The Salinas Ramblers
Motorcycle Club hosted this event on their property, which borders
the southwest side of
Clear Creek OHV area. There were guided
tours of Clear Creek, races on their hare scrambles course, and a poker
run on the Rambler's property.
The tent in the background was the dining hall Saturday night.
The visitor's overflow camping area is basically the east side of the
creek bed. Silty dirt that became "Moose Snot on Teflon" when wet!
We arrived early Friday and got one of the better spots near the front.
Laurel, Sue, & Miguel were tent camping in the rear area.
We had our camp set up by 4PM Friday, but the rain started again.
By Saturday morning the campground was full.
A view of a few of the folks in the giant mud bowl behind us.
Steve Martinez arrived Saturday morning!
Some old guy trying to stay warm!
Sue, Laurel, Chris, Artyom, Miguel, & Steve
Chris gave a first hand demonstration of how slippery the moose snot
was!
We survived the muddy climb into the Clear Creek area and stopped for a
breather. Artyom had gotten a new knobby rear tire for the 640
Adventure Saturday morning, but
by now wished he had replaced the worn front dual-sport tire also.
The vegetation was freshly "flocked" by the evening rains that froze
overnight.
It was beautiful and just a BIT cold!
The CLOSED mining area that road R008 passes through has been a favorite
play area at Clear Creek for many years. "Dust" from the various
heavy-metal tailings around here are NOT safe to breathe. The rangers will now ticket you if
you are "off road" in the old mining area.
The "dirt" in this area never gets wet or slimy.
No mud here at all!
The chromium hillclimb?
Almost to the top!
Some muddy single track through a boulder field
Some tasty single track with a view!
We arrive at "The Saddle". Mt. San Benito is behind us
and in the COLD clouds!
Artyom with the back-lit ice in the trees
Chris using his custom Yoshimura Handwarmer!
Erik Schaefer of the East Oakland Moto Bros (EOMB) referred to this as "the Hill of Death"
on a previous Clear Creek trip.
This is the view from road R002 at the top of the opposite ridge. Steve
is getting excited just lookin' at it!
The imposing view from the bottom
Steve took several tries at the Hill of Death...
but the approach was more moose snot and momentum was fleeting ...
This was as yielding as the hill would be this day. No deaths
though!
The open riding area where roads R002 and R006 meet at the top of the
north ridge.
Can you see Catfish & Artyom waving?
Previously open hillclimb area that is now behind this fence.
More new fence north of road R002
Another favorite hillclimb area is fenced and off limits now. This
is sad.
Note the snow storm in the canyon behind the hill.
In Clear Creek Canyon, at the T015 hillclimb
Heading back to camp
The snow starts again!
More snow!
As we got back to the Rambler's property, we took two loops of the hare
scrambles course to get back to camp. These trails were FUN!
Judging from the speed of those who passed us though, it appeared there
was a RACE in progress!
Yes, there is a chain somewhere under those layers of mud!
Artyom's 640 Adventure survived Saturday's mud bogs!
The tri-tip dinner Saturday night was excellent!
Photos are
available at the BRP site. Chris enjoyed dinner so much he got
back in line for round two! We headed back to camp before the rock
band got started.
With the sky finally clearing and an overnight forecast in the low
20s, many folks who camped Friday night packed up & headed home after
dinner.
We built what turned out to be the best camp fire in the overflow
campground that very cold night. We had many visitors stop by to
chat and enjoy our heat. Fire GOOD!!! A particular group of
20-something riders decided they liked our fire well enough to keep the
area well stocked with beer. This did not escape Artyom, who had
previously finished his bottle of wine and Chris' beer.
Artyom did not fully survive Saturday night's drinking by the camp
fire. He was hurting too much to ride Sunday morning, so after
re-starting the fire he packed it up and headed home. The
20-something camp-fire riders wanted to ride with us, but they were slow
getting ready. Steve and his Baja-travels friend Alan decided to
wait for them while Chris and I headed towards Clear Creek again.
The mud was initially frozen Sunday morning. It was quite
slippery, but didn't fling and accumulate on the tires until you found a
thawing spot in the sun.
Sunday was a gorgeous, cool day.
The Sierras were visible to the east from the top of Mt. San Benito
A happy catfish on top of the mountain!
Alan, 4 20-somethings from last night's fire, and Steve stop for lunch on the
trail
The bright sun was slowly melting the ice in the trees
Road R011 across the backside of Mt. San Benito
A single-track trail intersects road R016 near a former mining area
Great scenery to the south from the top of trail T171, and this old guy
again
At the beginning of trail T171, the single track that follows the fence
down the ridgeline in the picture above.
What a great day at Clear Creek! Most of the trails in the sun
were just starting to dry out and become fun. The shaded areas
were still very slimy. There was several nice snowy areas that we
should have stopped and got pictures of.
Hey, where'd everybody go?!?
We packed up and hit the road before dark, and were home by
10PM. It was a great FUN Ride!
Monday was going to be PERFECT at Clear Creek. :-( If
Chris or I could have reached our wives on a cell phone, we would have
stayed to ride Monday!
Catfish ...
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