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Yet another possibility: When I travel up 395 I usually stop at the Randsburg General Store for an old fashion ice cream soda or a phosphate at their 100+ year old soda fountain. Yum! The food there is pretty good too, but I usually just stop for something from the fountain.
The Randsburg General Store is 1.1 road miles from 395. This, obviously, would be a Friday or Sunday stop.
Here’s another possibility: The shuttle bus season for Devil’s Postpile National Monument has ended for 2021 so we could ride all the way in if we wanted to. That would add around 35 miles to the Saturday route and could be done on the way out or back. The BIG IF is whether the road in will be open. Parts are currently “temporarily closed due to snow” but that could change between now and next weekend.
Harry, I would like to join the campers at Morro Dunes RV Park. I’ll be riding solo but my tent is a 4-person (8×8’). This, because the Pinnacles ride taught me that I need a tent I don’t have to crawl around in.
Pete (who has a virtually new 2-person tent for sale).
Rock Creek Lake, Convict Lake & Lundy Lakes are all prime spots for seeing color changes also. Lunch at the Whoa Nelli Deli, the Mobil Station just south of Lee Vining, is popular and not real expensive.
Growing up as a kid (many many moons ago) our family vacations often included camping at the Lundy Lake Resort. One of my most memorable experiences was hiking up to the May Lundy Mine to watch the bats come out at dusk. I also caught a bat once while fly fishing at dusk on the lake.
I haven’t been back there in more than 50 years and would love to see the lake again.
They say there’s strength in numbers, so I’ve switched my reservation from the Motel 6 to the Red Roof Inn.
Looks like I’ll be riding to S.W. Utah (St. George, Zion, Bryce, Cedar City and ???) on Sept 30 — Oct 3rd, so my butt should be well seasoned for the Fall Colors Ride.
Room booked. It’s the Fall Colors ride, so instead of lugging camping gear I’ll bring my little Insta360 camera ~and~ a “real” camera for a change.
I’m going the budget (read: cheap) route and I’ll be staying at the Motel 6. $251.90 total price for both nights including fees and taxes with my AARP discount.
It has been 30 years since I’ve slept in a tent I cant think of a better bunch to give it a try once again than this crew. Its official. I’m in and I have the receipts on all this overprice junk from REI to prove it.
Wow, Sergio and my stories are almost identical. For me it’s been 31 years and there’s a little over $1000 invested in the drybag and contents below. Needless to say, it will be strapped to my RT, not the Camry. 😝
Looking forward to the ride.
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At the risk of stealing Willis’s thunder (as resident weatherman), you’ll find the forecast for Pinnacles National Park for next Friday attached below. Saturday’s forecast is around 2° cooler and Sunday’s is 3° cooler than that. This is from the Dark Skies app which I have found to be as accurate as anything else I’ve used and I’ve long considered myself as a pretty good amateur meteorologist which goes hand-in-hand with being a long-time RC glider guider.
But bear in mind that any REAL meteorologist will tell you that trying to forecast weather more than a couple days out with any degree of accuracy is a fool’s game.
BTW, I’ve come up with an acceptable solution to the registration debacle I’m facing with my RT, so I will be joining the group for the ride after all. Yay!
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For those of you who don’t do Facebook:
It’s official: There’s a brand new recorded message when you call the Pinnacles National Park telephone number which states that the park and campground are open and not affected by the National Forest closures.
My apologies for beating the drum unnecessarily. Sounds like we can proceed as planned.
It has come to my attention that the Pinnacles National Park is not in a National Forest, so the National Forest closure may not affect camping at Pinnacles.
I tried calling the campground store but could only get voicemail.
ATTENTION:
This evening the US Forestry Service announced that they are CLOSING ALL NATIONAL FORESTS IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA effective at 11:59 PM on August 31st (tomorrow @ noon). This closure is expected to last until “the end of the day on September 17th.
The Pinnacles campground is in the National Forest, so this probably means we don’t have a campground to go to (although I don’t know this for a fact).
Oof! I wonder if there’s a private canpground in that general area we can get a reservation at? I’d be willing to spend more than $20 to make this trip happen.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD949139
Question: on multi-day rides like the Pinnacles ride coming up, do the campers break camp each morning and take everything with them on the Saturday ride, or can the tents and sleeping bags stay behind?
For those who are planning to stay in a motel rather than camp, Hollister might be a better choice than King City. The road-miles from the Pinnacles Campground to King City or Hollister is virtually the same, but the big difference is our Saturday route both going and coming goes right past Hollister.
Here’s something else to consider: Hollister is the home town of Corbin Saddles and Corbin Saddles is home to the Wizzard’s Cafe which is open to the public. I stopped there in 2018 to have a new seat made for my Triumph Bonneville and I had breakfast in their cafe while I waited. The food is good and the walls are covered with all kinds of motorcycle-related memorabilia. Their showroom has some interesting eye candy in it too.
They’re open Mon-Sat from 8:30-1:30 so this could be a good meet-up spot if anyone decides to stay in Hollister. For that matter, it could be a good breakfast stop on Saturday morning.
I’ve attached a couple photos of the Wizzard’s Cafe below.
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This, from the Pinnacles Campground Store about the showers:
Quarter operated, 50 cents for 3 minutes.
Quarters are available at the Campground Store, but bringing your own quarters is advised because they occasionally run out.
I forgot to ask whether the showers are warm or cold.
Wood and charcoal fires are currently PROHIBITED. This includes BBQ grills and portable wood stoves. Propane stoves are allowed in the campground and picnic areas only.
https://www.nps.gov/pinn/planyourvisit/conditions.htm
I’ll be bringing my Jetboil MiniMo.
The Big Basin Way Loop has 2 road closures on it that will last until June 2022. This, according to Google Maps and the Caltrans Road Information website.
It looks like the China Grade Road bypasses the closures and the GS riders would probably appreciate it, but maybe not the RT riders. It is paved, but not in very good shape according to Street View.
Here’s a little update for those of you who care: The smoke and air quality in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks has improved significantly since yesterday morning. Air quality now ranges from good to moderate throughout the area versus moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups. A lot can happen between now and Sunday, but the current trend is moving in a favorable direction.
Below are the smoke and air quality maps from this morning and this evening for comparison. Green spots are good and yellow is moderate. Bear in mind that moderate readings are fairly common in the Los Angeles Basin. BTW, the blue dot in the center of the PM map is Grant Grove Village which is about as far north as our planned route will take us on Saturday.
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Someone at the general meeting asked me for my smoke/air quality source (sorry, but I haven’t been a club member long enough to know everyone’s names yet). Anyway, it’s:
FWIW, the air quality has deteriorated significantly up where we are going, but there’s a wind shift forecast that could clear things up. I’ve attached a snapshot of the air quality history at Lemon Cove as of this morning to show how quickly things can change. Even the professionals will tell you that it’s a fool’s game to try to forecast meteorological events more than 2-3 days ahead.
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