Kaiser Pass, Mono Hot Springs and Edison Lake

I hadn't been above Huntington Lake so I decided I would take a ride over Kaiser Pass to Edison Lake. The road to Edison is pretty bad so I rode my KLR 250 dual sport. I had finished making some modifications to it to make these kind of trips better, an accessory plug (cigarette lighter plug), a toggle switch for the radiator fan for the slow, hard climbs, and, most important, a cup holder. All three came in very handy on the trip.

I had a commitment in the morning so I couldn't leave out till 11:30 AM. I headed out of Fresno up Hwy 168 and had lunch at Prather. I headed up the 4 lane and reached Shaver Lake where I took the Big Creek turn off. I had just been up this way last week and really enjoyed the views. This week I made sure I had my camera for some nice shots.

The back route to Huntington Lake through Big Creek is a slow, hard climb, but the views are rewarding as you can see.







After topping off at Huntington Lake, I headed up the Kaiser Pass road. The view of Huntington Lake from the road was spectacular.




I reached Kaiser Pass, just over 9000 feet, and headed down the back side. The road was really narrow and rough, and there was a lot of weekend traffic. I must have passed over 50 cars coming and going, and everyone of them was a tight squeeze. The views were really spectacular on the back side. You are literally on top of the world.







Half way between Kaiser Pass and Edison, along the South Fork of the San Joaquin river, is the Mono Hot Springs resort. I stopped at the general store and bought a drink and a souvenir for the trip. The break was nice because it was a hot, hard ride so far.





Another 45 minutes of riding I finally reached my destination, Lake Edison.



It is really nothing more than a medium size reservoir used for power generation. But it wasn't so much the destination that drew me there as it was the ride to someplace I had never seen. Isn't that why we do this? Isn't that most of the fun? Maybe some people don't understand or even don't agree, but I know there are a lot more roads that I would like to run my tires across. I hope you feel the same way as I do, and I hope you enjoy the ride report and pictures. Till next ride...

A nice day in the Sierras

I met a with a couple of guys from the Honda Shadow forum for a ride. We met up in Visalia and rode up into the mountains. They took me up a lovely rode and ended up in Eschon Valley. What a beautiful view of the Sierras. We had lunch at the Mountain House Saloon near Badger. I rode back into Fresno on 180 since was already late in the day.

"Dirt Biking!"

Having the afternoon off and feeling the need to ride, and wanting to ride somewhere I hadn't been before, I took the KLR up some back roads behind Pine Flat Lake. The road I took is called Big Creek road and it travels from Pine Flat to the top of the 4 lane on Hwy 168 just short of Shaver Lake. It is dirt and has a, well, "big creek" along side of it. It's a beautiful ride as you can see.The road heads up into the mountains. At the top I stopped and had a snack. There was a wonderful view of the surrounding hills back down toward Pine Flat Lake.

Soon the road turned from dirt to asphalt. But, as I got further up into the tree line, I hit snow. I tried to ride through the snow for a couple miles, staying in the ruts of the previous vehicles, but the snow just became deeper. I had only gone half of the 30 miles I need to travel on the road to get to my next turn off. I decided to turn around and go back the way I had came. On the way down I stopped at a nice shady spot along the road and enjoyed the view for a while. All in all, it was a nice ride even if I had only been able to ride up to the snow line.

The "Dirt Bike"

So, as I was waiting for the ACE to get finished, I got itchy fingers to ride. I've been wanting a small dual-sport so when I came across a KLR 250, well, I just couldn't help myself! She was a dirty thing when I got it. The previous owner had "ridden it hard and put it away wet" as they say. It was caked with mud, had broken levers and foot pegs, bent handlebars, broken tail light, and a rear fender held on by zip ties. But she ran great! So I bought her, cleaned her up and fixed the parts. And been loving it ever since. She's a blast on the mountain roads.

Updates

Been a while since I've posted anything, so I wanted to catch up on some things. First off, I've been giving the ACE a new look.

I've been working with my brother, Joel, (well, ok, he's been working, I've been supervising) to install some ACE TOURER exhausts on the ACE. I also bought a Mustang solo seat to replace the 2-up Corbin Tourer and give it a sleeker look. Joel also hard mounted the saddlebags down and back. The bike was looking good!

I planned to take it in February on a trip to Phoenix for a conference there. I got it as far as Palm Springs before I noticed that the exhaust mounts on the right side had broken. So, my dad and brother came and got it and I met up and went on with my wife and in-laws who were traveling by car. Very disappointing, I know.

Since the Joel's been reworking the mounts and finishing up the changes that were left off for the trip. The bike should be wrapped up by next week.