Pinnacles National Monument

March 27th & 28th, 2004

© Bill Allen, 2004

After much planning, the first ride of the year was on. Now, just to check to see if everyone was still going. Ralph was going, but was planning on visiting family in the Bay Area first. He was departing Thursday night stopping in Morro Bay on the way North. I was planning on camping in Limekiln on Friday night. After all, I hadn't had a day off in seven weeks and was anxious to get out. Unfortunately, no one was able to join me, so I decided to work an extra day instead. Doug tried to enlist some company for the original route I proposed, but Mike and Jon didn't want to get up that early. I decided to ride with Doug and take the scenic route. Werner was in between and opted to ride solo. Steve was busy putting new contact paper in his cupboards and was too involved to stop for a motorcycle ride.

Doug and I met at our usual place, at the Chevron station near the toll road, promptly at 6:30 Saturday morning. We knew it was going to be a good day when a LEO pulled up beside us on the toll road, lights flashing, only to run a traffic break in order to clear some debris in the road ahead of us. How courteous!

We stopped for coffee in Malibu (at Starbucks, where else?) where we would discuss the route for the day. A few miles up the road, in Ventura, we left the freeway for the last time that day. We rode Hwy 33 through Ojai and over Pine Mountain. Even though it was early, it was already fairly warm on the coastal side of the mountain range. As we got some elevation, that soon changed. The pass at Pine Mountain is nearly 5,000 ft. and it got a bit nippy! Soon, Doug pulled me over so that he could get his electric vest back on. We continued north to Hwy 166, turned east to Soda Lake Road and began the adventure. About 10 miles on Soda Lake Road, we ran out of pavement. The road was washboard under about 3 inches of sand. I was pretty nervous the first few miles until I realized two things. First of all, Doug's GS wasn't that much better than my RT in these conditions and secondly, I remembered one thing from my dirt bike class last summer: speed is your friend in soft sand! By the end of the dirt section (about 20 miles), I was comfortably cruising at 65 or so. We stopped for a snack on Carrizo Plains. An incredible view. Not another soul in sight.

We continued north on Soda Lake Road until it ended at Hwy 58. We took Hwy 58 west to Shell Creek Road where we turned north towards Hwy 46. We stopped for gas in San Miguel and observed the freeway for the first time in hours. I reminded Doug what a freeway looked like. He said: "We're not getting on it, are we?". "Nope." After getting gas, we went North on Indian Valley Road where we rode through ranch land. About the only traffic we saw were ranchers in their trucks. It was a good thing we were on motorcycles because I don't believe the road was wide enough for the trucks and a car going the other way! Indian Valley Road turned into Peach Tree road which "teed" into Hwy 198. Just as we stopped at Hwy 198, Werner passed us, apparently coming out of Coalinga! We observed Werner missing the turn on Hwy 25 and realized how we were able to catch him even though our route was a lot slower. We rode Hwy 25 together for the last half hour until we arrived at camp.

Ralph was there waiting for us since he had a short ride from the Bay Area.

We setup camp and picked up firewood. We were waiting for Mike and Jon to show up, but the later it got, the more concerned I was. Cell service was not available (an indication of a good campsite), so I checked voice mail messages from a land line. Mike left me a message saying that he and Jon got involved with the scenic route I had laid out, but realized that they had started too late and stopped too often to make it to the campsite before dark. Additionally, I later found out that Jon left his sleeping bag in the garage. They turned around and rode back to the city.

The campsite was great! Each site is almost private and are separated by trees and shrubs. This place, Pinnacles Campground, is definitely a keeper! Although daytime temps were pleasant, it started cooling off drastically as soon as the sun went down. I was glad that I brought my warm bag in that we later found out that it got down to freezing overnight.

Left to right: Ralph, Doug and Werner having breakfast and packing up. Click on image for a larger version.

My bike and tent. Great site! Click on image for larger version.

The following morning brought out Nadine's (Doug's wife) famous banana nut bread and, espresso and cowboy coffee. We all packed up and chose our individual routes home. Ralph was going back through Morro Bay. Doug was going to retrace our route from the day before. Werner was going to discover G14 between King City and Paso Robles. Me? Hey! I'm too close to Monterey! Gotta go north! I have breakfast on Cannery Row and take a wonderful ride down the coast on a perfect, cloudless day. When I get to San Luis Obispo, it's the first time I've been on the Interstate since Ventura, nearly 500 miles ago.

I stop for a stretch on San Marcos Pass (Hwy 154 above Santa Barbara). As I'm pulling out, I see a small (about 2-1/2 ft. long) rattlesnake crossing the road. This is my first live spotting! Imagine that! After 25 years in Texas, I finally spot my first rattler! He's too fast for me, though. He's in the grass before I can get my camera out. 

I call Nancy from Carpenteria (just south of Santa Barbara) to let her know I would be a little late (like, 7:30) and to let her know I'm doing O.K.

Traffic is terrible through Malibu, but surprisingly light on the freeways in L.A. The sun drops but the air is stillw arm. I have just a tee-shirt on under my armored jacket and I'm quite comfortable. I pull into the driveway right at 7:30 with a filthy bike, dirty clothes, wet tent and a sore butt! My first weekend ride of the season and it's over 900 miles. What do you expect?

It was great! Ready to go again.