new-to-me is on the road

[nakedwaterskier]

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

[Pat Schmid]

--- 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

[thomas kelsey]

Great tale, Pat. You're a good writer! Message: 11 Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 04:00:42 -0000 From: "Pat Schmid" Subject: Re: ESR 3 Rocked Tom Kelsey "Nothing is more firmly believed than that hts1190@... which is least understood." 860-688-1190 / ! \ / ! \ / ! \ __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com

[Pat]

--- 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.

= = = Thanks for the excellent report Pat! Since I couldn't make it this year, your post made it come alive, especially descriptions of the views, those tight switchbacks, dime sized shale 2 feet deep and the final pitch to the summit of Mt. Patterson. Ahh - memories of great rides, campfire friends and ibuprofin for sore muscles in the morning!!!! Good to hear some of "the usual suspects" returned; can't wait to see the pics. (The other) Pat from the Pac-NW

[Spot ON]

Good write up Pat. I had a pretty good time. Thanks for hosting. Robert is the Aussie guy on the YZ 426. He and play rugby for the Old Aztecs down here in San Diego. Larry or MikeT could probably give you a more detailed account of our ride. Lots of riding, lots of stopping to get an idea of where we were, and some mechanical problems on Matt's bike led to an interesting ride. The confusion came from so many service and unmarked or outdated roads that it was difficult to navigate even with a GPS and map. At the end, I think it came down to Larry, who was leading, just heading WEST. We were all pretty tired at the end of the day and the pint or two of Gordon Biersh at the Sportsmen was the best I've tasted in a long time. I highly recommend the hot springs up the hill from camp. The day after a long ride and filthy, it was a treat. Jumping in the cold river next to the springs was PRETTY inviiiiiiigorating. Closed up the pores ya know. No hot naked women though. Thanks again, and hope to see you next year. Erik in San Diego

> > 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

=== message truncated === __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com

[kelley_kinser]

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

[Pat Schmid]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Spot ON wrote:

> > I highly recommend the hot springs up the hill from > camp. The day after a long ride and filthy, it was a > treat. Jumping in the cold river next to the springs > was PRETTY inviiiiiiigorating. Closed up the pores ya > know. No hot naked women though. > > Thanks again, and hope to see you next year. > > Erik in San Diego > >

Last night might have been a rocking good time. A good thunderstorm hit the west side last night and made its way over the pass around midnight. Had quite a light show last night, on the western side alone they recorded over 200 ground strikes. Since it dropped about an inch of rain I'm glad it did wait until the weekend was over. Pat G'ville, NV

[Pat Schmid]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Thomas Kelsey wrote:

> Great tale, Pat. You're a good writer! >

Its not hard when you have good material and the cast provided plenty of it. Pat G'ville, NV

[Pat Schmid]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "kelley_kinser" wrote:

> > 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. >

Last year Kelly pulled out all of his reserves to top Patterson. It was the sand wash afterwards that did him in. John, just like you, he went down in the wash and just did not have the energy to get back up. Didn't help that his steering head bearings were too tight. Thats why I mentioned the altitude sickness thing. Its the type of thing that makes an otherwise healthy, robust stud and turns them into a 90 pound weakling and that can play games with your head. So figured it was worth a mention so if it should ever happen to you, instead of getting worried you'll hopefully remember what it is and know you just need to take it easy and get a good night's sleep. Pat G'ville, NV

[Jim]

That storm worked it's way through the valley here before heading over the Sierras atarting about 7pm. Great lightning show, going off every 10 seconds or so for over 2 hours. Dropped a fair bit of rain on this side. That makes things a bit dicey for the raisins on the ground drying now but I expect the next few days of riding in the hills will be stellar. --Jim A-15

> Last night might have been a rocking good time. A good thunderstorm > hit the west side last night and made its way over the pass around > midnight. Had quite a light show last night, on the western side alone > they recorded over 200 ground strikes. Since it dropped about an inch > of rain I'm glad it did wait until the weekend was over. > > Pat > G'ville, NV