Friday–Sunday, 10–12 Aug 2012
Marc writes
Tom led the GS ride to Beardsley Lake and back with a Saturday excursion on dirt to find the locked gate at the southern end of Donnell Lake.
Friday we took Jerry up on his offer to drop by the Norton camp out in the Dardenelles. Good thing we knew several of the Norton Club members in attendance as Jerry hadn’t arrived yet even though his Norton was already in camp. He finally arrived on his Honda as the BMW GS riders were leaving the Dardenelles for a late lunch/early dinner in Strawberry.
Saturday was dirt day. See the route map, below. As you peruse the map notice that the group did not get very far on Forest Route 5N06 once it turned east. The road reportedly goes to CA 108. It soon turned to something more suitable for 250 cc dirt bikes piloted by experienced off road riders. We stopped instead of finding out just how slippery and deap was the water crossing our leader spotted in the distance… it was just coincidence that one of the GS decided to take another nap at the stopping point. The group spent an hour getting the bikes turned around one at a time using mostly muscle power. It was 100+ in the shade. Alas, little shade was to be found at that location.
Several falls later we made it back to camp. Tom, Dave and Marc detoured to the store at Strawberry to refill the water, ice, and beer supply. The ride back to camp did not take long. It also didn’t take long to find out just how good a dip in Beardsley Lake feels after a hot day in the dirt. I think all riders slept well Saturday night.
Sunday was an un eventful ride home.
Pictures from Marc and Carl
Tom
Randy and Mike
Hot! (100+ in the shade)
How many SMBC members does it take to pitch a tent?
Home
All GS
Randy and Dave
Tom, Mike, and Dave
Where’s Jerry?
There’s a Norton
Tom
The view
Dave
Carl
Before the fall
GS PD
Tom
Dave
Marc
Randy and Dave
Some video from day 2 of the ride
The route map is of the dirt section taken Saturday. The long section heading toward Donnell Lake was run in both directions. As is usual, the maps don’t show the locations of locked gates.
