Road trip!!! boss, i'll be a little late for work.

[pashnit]

<span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'>A Pashnit Ride to Work</span>

Sometimes you just have to call the boss, and say, hey look, got some really important things to do today. Should be in about 1pm. Okay he says, see you then. Grab the camera, throw on the leathers and head out in 30 degree temps.

Our mode of transportation for today.

 

[pashnit]

The terrain our ride will traverse.

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[pashnit]

This is Happy Valley Cutoff - a road that parallels the main Highway E16. I stopped here to get a shot of the bridge. However, can you see the danger???

I couldn't. And if I would have just ridden over the wooden bridge, I probably would have crashed. Couldn't quite get a shot of it, but all this white stuff... is ice. The boards were coated in layer of it. So slippery I couldn't stand on it. Word to the wise for those early morning winter rides. Forgot my ice skates.

Gingerly, slowly, carefully, and I was across. Whew.

 

[pashnit]

Bit of exploring on Happy Valley Rd. You have to just love that name. Dead end though far as pavement is concerned. Here's some more pics of Happy Valley Rd from a previous ride.

Doubling back and over the next antiquated bridge.

Rivers at full steam this time of year. Few weeks ago, we had a quite a bit of flooding and was able to swing by here. The water was so high and rushing so fast, it sounded like freight train beneath the bridge. Funny how people always say things like that, but it's true, the sound is deafening.

 

[pashnit]

So much green

Onward

One of the best parts about winter riding in Cali, is the air is so intensely clear. You cansee an amazind distance. Along Highway E16, could see all the way to the Bay Area, across Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant (never activated, built in the 1960's) to Mt Diablo

 

[pashnit]

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More info on Mt Diablo You can see most of Northern California from the top of it. No lie.

 

[pashnit]

Shenadoah Valley is the heart of one of the wine producing areas of the Sierra Nevada Foothills

More vineyards. Very green this time of year.

 

[pashnit]

Figured I'd get some shots of Shake Ridge Rd, so while heading over to Fiddletown via Fiddletown Rd, came across this old barn along Highway E16 - Mt Aukum Rd

Fiddletown, one of many Gold Rush era towns eeking out a living on a meager doses of tourist traffic.

Seems they have some plans in order to spruce up the town.

You can pretty much spy the entire town from one spot.

 

[pashnit]

Fella used to sell antiques out of this old barn on the edge of Fiddletown. (It's also possible to connect north back to Hwy E16 from the east end of town).

Time to climb up to 4000 feet from Fiddletown to Shake Ridge Rd. Wanted to try and get some shots of Shake Ridge Rd to add to the archives. These are taken very near Hwy 88. TO the left out of view, is a vista that stretches off across the mountaintops to the north.

Then time to double back past Daffodil Hill (which should be open soon) and down Rams Horn Grade into Volcano. Fun road dropping off the mountainside, but short.

 

[pashnit]

Volcano is another interesting Gold Rush town, so named because the original settlers thought the mountainous basin the town resides in resembled the cauldren of a volcano.

Main street in Volcano, the hotel at the end of the street has been in operation for 150 some years (which is alot in these parts).

 

[pashnit]

Then back down Sutter Creek Rd to one of my favorite photo stops, this little bend in the river serves as a fun exercise in composition. Always been one of my favorite shots of the Busa.

 

[pashnit]

Then quickly through the small Highway 49 town of Sutter Creek to one of the foothill classics - Sutter Ione Rd. Interesting to see they are building a freeway along the edge of town to bypass it. The east end of this road is all tore up as they build an overpass for it. Have been meaning to explore Varia Ranch Rd (which is a narrow one-lane goat trail with a stream crossing), but no time today. Next time.

There are several spots at the top of Sutter Ione Rd where you can see the entire Central Valley, probably see 70-80 miles clear across. Not too many days of the year do you get this view, in summer its all hazy.

Interesting history about this photo. It's one of the first shots I took probably a decade ago that really grabbed me. Now I'm beginning to revisit a lot of these same exact spots around California to reshoot the photography in digital. This photo was published in Friction Zone Magazine while back.

Another great shot of the Pashnit Busa

 

[pashnit]

Okay, here's the dibs on another quicky must-do shortcut: Willow Creek Rd. It parallels the main Hwy 124. And no, your eyes don't deceive you, those are some very fun whoop-dee-whoops!

Time to continue on Willow Creek Rd and explore one more road we haven't been on in awhile.

My, my, more whooops!! And these are so extreme, the roadway was gouged out from all the cars jumping these. Reminds me of the teen years. My buddy Dean had a Firebird and we'd all load up and head outside of town to where the train tracks were. Get some speed up and we'd get the car airborne.

 

[pashnit]

If you are local, and for the sake of orientation, our ride traversed several of these below....

Other Pashnit Photo Threads about this region in case you enjoy this sort of thing, I know I sure relish the challenge of getting some decent shots of these roads:

http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10

http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4



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[pashnit]

Last shot, a Pashnit Classic.

I think I like this one best of this batch. A Pashnit Photo Tip is this shot is a good example of shooting into the sun. If you can bounce the sunlight off the road while shoooting directly into the sun, you can get a really cool glowing effect. And love that rolling effect of the terrain. I once got asked how come my shots never have any cars in them, well, It took awhile actually to get a car free view for a shot like this, bit of patience required.

This is Scott Road which is a shortcut over to Rancho Murietta, a rather affluent community outside Sacramento. The ride actually goes right past AeroJet - the place where the developed all the rockets that put men on the moon.

Not a bad ride to work, eh? Got to work wee bit after 9am, say about 1pm. Right on time.

 

[nitrousjunkie]

Great pics!

 

[Rycardo]

Fantastic.

 

[tonyy1]

excellent pics, as well as the write up.

 

[05bulldog]

WOW!!

 

[Warputer]

You could publish a great book Pashnit ! Beautiful country out there !