| Author | Message | ||
     Dino  |
I sorta, kinda live in/near two California towns that are about two hours apart - Porterville and Mariposa. So do I get two threads? This past weekend I ended up in Mariposa rather than P'ville, so I missed getting to go along with Ferris and Unibear on their romp, which has been documented quite nicely on FB's Lake Isabella thread. What's a boy to do? How 'bout a ride? Mariposa is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, just about at the south end of California's Gold Country. One of these days I'll get pix of the historic downtown, though being a gateway to Yosemite National Park has turned the ol' west portion into a somewhat glitzy tourist trap. The old jail is pretty cool, though. Gotta get pix of that. We're not going to the town of Mariposa on this ride. Our house is in the woods about 13 miles to the south east, in the direction of Ahwahnee and Oakhurst. This time we'll head into Ahwahnee, a wide spot in the road on Hwy 49, and then turn south on Rd. 600. There's is a large area of California real estate bounded by hwys 49 and 140 on the north, hwy 99 on the west, Hwy 145 on the south and hwy 41 on the east. It is beautiful rolling range land, ranging in elevation from about 500 feet near Fresno on the south to 3,500 feet near our place in the north. The roads are windy, surfaces mostly good, traffic almost non-existent. As Ferris would say...how bad does that not suck. At any rate, this time we're gonna dive down toward the valley on the ever twisty and scenic Rd 600. The first few pix are at a spot along Rd 600 overlooking a stream that flows south toward the Fresno River.    (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
Just a couple miles further down I noticed these moss covered rocks glowing from beneath the live oaks. A pit bull mix stopped to watch when I pulled over and dismounted. I kept an eye on her as I was pulling my camera from the tank bag...suddenly I felt something poke me in the back. Turns out the pit bull was a deliberate diversion to allow her buddy, the weimaraner, to sneak up on me from behind. Seems that these two dogs, once they had me off the bike, had no intention of allowing me to leave until I had lavishing considerable attention on each of them. I guess it coulda been worse, though it did make photography rather difficult. As I knelt down, framing my shot thru the strands of a barbed wire fence, I was constantly being poked in the back by one or the other (or both) of my two new best friends. Guess I shoulda gotten some pix of them too, sigh.   After smoozing with the pups for awhile it was onward to Rd 615 and west into Raymond. Raymond is an interesting example of how towns either catch on, or not. Raymond was actually the site of a brief presidential whistle stop one time in the distant past (sorry don't remember the details) but now is pretty much summed up by a county road yard, a general store, country school and a feed store. On Sunday the wild bunch was gathered at the general store with their Harleys and their black leather. The Suzuki and I fled northward in terror. Here we see Rd 613 heading north toward Mariposa. This is one drop-dead beautiful motorcycle road.  (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
I loved this rock. as Char pointed out when she saw the picture, looks kinda like a sculpture of a bird. Unfortunately, its head has fallen off.  Believe it or not, this little trailer is currently vacant. I'm sure the owner would be willing to rent it out cheap if anyone is looking to relocate to the area.  Hey, seriously...look, it has its own little motorcycle parking area along the road. Very convenient when you're entertaining.  (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
 It's in a wonderfully bucolic, rural area. Remember, in real estate location is everything!  And the neighbors are friendly. Why here comes the welcoming committee now.  (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
As we cross from Madera County back into to Mariposa County, Rd 613 turns into Ben Hur Rd. Don't ask, I don't have a clue. I'd like to ask a favor of anyone here who can look at this scene and not experience a severe moto yearning. Please buy an ad today and sell your bike to someone more deserving!  Climbing upward along this little stream the road surface quality experiences a temporary downturn. We expect at any moment to have one of those ugly dual-sport bikes appear from around the next bend, a blight on the pristine scenic splendor. Today, though, we are fortunate to escape unscathed. Looking back to the south.  and onward to the north.  (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
One last shot before I put away the camera and head up to hwy 49 and back east a few clicks to home. I don't know if this'll come across on your monitors in low resolution...but the subtle colors and textures here made for a stunning scene...shoulda been there. One interesting thing to note is the stone fence. Fences like this, built in the 1800s, are common throughout the Gold Country. As I recall, they were usually built by Chinese laborers. I suppose that this is the sort of projects those laborers were put to once they were done building the railway through the Sierra. A couple hours to the north, near the gold rush town of Sonora, is a crossroads still known as Chinese Camp. In some areas these fences still stretch for miles.  BTW, I understand that this scene is destined to be reinterpreted in pastel. (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) (Message edited by dino on January 31, 2005) | ||
| Unibear12r |
Nice Dino! Wasn't it just a great day today? | ||
| Jerry_haughton  |
looks like fun! looking forward to getting back up there again. btw, been awhile since i've seen the red "get me outta jail" bike.  | ||
| Dino |
Thanks, Unibear & FB. I had quite a nice time of it. I do, however, regret missing the ••• whuppin' FB musta gotten when he brought Denise's SV back all filthy from your ride. Oh well, can't have everything. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
We expect at any moment to have one of those ugly dual-sport bikes appear from around the next bend, a blight on the pristine scenic splendor. ouch! damn good thing i'm such a handsome man (which, apparently, got me out of the "••• whuppin' FB musta gotten" last night  ). nice pix, nice commentary, MUST get back up there one of these days. | ||
| Dino |
ouch! I know, who am I to talk, owning a Katana and all. But can the Strom keep you outta jail? MUST get back up there one of these days. If the rains keep up for a while yet this oughta be a great year for wildflowers in the foothills. Just one more reason to ride Hwy 49! (Like we need another one?)} | ||
| Denisea  |
nice, nice, NICE, Dino. | ||
| Court |
Hey...I know...it's not CA but I just took this and thought you giggle box photoheads would enjoy.  | ||
| Dino |
Ummm, Court, am I looking at what used to be a plaster ceiling? If so, firstly, awesome photo, secondly, bummer! Denise - My pleasure! | ||
| Timbo  |
WOW! Nice pics Dino! Talk about incredible roads/scenery. Some of those look surreal, like fantasy dreams. Good job. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Looks like those ice thingies hanging from expanded metal.  Burrrr... Also looks a little bit like the view I had for about two seconds after that snow bomb hit me in the head yesterday just before we topped out Greenhorn. Good thing we could only do about 25 or 30 through the muck & slush.  | ||
| Dino |
Thanks, Timbo. Yeah, there's something (the colors?) about some of those photos that make them look almost 3D, like the one with the wiggly arrow caution sign and the road disappearing into the hills. I'm thinking I may have to print the full res image to hang in my office. I'm also thinking that having that image hanging where I can see it at work might not be conducive to getting actual work done. | ||
| Timbo |
That's the exact shot I was thinking of Dino. You must have captured that one with the light within your eye. | ||
| Timbo |
Hey Court, Was that shot taken as you were determining the dew point at umpting degrees below zero? | ||
| Dino |
Timbo - I was looking at that photo and trying to figure out what seemed so odd about it. It finally struck me that it looks sorta like someone took a black and white photo and colorized it. You can only really see three colors...green, blue & yellow...almost too simple to be the real world. | ||
| Timbo |
I think part of it may be that the clouds look so soft, the shadows on the rolling hills soften the look even more. Very soothing blues and greens. Then you have the road, a hard surface, a stark contrast the surroundings. Knowing it's your portal, you can see that it curves as well, to caress and hug that incredible landscape, and then there is that wonderful sign to the right, full of promise, it confirms your desire. Perfect. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Great pic though. You can stare at it and wonder where it goes or then again not care and just let it take you where ever. | ||
| Court |
Timbo: Actually below freezing the "dew point" becomes the "frost point". This past week I've learned LOTS about measuring dew point and bought my first logging Thermohygrometer. The picture was taken with a Canon Powershot when I was quickly called to the scene of a broken pipe in a powerplant yesterday. The stalag-ice was about 20' top to bottom and the near zero temps through the night had created art from the spurting split 1/4" copper line. I took tons of pics but this one (it was someone elses camera) is from sticking the camera smack dab in the middle of the mess, pointing it up, shooting and hoping for the best. I like it and Kevin's camera will dry out be the time he gets back today. I got some killer shots of the "twisted gun" at the United Nations while there on an Asbestos investigation last Thursday too. | ||
| Dino |
Today we (the wife, my sister & I) were to do some hiking and picture takin' in Yosemite. I was looking forward to visiting some areas I'd never been to before. We made it few hundred yards and my sister slipped off a log in into a snow fed stream. What idiot led our little group across a wet log! Oh, yeah, that was me. End of hike. Back to the car. Back to the house. Okay, so much for a much anticipated hike. Guess I might as well service the chain on the Katana. Been letting that slip a bit this winter. Chain done, figured I'd better give it an oil change, too. Well, we don't want to drain cold oil, do we? Darn, guess a ride is called for. Unfortunately, this is the same ride as the one described above, so there's not much point in describing the roads all over again. These first shots are taken from the shoulder of Rd 600.   (Message edited by dino on February 27, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
Now we're on Rd 613, described above as "one drop-dead beautiful motorcycle road." The scenery along the road is kinda nice too.    | ||
| Dino |
Now, the one difference from the ride above is that I'm running out of gas. Since I have to go into town for fuel before heading back east for home, I figured I may as well visit that imposing edifice on the hill that I've nicknamed the Ferris Bueller Bed and Breakfast. I figure that if Ferris does much riding in this area, Mariposa County is likely to reactivate this facility in an attempt to regain control of it's backroads. The Ferris Bueller Bed and Breakfast:  | ||
| Dino |
The front door. Hmmm, no welcome sign.  I'm afraid that the view from the rooms is somewhat limited due to the window treatments.  The History:  | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
i suppose an assortment of local wines and cheese is out of the question??? nice pix, great to see the flowers coming back, and some green starting to sprout on the oaks. sheesh, ya threw your sister in the creek? the things some people will do JUST to go riding. | ||
| Dino |
It woulda been a beatiful day to go riding today, but the dog wanted to go too...whatcha gonna do? This first pic is taken looking upriver in the Merced River canyon, approaching Yosemite NP on Hwy 140.  And now, in the Park and after a short hike up the 'dogs not allowed' trail, looking east across Mirror Lake, or what's left of it. The lake is filling in with silt and becoming a meadow.  And again, with the zoom cranked up a bit.  | ||
| Dino |
The weather today was supposed to be partly cloudy. See that little bitty cloud in the Mirror Lake pics? That was it while we were in Yosemite. That's great for sight-seeing, but kinda boring for photography, so we ate lunch and left the Park. We went the long way home (Hwy 120) 'cause I thought I'd try to photograph a pretty hillside on Hwy 49, north of Coulterville, that I'd seen while heading north on business a couple days ago. For this pic I needed sun. When we got there, the exact area of the hillside in question was covered by a huge gray cloud that refused to move. Blasted clouds were not cooperating at all today. Here's a really boring shot of the hillside...no sun, no drama.  Just a few curves later we came across this lovely view west across the Merced River, toward the San Joaquin Valley. (Yeah, there really is a river way down in there somewhere.) BTW, this picture is taken while standing on the shoulder of one brilliant motorcycle road, Hwy 49 thru the Merced River Canyon. Ask Ferris, if'n you don't believe me.  After crossing the Merced, heading south toward Mariposa, the late afternoon sun painted this lovely scene just outside Bear Valley. Shortly thereafter the afternoon faded into evening, so home for dinner.  |
