The Grand Tour of Pashnit California

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Off to ride Central California's Highway 58

(Neil)


Than a turn north on Bitterwater Rd to exploring the rolling grassy hills of San Luis Obispo County.

Father and Son riding together.

 

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Bitterwater Rd is a personal favorite. It's middle of nowhere stuff!

Fall can bring a huge difference in colors along this road. Just look at the shot I took back in April when we experienced this road during that fantastic riding season! Same road.

 

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Just us. No traffic, no cars, no people. Not a care in the world, just man & motorcycle.

Neil, Ron & Robert

 

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Ron on the Street Glide

Robert, who was slowly getting used to the Road Glide. Compared to his normal Kawasaki Ninja 636 back in Scotland, this was quite the large behemoth of a machine to him.

 

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Neil who while throughly enjoying his view aboard his Intruder 1500, was quite taken with Gary's Yamaha FJR1300.

Neil's view of San Luis Obispo County

After Bitterwater Rd, the requisite stop at the James Dean Memorial in Cholame.

 

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After crossing the state, we were met by Mark and Judy, local residents to the Bakersfield region. Mark is also a long-time cop and came two-up on their BMW GS.

It was a pleasure having Mark along as we began riding some of his local roads in the Southern Sierra Nevada Foothills. Locals might recognize the highlighted roads on the Map. Jack Ranch Rd (bottom middle), Old Stage Rd (awesome!!!), Hwy 155 to Mountain Rd 50. The loop we finished up with at top is Hwy 190- the Western Divide Highway. (btw, my buddy Rick (gts_rider) recently posted some ride video - clicky of Hwy 190 which is fantastic)

That highlighted road at right btw was from a previous road trip in the region that generated some fantastic photography- check it out when you have some time- a thread entitled, "The Road with No Name."

No pics of of Old Stage Rd (use your imagination- it has 'Old' in the title) or Hwy 155 which was just paved- glassy smooth!! So after lunch together, it was off to ride Mountain Rd 50, aka Hot Springs Dr, up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

A stop along Mountain Road 50. I was enjoying the view so much as the elevation began to climb, I finally just pulled over. What a fantastic sensation to just be able to park and stare off into the distance.

 

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Requisite Busa shot...

The Intruder

Mark & Judy aboard the BMW GS

 

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At the top of the hill (as in above 6000 feet) with the temperature dropping a good 15 degrees, we arrived at the Western Divide Highway. You'd never know this was here if you were just rolling through, but there's a grove of Giant Sequoia's there- the Trail of a Hundred Giants.

Okay, show of hands. How many have never seen a Giant Sequoia?

My Scotsman was awestruck.

So just how big is it?

 

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The size just boggles the mind...

You try to take it all in. This thing is huge!

Branches that have fallen off Giant Sequoias were found to be as much as 6 feet in diameter. Just the branch.

You don't say, says Mark.

 

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Our group in the Trail of a Hundred Giants. Big tree!

 

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Very fun day of exploring Pashnit Roads.

Then to wrap up the day, it was off to ride this... Yes, all those twists and turns are real.

Oh, and did I mention about the Security Detail guarding the Pashnit Sticker? We take this stuff really seriously.

Btw, if you want one of these stickers, just pm me your name/address and I'll send some out.

 

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Stopping mid-way down on Hwy 190 - Western Divide Hwy. Ridden a lot of twisty roads over the years but this section down to Camp Nelson is by far one of the most curvaceous roads in the state.

Did you catch the earlier reference to the ride video of Hwy 190?
Clicky if you'd like to watch Video of the road we were on.

On to Day 3...

 

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First order of business, ride Highway 198... If you know the road, or have every ridden it, this 3-D satellite map from the website (there are about 1200 of these on the site) may provide an interesting perspective of today's ride. The sinous ride up the canyon, and at top right, you can see Moro Rock.

(looking due north)

...into Sequoia National Park and climb up to 6725 ft Moro Rock.

 

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Approaching Moro Rock via the southern entrance to the park...

The climb up is virtually right up the mountain side switchbacks running to and fro. Highway 198 ascends several thousand feet in a matter of miles. From desert like conditions to a lush forest of green.

No it's not the Swiss Alps, Just California.

Plenty of twists and turns in the awesome shadow of mountain ranges. Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the Lower 48 is nearby.

 

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Finally reaching Moro Rock- it's a lump of rock that pushes up to 6725 ft. You can look down 360 degrees and see for miles.

 

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Panoramic Version

http://www.pashnittours.com/photos....mic.jpg

 

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A few stairs... There are 400 of them, and it's a 300 foot rise.

Back in 1917, the first wooden steps pictured here were built to reach the top. No handrail, and straight to the top. Even nearly 100 years ago, they also enjoyed a good view. The present day path is carved out of & into the rock, and made of aging concrete was that done in 1931.

Quite a few steps and narrow places. Vertigo prone need not apply.

 

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Between rocks, under rocks...

(Neil)


Quite the drop-off, pretty much straight down... note the road for scale.

Looking up... I want to go there!

 

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Robert, who no matter where I took him was just in awe.

"We have nothing like this in Scotland," he kept saying.

Ron- Nothing like this in Wisconsin either.

That's the road we just came up btw. During the ride up, you can clearly see Moro Rock prominently lording over the region.