A Panoramic Journey

[shortBoarder]

Hi all. Considering that most of the .org is hunkered down in cold weather, slush and ice, this might be a good time to post some pics from prime-time riding season. This was a round-trip LA to Seattle ride, with a Pashnit tour of the high Sierras thrown in the middle for good measure. As always, the trip involved sticking to the thin squiggly lines on the map and getting lost occasionally. The long way, as it were.

Save for a couple of track-days in April and a few outings here and there, 2008 was an uber-lame year of riding for me - too much work etc... - 2009 is going to be very, very different (like trying to turn the Stampede weekend into a 3 week riding extravaganza). So, these pics are actually from '07. I took around 1500 pics on the trip, got back home and back to work, and never "developed" any of 'em until now.

There's 52 pics - enjoy, and have a great holiday!

 

[shortBoarder]

First stop, just outside Bakersfield, CA. Lots of ranch land, not a lot of trees, and a very yellow landscape:

 

[shortBoarder]

The road ahead, and a panorama of the landscape:

 

[shortBoarder]

One more of the fields. There's almost no water out here, and it would prove to be very different from the Northwest...

 

[shortBoarder]

First bit of green and real trees was the Sequoia Nat'l Forest. The Busa seems pretty small out here:

 

[shortBoarder]

In the middle of the park. One of my fav. shots of the bike:

 

[mallardg500]

Those pics are breathtaking!!

 

[shortBoarder]

After crashing in Fresno for the night, I winded my way north around the base of the Sierra Nevada range before crossing the central valley toward Livermore, CA where I would meet up with Tim (Pashnit) and a small group for what would be his first tour of the High Sierras.

On the way there, I hit the "Little Dragon", then turned around and did it again. As luck would have it, the tour would come through here again and I'd get a third go at it

 

[shortBoarder]

Sometimes when planning a trip and programming the GPS, you find a little road that breaks off the beaten path. Sometimes it comes up snake-eyes and you end up in gravel, or sometimes it ends up as a perfect lonely road through cow pastures. This was the latter.

 

[shortBoarder]

(I'm posting this pic again, since it didn't show up the first time around...)

After crashing in Fresno for the night (Fresno? No one goes to Fresno anymore...), I continued North along the base of the Sierras before crossing the central valley west toward Livermore, CA where I'd met up with Tim (Pashnit) and a small group for what would be his first tour of the High Sierras. One the way, I hit the "Little Dragon", then turned around and did it again. As luck would have it, the tour would go this way and I would get a third go the next day

 

[Joker]

cool pic

 

[shortBoarder]

First big stop on the tour: Yosemite.

 

[shortBoarder]

Very little rain that year meant very few waterfalls in the park. At this viewpoint, you're usually looking at a majestic waterfall in the distance, but it was dry this year.

 

[shortBoarder]

The legendary Pashnit, somehow missing a primo pic of my Busa

 

[shortBoarder]

Yosemite is insanely beautiful. If you're going to the Stampede and haven't been to Yosemite, make time.

At some point, I took off my Aerostitch and jumped into one of those lakes for a swim. Tim's got the photo somewhere...

 

[shortBoarder]

We exited Yosemite at the western gate and descended into Lee Vining, CA.

Here's the Pashnit busa and mine at the end of the day.

 

[shortBoarder]

5:15AM, Lee Vining, CA.

 

[shortBoarder]

5:15AM, Lee Vining, CA:

 

[shortBoarder]

(hmm...the board is acting up a bit. This is the third attempt at posting this pic


5:15AM, Lee Vining, CA.

 

[Scar]

Eagerly awaiting more...

Craig, brother...your pix are really second to none. Your talent oozes from your imagery.

Beautiful.