Drifters We Are

August 2017 Posted by Doug.

Chapter 0.5 The Lakes Trail, Mammoth California.

It was completely innocent. I sent Joannie a text,

From that it evolved into making a trip out of it. I swear I had no premeditated plan. The first part was to go to our campsite outside of Mammoth then put our packrafts in one or more of the lakes for a day of paddling before the not-race, Bodie Bowl. While cruising up to the lakes we passed by the beautiful paved Lakes Trail that went around the various Mammoth Lakes. This called for a change of plans and we ended up riding the trail including a bit of single track around Horseshoe Lk.

It was nice and mellow and a good warm up for the not-race, race. Pre not-race, race (If you're confused, it's Ok. I was too.) BBQ burgers in Bridgeport at Walker River Lodge concluded this chapter and we camped for the night on a side road off of Bodie Road. So on to Chapter 1 to help clear up all this not-race, race talk.

Topaz Memorial Bench

Chapter 1 Bodie Bowl

The previous evening in Bridgeport we had met some other folks at the pre-event BBQ and it seemed quite a few riders were taking the not-race serious enough to make it a race. I also decided that evening to do the full 50k from the 30k I had originally signed up for. Well I was in not-race shape, good thing it was not a race. Bright and early we showed up at the designated spot in the old ghost town of Bodie. I set to work putting my fat bike back together as the only way to bring out 2 trail bikes plus my fatty was to disassemble my fatty and put it in the back seat of the truck. I was running it in 29+ mode and that ended up being perfect for the event. Some last minute instructions, and getting me re-designated to a 50k rider, then with the ring of a cowbell we were off! I swear every rider including myself self was in full race mode from the outset. The not-race was instantly a race! Before long I settled into some sort of not-race, race pace I could maintain. I passed several riders early and then during the course of the event was passed by several. I had no race food, no race training and my only race motivation was to come in not-last. I did not come in last though my not-race results were decidedly - mediocre. But it is a fun event and though the course is a bit odd to me, with all the out and backs, (I assume it was the best way to set up for both the 30 and 50k to get the mileage) there are some really nice view points overlooking Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierra. I can't find any not-race results online but I came in probably somewhere just behind mid-pack. The 30k'ers were already back. I popped the obligatory beer and chatted with the other not-racers who were also racing. Joannie had spent the day with new friends Brenda and Anita exploring the old town and as the thunderstorms rolled in we bid farewell and made our way over to the ghost town and had a nice stroll through history and visiting the home of Dog Face George. Don't feel too bad for ol' George. Some sources says he was one of Bodie's bad men. Others say he never existed.

Photo by another not-race racer

Last out and back turnaround point.

Ol' Dog Face Geoge's place.

Chapter 2 Eclipsing Mammoth Mountain Trails.

It was solar eclipse day! We paid for our bike park tickets and rode the gondola up to the top of Mammoth Mountain. It was about an hour until as much sun coverage as we would get at this latitude. On arrival at the summit we discovered to our not-surprise that they had run out of eclipse glasses. It was all good though as our few hundred newest best friends were happy to share. Educational insert: So an iPhone through eclipse glasses DOES work...not so good but iPhone through some heavy clouds is actually decent, go figure. Well so afterwards we spent the day shredding the bike trails. Not much to say here as you've seen it all before, here and here. After Mammoth we voted to continue going - places.

Straight out of a 60's sci-fi horror movie

iphone through eclipse glasses

iphone through heavy cloud cover. You decide.

Chapter 2.5 As For Getting There

There's not really supposed to be a chapter here, but it was, shall we say adventuresome, so here it is. Hwy 89 to hwy 36. Yep, sure, looks good. Kyburz Flat was interesting. What can I say. Hwy 36 was closed for construction a bit past Mad River. No map? No Problem. Seat of the pants baby! With a dearth of road signs and the most rudimentary map possible we relied heavily on common sense navigation. And you all know how troublesome that can be! Well I for one will always admit when I'm lost, but ask for directions?? Hell NO! That's for losers!! Once through Alderpoint it was easy. After Garberville and crossing hwy 101 we got on Shelter Cove rd and drove to the top of a ridge. I remembered we needed to turn onto dirt at Kings Peak road. Unfortunately I doubted my memory and we turned onto dirt at Paradise Ridge road. It didn't take long to realize this was more than we wanted to cope with in the camper and Joannie was sure of it significantly before me, so we backtracked to pavement. All's well that doesn't kill you. We eventually arrived back at the trailhead for Paradise Royale trail.

Halfway to Zenia.

Chapter 3 Paradise Royale/Black Sands Beach

Nope not the James Bond movie. A rather fine flowy purpose built single track high in the King Range of California's Lost Coast. 2nd time for us. Located as off the beaten track as this trail is, for us to be here twice is...well, Bond worthy. Each segment of trail has a unique moniker and Joannie's favorite was certainly - Prince of Pain. A climb of 800+ ft in 2.4 miles. I may be exaggerating slightly by saying it was her favorite. Mine was undoubtably Mad Queen's Tango. Should you by chance find yourself on the Shelter Cove road with a mountain bike in tow, by all means make the detour to ride this fun trail. After the ride we camped at the nearby Tolkan camp and had a wonderful evening. The following morning Joannie suggested we go down into Shelter Cove again, ostensibly to see if there was something we missed the first time. Nope. It is worth going down to check out the black sands beach and if you're backpacking the Lost Coast Trail, well then all I can say is, You Rock!

Getting full value from 'Prince of Pain' segment.

Honey Badger don't care.

Intermission

Time for a funny video

Chapter 4 The Coast. Big Trees!

Easy cheesy! Jump on 101 and head north. No more defined goals. We just decided to drift north trying to stay cool. (I have a comment in my high school yearbook, stay cool! hahaha!). We were going to put our Alpacka's in at Big Lagoon and Humbolt Lagoon's but just kept on moving north... into the smoke. Newton B. Drury scenic hwy. Yes. You. Should. Big Trees. Lots of them. Moons of Endor worthy forests. And for us?? A new bikepacking goal. Granted you really don't need to overnight on a 20 mile loop. But here, you should. Well maybe, I'll let you know. Unfortunately the smoke was just getting worse and worse. We overnighted at Cape Blanco State Park campground in Oregon. Gotta say, they're proud of their camps. For good reason. Well maintained, lots of amenities, reasonably priced.

Big Lagoon

Chapter 5 Ahjumawi

"Where the waters come together...." is a translation of the word Ahjumawi. Big Lake, Tule River, Ja-She Creek, Lava Creek, and Fall River. Together they form one of the largest systems of fresh water springs in the country." So says the State Park website. I've been wanting to paddle here for some time so we made the time to detour to McArthur in order to access the the park at "Rat Farm". It would be far better to paddle in our kayaks but we made our way in the Alpacka's over to Horr Pond camp to check it out. Temperatures were quite high and this destination definitely deserves a return trip when temps are tolerable to hike to the lava tubes and perhaps overnight. Regardless it was a delightful paddle and I swear I've never seen so many frogs.