Stanislaus Forest

I thought I'd check out the conditions in the Stanislaus Forest yesterday. I started out in Coulterville taking Dogtown Road. The plan was to ride to Bullcreek Road and circle back around on some forest roads.





The conditions were not bad at all, and presented some fantastic views.





I managed to stay dry after a small creek crossing. Until, I came to a wider one and had no such luck.



I had to kick my feet out when I got here. It doesn't look like much, but it was a steep climb out. I lost traction, and was starting to think I wasn't going to be able to get out.



After getting my weight off the bike, my rear tire started to grab and shifted the bike to the side slightly. I feared that I might dump my bike in the water. That would have sucked big time.
The water came up to my knee which, meant my boots were completely soaked.





After my brief struggle in the water I stopped and had lunch. I took my boots off and let them drain while I ate. I had to wring the inner boot and my socks out.



More coming...

As I rode further on, I came to some snow. The road was still pretty good, except for some muddy sections here and there.





Unfortunately, a lot of the roads were still covered in snow.



I headed back and tried another route. This big tree was laying across the road so, I had to take the detour around it. I had to take this picture with my bike under the tree. I thought it looked like a giant hand reaching down to grab it.



The detour.



There was a lot of water on the road as I went on.



And then snow.







I went as far as the tracks went, and decided to turn around.



I didn't feel like trail blazing. A 450 + pound bike sliding around in the snow wasn't really sounding like that much fun. Made wish I had my DRZ.



After turning around, I stopped to take another break by this stream. The water was moving along pretty good.



After that I headed home. I had a good time. You know it's a good ride when you come home sore and tired.

[Strega]

Excellent report and great pics!!

[Crawdaddy]

Thanks for the report......my mother lives a bit north in Placerville.......nice to see someone riding in trees/running water after months of "desert season" down here in San Diego County........looking forward to getting back up into the mountains again!

[Bagstr]

Odin,

Nice to see territory outside my home area. Gives me more destinations.


Test on photo drop