2 Weeks In The High Sierra: Granite, Water And Dirt

Eric and I just got back from 2 weeks of riding in the Sierra. We trailered our dirtbikes (Husky WR144 and Husky WR250) and our dualsports (Husky 610 and KTM LC4 640) down to the Sierra NF and took off from there. We did some bike camping, trailriding, and hiking. We had some mechanical challenges along the way but we somehow managed to have ourselves a grand ol' time...as usual

The first mechanical challenge came the night we got down there. The tranny in our van got hot, even though it was about 60 degrees out, and the computer shut us down right in the middle of the forest road we were on. We sat there in total darkness for about an hour, waiting for things to cool down so that the van would run. We found a nearby campspot and settled in for the night...


The next day being Sunday we just hopped on the dualsports and forgot about the van for the day and headed out for some R&R (ridin' and relaxin')...






Spring is in full swing at this elevation...


Yes, that's my dusty dirty mug...


We followed this OHV route...




Til it dead ended here...


Overconfidence+sand=biff...



We meandered onto another OHV route and I entered the "My SM610 is a trailbike" zone...




Nothing difficult, just amazing scenery in every direction...




The stuff that resembles pavement is really just granite slab...










More to come....


WoodsChick

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This trail ended here...


These sorts of trails that end at wilderness area boundaries are called "cherry stems" because that's what they resemble on maps. You can bet that at one time those trails went all the way through but now we just turn around and go back the way we came...












We hit up some tasty pavement...







And some even tastier water...






When we got back to camp Eric fixed my non-functioning headlight...the second of a host of mechanical gremlins that would plague us on this trip...


I'll continue this tomorrow. Coming up: 3 days of bike camping, bike towing and bike pushing in Giant Sequoia National Monument

WoodsChick

Great report!

There's snow in them thar hills! Mid August!

I know...unusual, eh? Not only was I gone for 2 weeks but I was dragging some serious butt the week I got home. I need a vacation now!

Thanks, Coffee! There was quite a bit of snow up high, considering it was so warm at elevation. Lots of snow left on the eastern side of the Sierra, too. We wanted to ride the Dusy Ershim again and give the Swamp Trail a go, too, but neither one was open yet.

Thanks, dave!

Yes and yes; The water was pretty cold in the lakes pictured above, and it's pretty serious bear country. This is not too far south of Yosemite and there are bear-proof lockers at all the official campgrounds and warning signs all over. We didn't see one on this trip, but saw signs of bear activity in several places. We hiked to a lake later in the week that was fed by hot springs underneath the surface and the water temp was 74 degrees. Not too shabby for a lake above 7000' when there are still patches of snow here and there

Awesome. It would be real hard for me not to free ride those large slabs. Nice area. Need to head down there some day.

Nice....but those lakes look like they need some fishing.

Yeah, it's hare for me to not free ride those slabs, too It would be a great place for you to ride your 511!

Yep, we started just east of Shaver Lake. We left our van and WR's at a friend's house in Shaver when we took off for some bike camping. It's just a beautiful place to do some sightseeing from the seat of a bike. Also, there are some killer double black diamond jeep trails up there, too, like the Dusy Ershim and Swamp Lake.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself a plated bike before next summer! Beg, borrow or steal one if you have to. There are some good rides to hot springs and really cool geological formations where you are right now, but you need a plate. Just do it!

Thanks, Tim! We're thinking about the ride, for sure

Thanks, Clete! We have a ton of fun riding together, whether it's street, trails, enduros, dualsport or anything in between. Just good, solid, quality time together I've been known to entice a wife or two to get her own bike and start riding with her husband...don't know why it wouldn't work for you and your sweetie

They do indeed! We saw some huge fish in those waters, and most of `em were waving their fins frantically and saying "Take me, Dirtdame! Take me!"

Ok! Ask and you shall receive!

The next morning we loaded up the trailer and headed down the hill, fully expecting to spend the day at a Chevy dealer in Madera or Fresno or some other hotter than hell place we didn't want to be. We'd have rather been riding the Bass Lake area with a fellow ADV'r instead (maybe next time, wrk2srf! Thanks for all your help!) The "check engine" light was still on even though the van was running like a champ. The light went out before we got to our friend's house in Shaver Lake so we just called the closest dealer and spoke with a mechanic. After explaining the situation he didn't seem to think it was necessary to have it looked at. Yay!! By this time it was noon so we just loaded up the big bikes with our camping gear and took off in a somewhat southerly direction, possibly headed for Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP.

We headed down towards Dinkey Creek and wound up at the gate to the Swamp Lake trail. Luckily the gate was still locked and it wasn't open yet. I'm sure if it had been open we might have gotten to the swearing and the tow rope a few days sooner. As it was, I spotted a little dirt road off to my right and chased Eric down, telling him I wanted to check it out. Sure enough, it led down to a beautiful campspot right on a creek with big granite slabs for sunning and a nice little beach. We were only about 30 miles from where we left the van but the creek was calling my name. We set up camp, grabbed the boda bag and headed towards the water. Check out the size of the tree behind Eric...




The view from camp...







What a glorious day...riding, wine, water, sunshine...could this day possibly get any better? Why, yes...yes it could...


As the sun came up I seriously considered staying put for the day. It was a really sweet spot and it was nice to just sit and play in the water and relax. Ultimately the lure of roads yet to be ridden was too strong for me to resist so we loaded up and headed south once again...and I'm glad!


These sparkling sapphire gems are sprinkled all over this area...


I wonder how Short Hair Creek got its name?


We headed down some gnarly dirt road that eventually started switchbacking down towards the Kings River...


The views were incredible, and I missed most of them, but I caught this waterfall...




Black Rock Reservoir...


This road had me giggling in my helmet, but my jaw dropped when I came around a curve and saw this...


Eric is digging his new camera...




Not a road you want to make a mistake on...


We rounded a curve and came eye to eye with the pilot of this helicopter as he was hauling his precious cargo out of the canyon. By the time Eric could get his camera out he looked really far away...


A few corners down we came across a TV news van with the anchorman and cameraman standing in the middle of the narrow road. They said they thought it was a drug bust. They asked us if we could lead them to the tiny pad up on the far side of the canyon where all the G-men in their nondescript white SUV's with lights in the grill were taking delivery of the goods. Nope. We saw another load coming in before we got out of the canyon. That pilot and the guy hanging on the cable were working fast.

We finally dropped down to the Kings River and it may as well have been the Devil's River, as it was hotter than the 7th ring of hell down there. That water was looking mighty inviting...


More to come...

Thanks! We had a really good time! We were planning on going to Idaho til our friends Tim (TimH here on CH) and Theresa told us they'd be down here from Washington over the same dates we had off. We decided to stick closer to home so we could see them and ride with Tim. Man, am I glad we did! I think all 4 of us had a blast

Hey, Xcuvator! Yeah, I stop to take photos probably more than I should, but I really enjoy taking them and always look forward to looking at them when I get home. I see them as sort of a pictorial diary of our life together. Sometimes we can't remember when we went here or there, or who went with us, or what bike we rode at a particular place, and the photos are always there to remind us. I keep them all on 2 external hard drives in case one fails or the house burns down

I'd love to spend a summer in Yosemite or Tuolomne if it weren't for the hordes of tourists. I bet it's a lot more different now than you remember. I work at a major hotel in San Francisco and all the foreign tourists always go to Los Angeles, Yosemite and Las Vegas...always. I'm also guessing there were a lot of things we both did back in the day that we couldn't do today...for a variety of reasons

After crossing the Kings River, we spent a loooong time getting around the lake at the dammed-up end of it. At first it was cool...tight paved twisties opening up to high-speed twisties with nobody in sight. It was a pretty rockin' ride but we were hot and hungry and I could feel my concentration slipping away. I dialed it back a notch and tried not to think about lunch. We finally made it to our lunch spot, a little deli in Clingan's Junction...the map spelled it Clingon

We continued on up into Giant Sequoia National Monument. We passed a car from Arizona, then a truck from Washington, then a truck and trailer from New Mexico...and on and on. By the time we paid our $20 at the gate and made a stop at the visitor's center for an updated forest map (no go, their only offerings were older than our 2003 version) we were thinking that riding through a national monument/park in the summer was a really bad idea. The assault on all our senses from the crush of humanity was in stark contrast to the solitude we'd been enjoying the last few days. We peeled off on the first funky-looking forest road we saw and never looked back. That's how we came to be camping on a beautiful creek right next to a black diamond OHV trail

The boundary of the trail can be seen behind the tent...


We were hot and dusty when we arrived and figured this would do...


We had a nice dinner and talked long into the night about what to do the next morning...which led to this...




There were no tire tracks, no ruts from tires, no other riders...just mile after mile of really fun trail. This one dropped down off the ridge for a long time...


It got pretty steep...




There were a lot of sections that just looked like forest roads that weren't used anymore...








We screwed around most of the morning, exploring the vast network of dirt roads and trails. The Sequoia is a beautiful forest and we never saw another soul all day. Even the paved roads and bigger dirt roads were rewarding to ride...





We finally dropped down to the bottom of the little canyon and ran across a really nice little creek. Eric actually stopped to take photos of me riding through it...





He waved me on and I rode all the way to the top on some of the best trail we'd seen all day. I took some photos while I waited...




And waited...




And waited...