Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

Just finished rebuilding the Ice House Rd webpage :clap , and mentioned Peavine Ridge. One of the spur roads off this well-known motorcycle ride that circles around with Wentworth Springs Rd.

But always curious about Peavine Ridge. :nod The rest of the pics.

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Our locale for the day... You can sort of make out Peavine Ridge Rd at bottom left.

http://www.pashnit.com/maps-keyhole/.../IceHouse4.jpg

Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

But first, rode up Ice House Rd a bit to get some shots of the Crystal Range. Right over that mountain range is Lake Tahoe.

Keep an eye out for logging trucks. :p

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

Back to Peavine Ridge which starts out like this, wide open spaces, no center line. :lala

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The peaky peak at center is Pyramid Peak, one of the more visible landmarks for miles and miles in this region of the Sierra Nevada Mtns.

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It's wide open expanses b/c the Cleveland Fire in 1992 burned all of this, 24,000 acres, but its all been replanted and growing back fast. :2thumbsup

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

The panoramic version, in the valley below is Hwy 50, the main drag between Sacramento & South Lake Tahoe.

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

See the deer?

Just georgeous up here! :love

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Came to a fork in the road. No dirt tires on this baby. :p Actually, I'd explored that road (White Meadow Rd) about a year prior on the hayabusa (till the pavement ended). It connects back to the valley below. Name change to Jaybird Powerhouse Rd so I continued on.

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Yes, that's snow. And ice. I had to stop and walk it first. It was sanded so gingerly I went. ST1100 with its upright riding position is perfect for this sort of thing, very well balanced bike! :nod

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View to the west- I'm headed into that canyon to the river bottom.

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

The descent into Jaybird Canyon was a dirty sandy twisty affair.

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And icy. I had to walk this one first also to see if I could make it around. :riding

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Check out these switchbacks on the satellite. Straight down the canyon! :riding These snowy ones above are the very top one on the satellite. Fortunately, right after this, I dropped below the snowline. You can see the generating plant and penstock too (the straight line). The ones below are the last switchback in the satellite pic which was a total 180 swap in direction. :p

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

Steep! Love this pic. Feels rugged.

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Another angle of this hairpin.

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All this for water. Hydro power. This penstock feeds the water into the generating plant.

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Waterfall that didn't photograph well, but sound was cool! Starts way up on the cliff.

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Anyone up for some stairclimbin' :p

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

Jaybird Powerhouse- this one is really tucked away, I wouldn've had any idea this one was back in here if I hadn't been curious enough to ride to the end of the road! :2thumbsup This water eventually flows to Coloma (where they discovered gold) and on into Folsom Lake, through Sacramento, to the Bay Area and into the ocean.

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Headed back out of the canyon, still a great view at the top!

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

Had to double back through the same patch of snow & ice. Made it okay. :D

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Then time to explore a spur road I'd passed by to see where this would lead - Bryant Springs Rd

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Noted the sign for the Powerhouse. But that road was closed. Maybe next time. :D

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Ends up at the west side of Union Valley Reservoir (which you can see in post#1)

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Re: Riding atop Peavine Ridge & the descent into Jaybird Canyon
 

Union Valley Reservoir looking eastward

Scroll --> Purty, huh? :love At right out of view is Big Hill Fire Lookout photographed here...

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