Ride in the mountains...

[gumshoe4]

Greetings!! As you know, I'm just getting back into the ride and I guess Jim was in about the same place. He was looking for someone at about the same skill level to ride with and I had a ride planned into the mountains from the Sacramento area on Saturday...yes, before the South Lake Tahoe fire hit. This ride was more of a people thing than a road/bike thing.

We met early Saturday morning at the Folsom Harley dealer...had to get there before it opened because neither of us was riding a Harley

We departed up Blue Ravine to Green Valley and then up Salmon Falls Road. Here's Jim on his Honda 1100 at my favorite photo spot by Salmon Falls bridge.



We got to Pilot Hill, went up 49 to Cool and then 193 to Georgetown, where we stopped and gassed up and took a little break. While we were relaxing at the gas station, we ran into another rider...don't remember his name, but he was up from Chico and was riding a Honda 1100 like Jim's. We had a nice conversation with him and then Jim and I went through town and onto Wentworth Springs Road and out through Quintette into the El Dorado National Forest.

We stopped at Stumpy Meadows for another little break. Here's Jim with his Honda



And me with my Vulcan 750



It was a little late for wildflowers, but there were some nice ones still at Stumpy Meadows





We got back in the saddle and went on up the road. There were a lot of folks out on their motos, including someone on a new red Ducati, lots of Harleys and other cruisers and some sport bikes. We passed the left turn to French Meadows. A friend of mine made that ride on his BMW GS and told me that the road was good all the way to Foresthill, but was about 90 miles or so, so a full fuel tank was necessary. I’ll do that ride another time.

From Wentworth Springs, we turned right onto Ice House Road, went down to the area near Ice House and turned right again and went to the top of Big Hill. Big Hill is just what it says…a big hill right in the middle of the Ice House/Union Valley basin. From the top, there is a 360 degree view, particularly into the basin and the Crystal Range of the Sierra to the east and over through the valley and into the Bay Area on a clear day to the west. There is a fire observation tower and a helipad for the ready helitack helo. There are also lots of radio repeater towers there, because it’s the highest point around (radio amateurs might be interested in that…for info, I’m W6LPH, but currently inactive).

Here’s Jim with his bike in the parking area on top of Big Hill



Here’s the fire tower and one of several major repeater antenna towers. The flagpole is real finished wood, probably from a lodgepole pine or something similar.



Here’s the view to the east from up top…that’s the Crystal Range.



Here’s the view to the north…you can see a piece of Union Valley Resevoir



Here’s the view to the west towards the Bay Area…too hazy to see much



There was a Huey helicopter parked on the pad. It looked to me very much like the chopper assigned to my ship when I was in the Navy in which I flew between ships in the squadron and also in the Phillipines over Corregidor and the Bataan Death March monument. I was thinking that this was an ex-military converted Huey like the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department runs…but I was wrong. The crew chief came over and explained that this particular machine was one of two left which were developed for the Shah of Iran for desert warfare and were retained by the US when the Ayatollah took over. It’s an airframe similar to the Huey, but it’s called a 214 frame and it has a single large and powerful engine and short, wide rotors. It’s currently owned by a commercial air company which contracts with the Forest Service for helitack services. Here’s a picture of the 214



Turns out that the crew chief is a former Marine and that he was deployed as part of the Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard USS Tripoli in 1994. I served on the Tripoli from 1978-1981, so we had a nice little conversation and then he let me photo the cockpit and provided a bunch of detail about the helo. Here’s the cockpit.



It seems that on this particular helo, the right side of the aircraft is occupied by specialized equipment and the hoist is on the left. Consequently, the command pilot sits on the left side so he can see the hoist and the co-pilot is on the right…opposite my military experience in which the command pilot is on the right and the co-pilot on the left. Interesting how folks overcome and adapt to the situation…

We got ready to leave Big Hill, but I was momentarily transfixed by a nice view to the east of the bikes in the parking lot below us, a little piece of Ice House Reservoir and the Crystal Range. Here it is



We saddled up



And rode down Big Hill to Ice House Road. We passed the store and saw about 150 motos, mostly Harleys...turns out there was some sort of benefit or memorial ride in progress. We headed on down the hill to US 50 and into Pollock Pines, where we stopped for a very nice lunch at a little lunch counter…sorry, no food photos. We continued down the Pony Express Trail, got back onto 50 in Placerville and went off at Missouri Flat (construction there, folks…lots of cut grooves in the pavement…be careful!!), then over to Green Valley and back to Folsom, where Jim and I said goodbye to each other and went on home.

About 150 miles, lots of good conversation with Jim and the crew chief and others and a fine, bright summer day. The bike ran eagerly, humming along and gently bending through the curves. I think Jim also had a good time and I’m sure we’ll be planning another run before very long.

Incidentally, I was watching the news last night and they had a story about the South Lake Tahoe fire. The news crew was shooting the area from an aircraft at about 14,000 feet and they focused on a helo doing a water drop below them…sure enough, it was the very distinctive, green and white 214 which had been at the Big Hill helipad several days before…I said a quick prayer for the safety of the air crew and the people on the ground.

Bob

[motowriter]

Thanks for sharing the ride, Bob! Really beautiful country up there in the Crystal Range, as your pix attest. So... Big Hill Rd? I've been up and down Icehouse Rd. many times but have no idea where that turn off is. It's before the resort? One of the roads leading to campgrounds, maybe? I'd love to take the detour next time I'm up there.

As to FR-2 to French Meadows... it's not 90 miles. It's prolly 25 from WWS to the French Meadows reservoir, then another 35 to Foresthill on Mosquito Ridge Rd. FR-2 is a tad goaty, so you'd have a bit of a bumpy ride, but it's well worth the trip. Make a plan to do that loop from G-Town to Foresthill some day... great ride!

[gumshoe4]

HI, Gary, thanks for the info on the French Meadows-Foresthill Loop...I'll definitely give it a shot.

If you're going up the hill towards Ice House from 50, the turn to Big Hill is past the store on the left (west) side of the road. There's a sign which says Big Hill and something about the Helipad...it's not locked or gated or anything and as far as I can tell, anyone can go up there...

Bob

[jameses2]

Well what nice pictures Bob. Guess you could say I Shadowed your Vulcan all day. And what a day. Thanks for planning the trip. Amazing how one can connect up with someone to ride with just by participating in a site like Pashnit. And it all started because I ran into, er crossed paths with, Pappa-Ken who told me about Pashnit. Thanks again Ken.

Buy the way, our mistery rider at Georgetown on the other Honda Shadow was Chris. He posted in the general forum. He is known on Pashnit as Buzz Carsu.

Jim in Sacramento

[Loki]

Beautiful scenery you photographed. Enjoyed reading your adventure with Jim

[Papa-Ken]

Nice report Bob,

Glad to see you hooked up with Jim. He is a real nice guy and is very lucky as his wife is instrumental in getting him back in the saddle once again. We crossed paths a while back and I introduced him to the Pashnit forum and he jumped in feet first. Sounds like you two hit it off well and had a fun day. Good for you and thanks again for the pictures and story........Ken