Pat,
Thanks for the great ride report! Wish I could have made it, but
I've been gone a lot all summer and couldn't swing this one. I will
definitely try to make it back next year!
Brought back some good memories from last year's ESR. Especially the
climb to Mt. Patterson. I can still vividly remember how difficult
everything was at that altitude! Not to mention that added strain of
the problem with my steering.
Thanks again for sharing!
Kelley..........
--- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Pat Schmid"
wrote:
> --- In
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "nakedwaterskier"
> wrote:
> > Mt. Patterson was like walkin on the moon
> > One guy brought his hangglider
> > Baron Bonsai Bonsall crashed into Lurch when he got a tire
puncture.
> > 50 Frauleins showed up at Keogh Hotsprings
> >
> > PICS TO FOLLOW!
> >
> > Jeffrey
>
> It was another good rendezvous, no one got hurt, all bikes left
under
> their own power and I got to see some old friends and hopefully
made a
> few new ones.
>
> I reached the campground just before noon and got a great surprise,
> Lutch WAS THERE! He was in his traditional atire, of course: shorts
> and a t-shirt which was agumented by a jacket when he rode. Barry
from
> Redondo beach was back along with MikeT, Larry and Jeff for their
> second ESR asnd Matt was back for his 3rd. New this year where Baron
> and his friend Steve, Erik showed with his Aussie friend (a good guy
> whose name I've forgotten and will have to refer to him as the
Aussie
> until Erik sets me straight), John and Jeff's friend with the hang
> glider were there for their first.
>
> We got out a little late for Friday's ride and had to take the
direct
> route up to Patterson instead of the round about way I'd planned.
> There were 8 of us: Jeff, his friend, MikeT, MikeT's brother who
came
> for the afternoon, John, Baron, Lurch and myself. RIght as we pulled
> off the highway we started experiencing some bad juju. Lurch missed
a
> couple of shifts, Baron closed the gap and BAM! The only casualty
was
> Baron's front tire, looks like it got punctured by something
sticking
> off of Lurch's bike. Flat got fixed and we got on our way up past
> Lobdell Lake and the right turn through the electrified fence and
the
> start of the climb to the top of Mt. Patterson. In all, from the
> highway the climb is about 5,000' to reach Patterson's summit at
11,600'.
>
> For someone coming from sea level, humping a big KLR up the climb
from
> Lobdell to the top, can become grueling. You're not use to the
thinner
> air and your body suddenly has problems getting enough oxygen and it
> can be like hitting the wall in a Marathon. Its called altitude
> sickness and when I was doing ski patrol I saw it all the time. Its
> the type of thing that can lay the fittest brute low and it caught
up
> with John and Baron. There is this ugly set of swtich backs starting
> at the 10,000' level where you got to keep your speed up or the rear
> tire digs in when it spins and those boys were running on empty by
the
> time they reached this. John got to the bottom of the last climb, a
> ugly thing over deep shale rock with a couple of switchbacks, and
that
> was it for him, Baron tried the last climb, lost his approach into
the
> second switchback and was done in.
>
> We got back down to Lobdell Lake and John just dropped. That old
> altitude sickness got the best of him. Nothing to do but let him
rest
> and munch a few energy bars. This altitude sickness is something for
> you flat landers to keep in mind when you come up to these higher
> altitudes. There isn't anyway to predict who it hits, or when. It
> shows as a light headedness, fatigue, shortness of breath, sometimes
> even a sudden headache. Usually all it takes is a good night's sleep
> for the body to make the adjustment and then its like nothing
> happened. Its no big deal, it happens.
>
> Anyway, we got back down to Bridgeport as the sun was going down.
> Baron went on to camp to hook up with Steve for dinner while the
rest
> of us had a sit down at the Sportsman. Didn't see much left on the
> plates so it must have been good. Back at camp found Matt had
arrived
> and had the fire going for us. Something about a fire, a full moon
and
> camping, dare I say it's a religous experience and I enjoyed
renewing
> the ritual. great stories: the hang glider guy's story about the
> drunken cowboy and a borrowed pickup truck with a hang glider that
hit
> three cars; Lurch's tails of Alaska and a true Long Distance Rider
run
> home; we learned Moose got religion and MikeT is never short of a
good
> tale or three.
>
> Got up the next morning, got the coffee going and folks drifted in
we
> figured the days ride. MikeT and Larry headed out with the group
> looking for challenging terrain while the folks looking for the
> awesome vista tour headed out with me. That was John, Baron, Steve,
> Barry and myself while the rest headed for mischief and mayhem.
>
> My group headed out on the FS road that bypasses Bridgeport catching
> 395 about four miles north of town. It was about a 10 mile leg that
> gave us this wonderful view of the Bridgeport Valley. back on 395 we
> headed up to the Sonora Junction and head up 108 to the Marine Base.
> We went out the dirt roads behind the base. First we went up to
Cannon
> Peak overlooking the Antelope Valley, the Bridgeport Valley, Pickle
> Meadows where the base is, with a view to the east looking at the
top
> of Mt Patterson and to the west we were looking into the top of
Sonora
> Pass. On the way up and back every turn gave us a new vista of this
> scenery, you wanted eyes in the back of your head to see it all.
> Coming back down we then took the dirt roads up to the top of the
pass
> once again getting a fantastic new vista with every turn and then
came
> back down 108, over one of the sweetest sections of twisties you
could
> want to ride. The road tilted left, or ot tilted right, tirns were
> cambered, some were off cambered and sometimes it was all that at
once.
>
> back down to 395 we headed down to Walker and lunch at Walker
Burger,
> an ESR tradition. great place. From the front all you see is this
> small building and a line of cars parked in front of a line of
trees.
> Walk past the trees and there is this wonderous shaded oasis full of
> song birds. Your meal comes and you find you've found on of the last
> of the old roadside burger joints: Greasy bacon cheese burgers,
large
> krinkle fries and real milkshakes, any flavor you want. And when
> you're done you can top it off with a 50/50 dipped frostie.
>
> After a short digestion we headed out to Risue Pass to cross back
over
> to the east side of the Sweetwater Mountains. Entering Risue Pass
John
> had an odd mishap. His horn suddenly decided to get stuck on. Weird.
> Once over the Sweetwaters we headed up to Masonic and went around
the
> corner to rummage around Chemung Mine. This years winter took a tool
> on the old mine. I spotted several walls that started to give way
> under the 150% of normal snow load. Few more years and the structure
> over the processing plant may fall in, but until then it is a neat
> place to root around and see all the old machinery left behind. And
it
> has a great view of Patterson tothe north east while looking across
> the Bridgeport Valley back up into the Sonora Pass area.
>
> By this time it was getting close to 6 so we headed back down to
town
> and back to camp. Surprise, no one else was back. Jeff and his
friend
> have broken camp, and we are the only ones there. Okay, get the fire
> going, pull out a few beers and I enjoyed listening to Barry and
John
> talk about their tours in Nam - turns out they were stationed in the
> same area, Barry before Tet and John after. They humored m e by
> listening to a few fire fighting stories and I taught them that dead
> sagebrush makes good firewood. And its dark, and the moon is coming
up
> and still no one else is back.
>
> Just short of getting worried Larry pulls in. We find out They have
> had a most intersting day. They got out an hour before us and
started
> with the easy, fast route up to Chemung Mine and then made their way
> to the Aurora area. Up around the mine Jeff decided it was boring
and
> both he and his buddy split and from what I heard that is where the
> ride got intersting. Matt had just changed the spring on his rear
> shock and it was set up too stiff and it was litterally kicking his
> arse all day long. There is some serious debate as to how many times
> Matt went down but it was over a bakers dozen. And then his bike
> started blowing fuses and then it was getting dark and Erik's Aussie
> friend's plated Yamaha WR425 didn't have a working headlight.
>
> Once everyone was back and we had thrown a few chunks of sagebrush
to
> get our wandering souls warmed up, as the beers came out this is the
> story that unfolded. It was another great campfire and for the
second
> night it didn't break up until the hoot owls were home from their
> hunt. I hope someone from the other ride joins in with the details
of
> their adventure 'cause it sounds good.
>
> Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to MikeT, Barry, John, Erik and
> the Aussie guy as they all had long rides home and needed an early
> start. Steve and Baron were going to get some fishing in before
> heading out. Matt had to stay in camp and do some repairs to his
bike
> and track down his shorts - turned out to possible sources: a busted
> wire to the heated grips and a busted wire on the fuse box. That
left
> Larry, Lurch and me to take a ride.
>
> We headed up Aurora Canyon Road, which takes off from Bridgeport. We
> hit what I call the Four Corners. Its where the Aurora Canyon to
Seven
> Mile Ranch Road intersects the old Masonic to Bodie Stage Road. We
> turned right and ran the stage road into Bodie. This road provides
an
> endless vista of the surrounding area from 8000'-9000' view.
Dropping
> into Bodie we headed out the canyon road to Aurora, a rocky, sandy
> little beast, taking the turnoff for the backway into Aurora, an
even
> rockier, sandier little beast. From Aurora we went up to the
cemetary
> and read the headstones, pissed on a Nevada Senator. At the cemetary
> Larry and Lurch were talking about how they had gotten turned around
> out here yesterday, missed the cemetary and gotten to with a few 100
> yards of the easy road out. Someone has to tell us the ddetails of
> that adventure.
>
> Anyway, after leaving Aurora we went back out to Seven Mile Ranch
and
> then we came back in by the road that follows the trail John C.
> Fremont and Kit Carson used on one of their expeditions. That is one
> of the things I love about riding around here. If you do a little
> reading you can find a bit of history everywhere you turn out here.
> Doesn't take mush imagination to carry yourself back to those days
as
> you go rolling along. Along this road we pulled off for a side trip
to
> a cow camp.
>
> By this time it was getting late so as we came back into Four
Corners
> we took the Stage Road to Masonic and then back over the Bridgeport
> Canyon Road and stopped off at Rhinos Bar and Grill for dinner. Back
> at camp Matt, Larry, Lurch and I enjoyed the last campfire. There is
> nothing better than good friends, good beer and a good campfire.
>
> Come morning, I'm up making coffee, turn around and there's a doe
> standing ten feet from me. A few minutes later a second doe walks
out
> from where Lurch is camped followed by a fawn. I'm sitting there
with
> them not more then 20 feet away munching on a breakfast of tender
> willow leaves. Matt gets up without spooking them so I decide to try
> my trick. I grab a handful of tabacco from my fixings (I roll my
own),
> put it on my palm, hold it out, walk about half way to them and
squat.
> The bolder of the three caught a wiff, came over and licked the
> tabacco from my palm.
>
> Lurch and Larry missed the show, but eventually wandered over. Lurch
> and Matt had to finally head home. Being Larry and I only had short
> drives home so we decided to head down and ride the June Lake Loop,
> lunching at the Mobil Station in Lee Vining. It was a great way to
end
> ESR.
>
> For those that wonder, there will be a ESR IV. For a change of pace
> I'm thinking we'll move south to June Lake.
>
> Pat
> G'ville, NV