PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: by Paul Boettin
Hello again everyone. This is the annual reminder: Our fiscal year started on July first. What does that have to do with you? If you haven't paid your dues yet, now is the time to do so. The club needs your support, and we don't want you to miss out on any of the activities and newsletter. And you may not realize that a portion of your dues money goes to organizations that support our rights, such as the AMA and the Blue Ribbon Coalition. Well, it sure was nice to escape the heat of the valley when we arrived at the top of Packsaddle Pass (Strawberry) during the July 4th weekend. While camping up high on the ridge, we enjoyed a cool light breeze and the high altitude which kept temperatures quite comfortable all day long. Just right for trail riding.
There were eight rigs who arrived for the weekend as well as three day riders on Saturday. As usual Chas led us on a lot of great rides. On one ride we encountered an unusual amount of snow which forced us to turn around and change our plans for the days ride. Le also led some of us on a short ride to Mushroom Rock. I'm not sure if that's the official name for it, but it sure does look like a mushroom. Thank you both for leading some of us geographically-challenged riders around for most of the weekend. After the Strawberry outing, I took a week’s vacation and headed up to Little Grass Valley Reservoir for our annual family camp-out. Since the fish weren't biting very much, my cousin Bart and I decided to head east through Poker Flat and do some riding in the Gold Lake and Downieville areas. We were not surprised when we ran into a lot of snow at the higher elevations such as the Chimney Rock trail. We have hit snow there in the same areas for the past two years in July. Hopefully the snow will be gone for the club outing there in August. I am ashamed to report, I only landed one fish in the boat after three mornings of fishing.
PACKSADDLE PASS PHOTOS: by Chas Moser
PACKSADDLE PASS OUTING: by Chas Moser
Camping at 7,000+ feet at Packsaddle Pass was wonderful. Imagine maximum daytime temperatures in the low 70's over the 4th of July weekend, together with beautiful scenic views and nice sunsets!! A total of eight rigs showed up with 12 riders!! Wow ... will wonders never cease?! There were several rides going out each day, some of which will be discussed here. On Thursday, Chas put on 54 miles basically reacquainting himself with the general trail layout, checking snow levels, etc. Friday was more or less a "kick back" day with very limited trail riding.
On Saturday, nine riders started out with high hopes. Excellent progress was being made up the "jeep" trail just east of Strawberry Creek up towards the "viewpoint" overlooking Caples Lake and Kirkwood Meadows when we literally ran into insurmountable snow up very close to the top. Just before this point, two riders were forced into "limping" back to camp with bike problems. The remaining five retraced their steps back down the hill and rode the Lover's Leap trail for lunch at Lover's Leap. What a view!! Luckily for us there were no malcontent lovers among us. After lunch, Chas led the group up a dirt road just west of Strawberry Creek which soon branched off and quickly turning into a technical single track trail. At a "T" in the trail, Chas made the (some claim unfortunate) decision to turn left in order to proceed up the mountain. This trail turned out to be extremely steep, long, and loose in spots. Two more riders turned back due to engine overheating issues; however, five bikes made it to the top just west of Buck Pasture. The ride back to camp on crisscrossing dirt roads was almost anticlimactic. Everyone looked forward to the wine social, capped off with a "normal" evening potluck. Kudos to the cooks. The sunburned Lasagne [solar-cooked] actually wasn't all that bad.
The general plan for the main Sunday ride was to do the Caples Creek/Highway 88/Silver Lake loop. Five riders started out meandering along the dirt roads en route to the Caples Creek trailhead. On one of these roads, Chas noticed a small sign reading "Hay Flat Trail" with nothing alluding to the treacherous nature of said trail, other than a black diamond designation. A collective decision was made to take the Hay Flat trail down to Caples Creek. " That's my story, and I'm sticking to it." Well, eventually we all made it basically intact down the trail, past Government Meadows to the upper creek crossing. CREEK?!!!! This raging body of water was at least 25 feet across and six feet deep in spots. Moving downstream along the single-track Caples Creek trail across the forest floor and through bucolic meadows, we reached the lower crossing where the bridge was still intact. After a casual lunch at Caples Creek, we started up the steep trail on the other side, confronted with a series of tight switchbacks and rocky uphill ledges. After much contemplation, only Keith and Chas decided to continue on. We made it to Highway 88 and Plasse Resort and started the loop around Silver Lake. The upper route borders the Mokelumne Wilderness area. We met a Yamaha rider coming from the other way and learned that there was still too much snow to complete the loop; therefore we regrettably were forced to turn back. After proceeding about 12 miles up Highway 88 past Silver and Caples Lakes, we turned left into the Caples Creek Maintenance Station, which serves as the trailhead for the back route up to the "viewpoint" overlooking Caples Lake and Kirkwood Meadows. Finally, a day late and a dollar short, we continued on over the technical single-track past Buck Pasture and ultimately back to camp after 48 miles. What a Ride!!
PACKSADDLE PASS PHOTOS: by Vicki Hepler
STRAWBERRY IN THE SUMMER OF ‘06: by Le Wallin
All was hot in Sacramento and I was wondering if 7100 feet of elevation was enough to make a difference. It sure was. It was so nice I stayed at Packsaddle Pass five nights. Both the weather and the rent was as good as it gets. Cool in the shade and in the sun? Burned in 20 minutes? Ask Colombo. Next time you see Chas, check out his head, about 2 inches above the ears and a little forward. Yep, those are horns that are starting to grow, probably about two inches long by now. Who knows what else might be visible if he was wearing a swimsuit. The word was day after day, "That was a devil of a ride;" "We were to hell and back." Now, a sensible man such as myself - I rode with Bob Smith, a gentleman rider, and yet somehow or other we were joined by some whipper snapper of a young man on a trials bike. He was on the pegs most all the time, and when Bob and I would stop to look over a tough section, he would ride up around us, look over the situation while still riding, circle around over a few rocks or logs, and then get back in his place in line. Getting old is not for sissies.
Bob and I stopped for a lunch break. After about ten minutes, the kid was ready to go. We were still eating and then we needed some settle-down time. Well, the rooster took off on his own and promptly headed off 90 degrees out of synch with the trail. Soon he was back and we pointed out the correct direction. We saw him again heading up to Lovers’ Leap and that was the last we saw of him. Probably rode down the other side and came out on Route 50. We took two rides over to Mushroom Rock and it is still standing much as it was 20 years ago when I first came upon it. It has a few new bullet chips on it, but otherwise it’s as good as ever. We covered a lot of miles cause much of the two-track is easy riding. I got in approximately 185 miles in my four days of riding. Surprisingly, one of our favorite two-track routes was closed with snow; most everywhere else, snow was not an issue. The pot luck on Saturday night went off smoothly; everyone brought something and, of course, there were enough peaches to go around and some left over for breakfast next morning. The club turn-out was pretty good - eight rigs and three day riders. We were all hoping to see Big Foot Hampton after his bad luck at the May outing, but he didn’t make it. Hope you are still doing well, Bob. Well, don’t forget the meeting on the 19th of July, same place. I’m going for a turkey leg. See you there, - - Longfellow.
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