at least it got better for us.

We parked at Christi and Johns place, visited a short bit with John and I showed Jeff the MX track. Then we unloaded our dual sport bikes right there and headed towards Lost Valley road. We wanted to do a little light exploring of the trails out there because we always have taken the main route through to somewhere else each time we've gone through before. This time we would take time to snoop around and check out some of the side trails. We found lots of neat trails, in fact too many to explore today, but at least we know that there is plenty more where those came from. And the trails required a certain level of skill to negotiate as well. EDIT: Could be difficult for adventure sized motorcycles (unless you're KTMrad ). Very scenic also.

We found the mine operation pictured in a recent write up, so that was pretty neat, because we wanted to go there after we saw the photo of it. We got such a late start though, that we had to cut our exploration short so we could get back to the truck before the air started cooling down, as I had left my jacket in the cab.

We plan to go back, preferably after a bit of rain and get an early start so we can explore the area more thoroughly next time. Looks like there is plenty to keep us busy for a while.

We took the long way home at the end of the day, a different route than the way we drove out. I stopped for fresh apple pie and cinnamon ice cream at San Ysabel. Not a perfect day, but good riding and company and we accomplished what we set out to do, which was to find some new fun stuff to ride.

Jeff finds some rocks....

There's the mining operation.

Another dig site.

Out on the trail.

[bikeslut 1]

maybe next time I can tag along

[RogerTOWM 0]

Looks like a great ride. I had to work. I hate you Some day I hope to see that area with you Mimi. You always find the best little side trials.

[trailtracker 0]

Looks like an interesting area to explore, especially from Google Earth. I wonder what they used to mine out there, gold maybe?

[sandiegoland 0]

Gorgeous day!!! Wow!!

I got dispatched to haul some manure for my nephew... how did that happen?!?

[dirt dame 561]

Gorgeous day!!! Wow!!

I got dispatched to haul some manure for my nephew... how did that happen?!?

I guess that proves that SH happens.

[roostingu 0]

It was a great day, I love this kind of exploration riding, somewhat technical in areas, very interesting, to see some history or the reamains of it below is a link to gps track click on the arrow and it will run the tracks as we did it show elevation changes and speed. I guess it proves I am slow

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=109975

[dirt dame 561]

The link just worked for me.

[roostingu 0]

Boy that rocky hill sure seemed steeper than it looks

[dirt dame 561]

Boy that rocky hill sure seemed steeper than it looks

More camera angle flattery.

[sandiegoland 0]

I got dispatched to haul some manure for my nephew... how did that happen?!?

I guess that proves that SH happens.

I give my nephew a lot of crap...

[Crawdaddy 96]

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=109975

Hey, That "everytrail" link is pretty cool.......I'll have to get more familiar with that...thanks.....

[bikeslut 1]

oh great... another technological wonder that will confirm that I am retraded

[Bagstr 288]

Dirt Dame,

Re: the Mine Road,

How would you describe the road after the first steep rocky left turn? I turned back when I faced that hill.

[dirt dame 561]

Dirt Dame,

Re: the Mine Road,

How would you describe the road after the first steep rocky left turn? I turned back when I faced that hill.

There's more where that came from, after that one. As I mentioned, the trails require a certain amount of skill to ride. I edited the first post to reflect that larger adventure bikes might not be suitable for this endeavor. Yuck, that photo makes the hill look worse than I remember it. I rode on the side that your bike is parked on without any trouble. (of course I was on a much smaller bike.) Riding in seemed easier than riding out for some reason. I guess I was getting tired. Great shot, by the way.

[roostingu 0]

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=109975

Hey, That "everytrail" link is pretty cool.......I'll have to get more familiar with that...thanks.....

Ya pretty cool, if you zoom in on that map it gives a lot of detail, such as road names, elevation circles, peak names, the first long side road we took I named it trailer park road because it ends just above a trailer park on 79 we didn't get that far though, where the track ends and we double back is a brand new white gate (locked) easily ridden around but we chose not to.