| July 11-13th, 2003 Special
thanks to Rick Sylvies for the fine photography!
Some pictures and a ride report from
our 2nd Annual SoCal Netscum camping trip along
the South Fork of the Kern River in the Kennedy
Meadows/Kernville area of
Southern California...
RxRick's Dyna...
who needs a bagger? |
Marie, Tom,
and RxRicks's wife Helen on Caliente-Bodfish
Road South of Kernville |
Descending
into Lake Isabella
(note that yet another one of my lights
is out again... arrgh!) |
Tom and Marie
in downtown Kernville |
Heading North
along the upper Kern River |
Two biker
babes spotted at the Sherman Pass summit
rest stop |
RxRick and
Helen's campsite
(note the bottle of Scotch) |
Tom and
Marie's campsite
(note the bottle of Jack) |
Toph and
Krys's campsite
(note the cozy tent for two) |
Toph and Tom
engaged in a highly technical discussion |
Larry and
Jan's party central... the place to be
when it's 103! |
Larry's up to
something but nobody's really sure what |
Krys and
NbrRick |
Toph and Mikel |
Tom showering
his pal Howard with praise |
| "The
Moon Series" |
Moon Over Dyna |
Moon Over Fire |
We had so much fun last
year on the 1st
Annual Grumpy Bears Run we
decided to do it again this year, only this time
Grumpy Bears wasn't sponsoring a run. Apparently
they're going through some changes and in fact we
heard there was a shooting the day before our
arrival and sure enough there was a bullet hole
in the bar to prove it.
This year Marie and I were determined
to actually camp out instead of just running up
for the day. With the help of some nice big
throwover saddlebags borrowed from Larry we
figured out how to get everything we needed (with
the exception of food) on the bike. In fact it
worked out so well I think we'll be doing more
camping trips on the bike together in the future...
No vacancy? No problem!
RxRick and his wife Helen (her first
camping trip on the bike also) stayed over at his
parent's place in Quartz Hill the night before
and joined us in Palmdale for the ride up on
Friday morning. Rather than reinvent the wheel
here's RxRick's ride report as posted on our
private mailing list...
"Friday morning we pulled up
to Tom and Marie's at around 8am. After a quick
run to his buddy's shop to top off his oil tank,
we were under way. Tom knows the Antelope Valley
like I know Long Beach, so he lead us across some
gorgeous high desert scenery en route to
Tehachapi. We passed a bunch of alfalfa fields (they
smell sooo good...) and then up into the wind
farms. We passed a freshly cut field where a
coyote was standing looking at some cows (calculating
his odds?). The wind was blowing hard, so the
windmills were all turning - kind of surreal up
there. At the turn-off for Kernville, we found
ourselves facing a long stretch of fresh asphalt.
It was so fresh we stopped and our boots sank 2"
into it. Luckily, Tom knew another way and we
found ourselves on a nice twisty road into Lake
Isabella and Kernville, where we had lunch.
The next stretch is one of the
great ones - along the valley of the upper Kern
river for a ways then up the switchback to
Sherman Pass. It had been pretty warn in
Kernville, but it was downright cool at 9200 feet.
This is good, because my bike was *hot* after
that long climb with two people and gear. There
has been a big fire up there since we went last
year, so a fair amount of the scenery is black
instead of green, which is kind of sad. Down the
other side and into Kennedy Meadows where we
spotted "the rig" right away at the
same campsite we had last year. We pulled in at
around 2pm, IIRC.
Already there were Nbr Rick and
his pal Sam (although he *drove*, so it doesn't
really count) and the Priors, including offspring
Nathan. We dumped gear and headed for the store (hey
Fred - the horsie swing is gone) and to check out
Grumpys. Then back to camp for some serious beer-guzzling.
Toph and Krys showed up shortly after us and
Mikel came in later that evening. We all gorged
ourselves on hamburgers, courtesy of the Priors,
then hypnotized ourselves with a roaring campfire
and a bit of scotch.
Saturday was a great day. So great
that we didn't even go for a ride, other than ice/water
runs to the store and Grumpys for dinner. Mikel
and I were up early for fishing. The stream was
running at a good level and lots of trout were
caught. He got a good one (14-15" long and
fat), which he promptly cooked and ate. I didn't
keep any as my largest was only about 11"
long. We had a bacon and egg feast for breakfast
courtesy of Larry's stove and several cooks.
Remind me to go camping with the Priors again - I
never get to eat that well. As the day got warm,
Toph and Krys were going to the swimmin' hole (by
the bridge), so Helen and I piled into the back
of her jeep and went with them. Man, did that
feel good. The river is cool, but not ice cold
and we had a terrific swim. Krys spotted a little
garter snake, but he slithered out of my hand and
got away. There were a bunch of snake sightings
this year. Then it was back to camp for beer, a
nap and more afternoon fishing. We went into
Grumpys with Toph & Krys and Mikel for "prime
rib Saturday". It was more like pot roast
Saturday, but it was pretty good, if a bit
overdone (and overpriced). Then back to camp for
some serious scotch-guzzling. Helen is a scotch-drinker,
too (of course - she's Scottish), so we pretty
much killed off the bottle. A very, very good day.
Sunday was just a hot ride home
with the Duffeys, followed by a long dip in my
parent's pool. Helen drove home with Fiona and I
tossed the gear in the trunk before having a
pleasant ride over the pass back to LaLa land. My
bike felt light as a feather with just me on it.
Thanks to Larry and Jeanette for
dragging their palace up there for everyone to
use. Camping is always nicer when you have fresh
coffee in the morning and chairs to sit on."
Thanks Rick, I couldn't have said it
better myself!
Check out the SoCal
Netscum 3rd Annual Kennedy Meadows Run
for more pictures and a ride report from the next
year's trip.
|
