(Excuse the mixture of cellphone photos and DSLR. Laziness got the better of me)
A few of us decided to head into the mountains this past weekend for something local and easy. With the weather warming up, and fires cropping up around the area, we figured Thomas Mountain should be a fairly safe area, and with some elevation, will help with the heat. We just needed to get out and camp in the mountains since we've all been holed up at work and home for quite some time. It was to be a simple quick trip and it turned out to be just that, except for flies. And gnats. Lots of gnats. And a few skeeters. And stagnant air and relative heat. But getting out was totally worth it. Plus it gave me some more dirt time on the little heavy Honda.
The ride in was traffic heavy and the heat did not give up any at all, taking a pretty big toll on my stamina. It ended up taking us almost 4 hours just to get to the trailhead, in which it really should have only taken 2 hours... Fridays... Anyways, a bit beat from the heat, we rolled up from the South side to the Tribal gate that turns out was half closed to "essential" personnel as it was Tribal territory. Not a problem. We found an alternate dirt road just around the corner that would take us in, just a little windier and technical compared to the North-South route. It took everything out of me to keep the bike up after a heat soaked freeway ride to the trailhead. We stopped every few miles so I could take a breather and then soldiered on, however, on one of the hairpins, I took the wrong line and my front end washed out from under me. Conveniently, I dropped it in an area with a ton of gnats so getting the bike righted turned out to be more annoying than anything else.. Damn gnats... After sucking it up and with the gracious help of Luke, we got the bike uprighted, I took a few minutes to gather myself, and we pushed to camp.
Oddly enough we were surrounded by a few thunderstorms, but we never got a drop of water on us. It was definitely a lightning and thunder show all afternoon until it dissipated around the evening.
A fire broke out in the valley and we were able to watch a few aircraft drop fire retardant on the area. Luckily it was contained very quickly.
Plus a few hawks going at it just above us.
The following morning presented a colorful display of the valley below.
Finally had a chance to try out this Kelty Tarp with my loadout and it turned out to be a nice amenity of shade. Not too bad to setup either. It'll be rotated 90degrees on the next trip so its easier to get in and out of the tent.
Brett decided to join us with the kids. Always great company to have, especially with his newly rebuilt truck.
It's been awhile since I've taken some night shots, so I took a few to get it in while I can. The cloud cover sucked but dealt with. Enjoy! Plus no gnats! But only a few random pesky mosquitos...
Sunday funday. A few more photos, breakfast, socializing and then pack up to get home before the heat and flies settled in. Well they attacked just as you poked your head out of the tent. The gnats and flies didn't letup so after breakfast, it was pack-up and home time.
We parted ways with Brett along the trail since we swapped routes. He took our southerly route, while we took the northerly route back home.
Aired up and on the move home!
Until next time!
A few of us decided to head into the mountains this past weekend for something local and easy. With the weather warming up, and fires cropping up around the area, we figured Thomas Mountain should be a fairly safe area, and with some elevation, will help with the heat. We just needed to get out and camp in the mountains since we've all been holed up at work and home for quite some time. It was to be a simple quick trip and it turned out to be just that, except for flies. And gnats. Lots of gnats. And a few skeeters. And stagnant air and relative heat. But getting out was totally worth it. Plus it gave me some more dirt time on the little heavy Honda.
The ride in was traffic heavy and the heat did not give up any at all, taking a pretty big toll on my stamina. It ended up taking us almost 4 hours just to get to the trailhead, in which it really should have only taken 2 hours... Fridays... Anyways, a bit beat from the heat, we rolled up from the South side to the Tribal gate that turns out was half closed to "essential" personnel as it was Tribal territory. Not a problem. We found an alternate dirt road just around the corner that would take us in, just a little windier and technical compared to the North-South route. It took everything out of me to keep the bike up after a heat soaked freeway ride to the trailhead. We stopped every few miles so I could take a breather and then soldiered on, however, on one of the hairpins, I took the wrong line and my front end washed out from under me. Conveniently, I dropped it in an area with a ton of gnats so getting the bike righted turned out to be more annoying than anything else.. Damn gnats... After sucking it up and with the gracious help of Luke, we got the bike uprighted, I took a few minutes to gather myself, and we pushed to camp.
Oddly enough we were surrounded by a few thunderstorms, but we never got a drop of water on us. It was definitely a lightning and thunder show all afternoon until it dissipated around the evening.
A fire broke out in the valley and we were able to watch a few aircraft drop fire retardant on the area. Luckily it was contained very quickly.
Plus a few hawks going at it just above us.
The following morning presented a colorful display of the valley below.
Finally had a chance to try out this Kelty Tarp with my loadout and it turned out to be a nice amenity of shade. Not too bad to setup either. It'll be rotated 90degrees on the next trip so its easier to get in and out of the tent.
Brett decided to join us with the kids. Always great company to have, especially with his newly rebuilt truck.
It's been awhile since I've taken some night shots, so I took a few to get it in while I can. The cloud cover sucked but dealt with. Enjoy! Plus no gnats! But only a few random pesky mosquitos...
Sunday funday. A few more photos, breakfast, socializing and then pack up to get home before the heat and flies settled in. Well they attacked just as you poked your head out of the tent. The gnats and flies didn't letup so after breakfast, it was pack-up and home time.
We parted ways with Brett along the trail since we swapped routes. He took our southerly route, while we took the northerly route back home.
Aired up and on the move home!
Until next time!