Fresno to Laguna

Rounding one slow, dirty turn after another, and thinking to myself *you're gonna have to walk outta here,* I spy this van stuck up to it's rear axle in mud. I dismount an approach with "well, this makes two of us who shouldn't be here!" He introduces himself as John V. and shares he has only one leg and has been there for two days! I gave him the bag of mixed nuts brought for the trip and some juice from my thermous which he and his dogs scarffed ravenously. John became my savior when he whipped out that jerry can and told me the way to get out of there. I promised to call the BLM to come and get him out (more on that later)

Still shakey on the exact route , but relieved about the fuel situation I started back up the rise toward the salvation of black asphalt. The left I was to take was through an unmarked, locked gate which allowed horse and single tracked vehicle passage. The voices were in full debate on whether to procede or not. 200 yards ahead I got the first no vote from the bike. I crossed her up trying to negotiate a deep, decending wheel rut. CRUMP! Down she went! After all the explitives subsided, I noticed the signal was still intact!! Haha! No damage! We had cheated the mountain god of it's prize today! And on we went. 50 yards from that point, down we go again. This time the mountain god gets his vengance. After a couple of tries I lever the Mille up and take stock. Broken signal, slightly bent clutch lever, and a few scratches on the left side. El Diablo was merciful. It could have been worse. To my discredit, I could not bring myself to raise camera and shoot her lying there with that "Well Stooopid, don't just Stand there, PICK ME UP!" look on her face.

To add insult to injury, there's spooge all over the inside of my tankbag! El Diablo is now on all fours hysterical with Laughter! Spooge! (Note to self; when carrying spray cleaner in your tank bag, remove the little spray nozzle) All of it.....every drop! It looked like.....well I won't say what it looked like but that 8" cylinder emptied it's entire contents into the interior of my tank bag! Ewwwwwwwwww! The inside still smells pretty though.

Two drops is about my limit so I change the rescue plan to include a call to LLE when I get to Paicines at the junction of J1 and 25. Since it's my first time in this maze I'm not even confident in my ability to get back to New Idria. All I want is Out at this point. Panoche Road is a treat after New Idria. Beautiful Road, even better scenery, a small area where a recent Landslide has tore up the road, but overall very nice!

I stop to call at the store, relay the information to the 911 operator and grab some lunch (at 4:00) The lady running the store comes out and gives me the phone back. Seems the watch commander and seargent wanted to get a better idea where John was stuck. They talked me through the landmarks I could recall and came to the determination he was in Fresno County and that they would refer it to the Fresno county Sherriffs. Later someone from the Fresno office wants to start the whole process over. The next day a lady from Fresno county leaves no name but a #. Call the # and no one knows what I'm talking about! By this time I wish I'd called the Boy Scouts. What is so hard about getting up from your table at winchells and taking a nice drive at County expense to go look for a guy who may be still up there starving?