OrangevaleFJR
R.I.P. Our FJR Riding Friend
I have been itching to use my DRZ400SM that has its dirt wheels on to go explore in the Sierra. I lit out of Orangevale at 9am and basically slabbed 60 miles to fill up at Emigrant Gap before I headed off the beaten path.
I took I-80 to Hwy 20 to Bowman Lake Road.
I was heading to a place where in 1866 people branched out of the main gold mining areas to strike their claims in more remote places. The good thing about all this gold mining is that we have roads to places and trailheads that would simply be too difficult otherwise.
How we ride bikes up those hills.
So, I often find myself thanking the hearty prospectors that searched the Sierra for gold. Often time they created wonderful mountain towns for us to visit, other times they dammed lakes to allow for their hydro cannons so they could strip away the earth from the rock. We are left with many, many lakes that PG&E deftly utilize for hydroelectric power and wonderful roads into the wilderness that let us find them.
Another by product is the NID ditch.
I hope that my age leaves similar such things behind that are of use and a pleasure to visit. The Internet? Rovers on Mars? Skyscrapers made of metal and glass? Cinder block walls between our roads and our neighborhoods? Stories about trips on motorcycles around this beautiful world? Who knows what will be the most coveted by who? But today, I coveted access to places that I could never have visited in a short 8 hour day without these roads and my DRZ.
Heading up Bowman Lake Road, it starts off with tar that takes me past two rivers, the NID Ditch and some nice views.
The tar ends and a dirt road of vastly varying condition takes its place.
Just before I got to Bowman Lake, I found this couple relaxing after a slow and scary ride up a pretty nasty dirt road. He said he won't be bringing his full dresser up here again.
Bowman Lake
I have a lot more, but the software is screwing with the formatting if I post one after another...so I'll just wait and post later.
I took I-80 to Hwy 20 to Bowman Lake Road.
I was heading to a place where in 1866 people branched out of the main gold mining areas to strike their claims in more remote places. The good thing about all this gold mining is that we have roads to places and trailheads that would simply be too difficult otherwise.
How we ride bikes up those hills.
So, I often find myself thanking the hearty prospectors that searched the Sierra for gold. Often time they created wonderful mountain towns for us to visit, other times they dammed lakes to allow for their hydro cannons so they could strip away the earth from the rock. We are left with many, many lakes that PG&E deftly utilize for hydroelectric power and wonderful roads into the wilderness that let us find them.
Another by product is the NID ditch.
I hope that my age leaves similar such things behind that are of use and a pleasure to visit. The Internet? Rovers on Mars? Skyscrapers made of metal and glass? Cinder block walls between our roads and our neighborhoods? Stories about trips on motorcycles around this beautiful world? Who knows what will be the most coveted by who? But today, I coveted access to places that I could never have visited in a short 8 hour day without these roads and my DRZ.
Heading up Bowman Lake Road, it starts off with tar that takes me past two rivers, the NID Ditch and some nice views.
The tar ends and a dirt road of vastly varying condition takes its place.
Just before I got to Bowman Lake, I found this couple relaxing after a slow and scary ride up a pretty nasty dirt road. He said he won't be bringing his full dresser up here again.
Bowman Lake
I have a lot more, but the software is screwing with the formatting if I post one after another...so I'll just wait and post later.
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