Sort of. Mike T wanted to head up the coast for a 3 day ride. He’s one of the rare people who loves Garmin Basecamp so I sent him the GPX for a ride I had done a few years prior that was titled the Garberville Spa Enduro – not to do the same ride, but more to see some of the routes we took. The original ride that I took in 2021 had maybe a hundred riders starting from a Motel in Ukiah, ride dirt up to Garberville for another night in a Motel, then over to the coast and then back down to the Ukiah Motel again. That was two very very full days of riding.
Mike T decided that the route was good for us as it was and so he made no changes to it – other than having us camp instead of Motel. Camp for Night one would be at the Eel River Campground (a place Ernie and I had stayed at on a trip up to Oregon. Night two would be just south of Mendocino at Van Damme State Park (where we had stayed on the grass on another trip).
Mike T. rode up to my house and then we hopped on the freeway to meet up with Seth and Mark at a Peet’s in Napa. We were supposed to meet them at 12:30. I think Seth had a graduation to attend – so congrats to that. That also meant we’re getting a really late start. Yes, it was the same 4 guys who did the Tour de Fresno and one of had a helicopter ride!
We had more riding ahead of us than anyone knew. Only I had ridden the route previously. It’s also why there are so few pictures taken on this trip.
When we got to Peet’s, knowing the route and knowing the miles still ahead of us just to get to camp, I proposed cutting some corners.
Mike had us heading up to Ukiah first (red arrow). From there it headed into dirt pretty quickly and the trail was slow going. Instead, I suggest that we skip the first section and start in Upper Lake (blue arrow). I knew there was plenty of slow technical stuff to come from there (up to Mt Hull, Lake Pillsbury).
So off we headed up Hwy 29 to 175 along the west side of Clearlake. It was getting hot already in the day. We stopped for gas at the gas station, downed a Gatorade and from there we were on the correct GPS Tracks.
Mike had the Route running in his Garmin. I did too (as Tracks) but I also wanted to give Tricktracks a try so I had a custom Trictracks map running on my Garmin XT. Mike would generally lead, followed by either Mark or Seth, and then I had the Sweep.
As we hit dirt and were climbing up towards the eastern ridge I noticed my bike was running hot. I stopped in the shade and checked everything out. It had water in the radiator, in the overflow, and the fan was working. It always seems to run hot, but I think this was just a combination of the heat of the day, running slowly behind everyone else, and running up hill.
I let it cool a bit, we took off the radiator cap and filled it with a little cold water from my Camelback and it ran fine the rest of the way. Mike T suggested I take the lead for a few so I could run a little faster – so I did and that was fun too!
We got to the top of the ridge then worked north towards Lake Pillsbury. We stopped for just a second at Pine Mountain Lookout – which was a fire lookout but you can now book it and stay overnight there – pretty cool!
We came down to Lake Pillsbury, crossed the airport runway, then headed back up to Hull Mountain. The trail from Lake Pillsbury to Mt. Hull gets a little rocky, and a little more technical but nothing they couldn’t do. I stopped at the turnout to show them where to go if they wanted to reach the top but once again suggested that we were pressed for time, so we continued on.
This was the view from the top last time I was there. I like that you can see the airport runway. My bike is the far right and I’m the one with hands on my head.
From the top of Mt. Hull to the Eel River the road opens up a bunch. You are generally on top of the ridge on faster more flowing dirt roads. It was still a bunch of miles and we were burning daylight. Mike T put together a video from his perspective.
Somewhere along the top of the ridge I had a full grown bear cross the trail right in front of me. My camera wasn’t on but I did have Seth right behind me and he saw it too.
Along the ridge there were a few places where big trees had fallen across the road and we had to find a way up and around. Sometimes it was easy, other times a little hard to find the best way. I would be the first, find a way and then wait for Seth and the others to get there and help them navigate. In the end we all made it without incident.
Seth and I were riding together while Mike and Mark were a little further back as we dropped down the steep road into Eel River.
Seth and I pulled into Eel River Campground. It was quite busy and since it’s first come first served, we did a quick circle of the grounds and decided on a larger area near the entrance. Mike T and Mark were about 15 minutes behind us. I took off my backpack with my inReach on the shoulder strap, laid it in an open space out from under the trees and sent a message.
We all set up camp and even found some firewood in an nearby site that wasn’t being used. It had been a long hot day of riding and all of us were pretty tired. We got to Eel River too late for the country store (cold beer). We did have a fire, I shared the beef jerky and the rice crispies the wife had made and we sat around not even eating dinner.
I decided to sleep right where I had dropped my pack. I set my tent up with no fly so I could see the stars all night long. There was a New Moon that set around 10:30 PM that night so it was going to be good for stars. Some time during the night I was awake and noticed that the big dipper was perfectly framed in my tent. I wish I took a picture. I also saw a few satellites moving too.
You probably knew the Big Dipper always points to the North Star, but did you know it (and the rest of the constellations) revolve around depending on the season? Ignore the unintentional swastika looking part of this but I found an image that shows the different seasons.
As usual, Mike and I woke up early with Mark and Seth taking a little more time to get up and going. I have found I really like to just stand and watch nature come alive as the sun gets closer to rising. There’s something meditative about it for me. Once the others start to stir awake it was coffee and oatmeal time.
We broke camp and headed into Covelo for gas. Mark had to get back to his life so he was going to head south down to Inverness.
Taking the paved road west into Covelo, we have to drop south into the town (there’s not much of a town) and then back track north up to M1 which turns back into a dirt road.
We all stopped for gas at the only place in town. I had a little trouble trying to get my card to work at the pump and had to go in and have the cashier do it. Sometimes that happens. It wasn’t until I got home back to civilization that I saw the notification from my bank.
Needless to say, I cancelled that card.
Back to the ride. The road out of Covelo quickly switches from paved to gravel but it’s washboard gravel for a good long time. Finally, a few miles out of town it has less traffic and so less washboard and less dust so we picked up the pace. We did stop from time to time to take a pic or two.
We were now following the M1 along the top of the ridge and would be doing so for many miles. I came across a few places where Ernie and I had had opened the throttle on our big bikes years ago. I had also done this on my 690 just a few years earlier so it was somewhat familiar.
I was riding out front and had a bit of a lead. It was hot and I figured we could all use a quick break when we got to Kettenpom. There’s a small country store there and I had parked my bike, took my helmet and jacket off and was just about to walk in when I heard the guys bikes. Here’s a pic I took from the original Spa ride. My bike is the one on the far left and that’s exactly where I parked it this time too.
A pickup truck had pulled up and blocked the view of my bike. They didn’t see me. Instead of stopping, they turned left and headed away. I quickly put everything back on and gave chase! I caught up with them pretty quickly. I think they had slowed thinking (correctly) that they had somehow passed me.
The road down to Garberville is amazing and so much fun. It’s steep and goes on forever. Remember that on the original Spa ride – Garberville was the end of day 1. On this ride we didn’t want to drop all the way into Garberville but instead, we wanted to catch a road that led us back up and to the north.
We passed it but quickly found the mistake and back tracked just a few hundred yards and we were back on course. From there the gravel roads are beautiful as they curve around ranches and peaks. I’ve been on this section quite a few times.
We end up in the redwoods of Humboldt Redwoods State Park and cross under Hwy 101 at Weott just north of Meyers Flat. I asked the guys if they wanted to drop down and do Avenue of the Giants but with the time, we thought it better to keep going.
We got out of the big trees of the redwoods and into the hills as we headed towards Honeydew. I was going to pull over and get a picture of them riding over the big green bridge into Honeydew but they were right behind me.
We pulled up to the Honeydew store and took a break. I explained to them that we were going to head south from here towards Usal Beach but there was going to be a bunch of slow going miles before that. I also knew that it was proper to get a gallon of gas here before heading out as there was zero gas between here and Fort Bragg. The last time I did this, I pulled into Fort Bragg on fumes.
It was here too that we decided to try to make it into Shelter Cove for a late lunch. Seth had not yet seen Shelter Cove so we decided to add the detour. We still had many many miles to go for the day but to hell with it – it’s an adventure right?
We did stop in Shelter Cove and had lunch and a single beer at the pub (Gyppo Ale Mill).
We only saw one plane come in and land but we also saw a deer casually walk by the restaurant. Can you see him in the center of the picture?
Mike got up and took a better image of the buck. That’s the runway right behind him.
Full and sleepy we headed back up the hill and back on the trail to Usal Beach. This section is pretty much in the trees but it was still pretty warm. We stopped here and there.
We got to Usal Beach and rode out to the sand. It was crowded and so they decided it was better to not try to ride on the beach. I turned around but lost the front and dropped it in the sand. Yay me! Sorry no pics of that one. Like I said we were nappy and hot.
It’s about 15 miles from Usal Beach to Hwy 1 and then another 25 to Fort Ross for gas. We stopped at the gas station across from Jenny’s Burgers for gas. Seth and I bought a sixer of beer for the night (Hazy IPA). OH, and I remembered to get $3 dollars in quarters from the guy too.
We rode down Hwy 1 to Van Damme State Park. Mike T had a reservation there and while I had hoped again for the grass, we were just across from it. Still, life was good. Yes, it was getting late and yes we were still kind of full from our late lunch – so once again, no dinner.
Our camp neighbor had a water cooled VW Synchro that was all set up. It was he and his wife and two young girls. We happened to run across each other and I had a great chat with him about how I loved camping with my daughter in my 72 Westy.
The beer was great. We had a good fire in the ring and stayed up way later than I would have thought. Mike took 4 of my quarters and said the showers were great. The clouds and wind were coming up so it was a full fly kind of night.
In the pre-dawn of morning I got up before anyone else. I took a very nice hot shower before anyone was up. I then sat in camp and watched the world get brighter.
We broke camp and the plan was to head on back home skipping the Sherman Road section that the original route had us going on. Mike T and I had done that section coming the other way on our Father’s Day Ride a year before. I remember on the original Spa ride that Catfish Mike and I decided not to do it as we were sitting at Jenny’s Burgers.
Instead, Mike T suggested Fish Rock Rd. just north of Gualala. 30 miles long. I hadn’t ridden it so I was good to go! Here’s a video of the route – not from us. I’m not sure who this guy is.
It was dirt, with some paved, with some broken up stuff. It was tight and twisty and generally a lot of fun.
It was a great way to get back inland. It dropped right on to Hwy 128 which we stayed on down into Napa Valley and then on to home.
I failed to record my mileage but it was 3 very full days of riding. Thanks Mike T. for setting it all up Thanks Seth (who actually reads my blog) and thanks Mark (also for not taking another helicopter ride).
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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