Smoky Bridgeport Ride 2015

We met bright and early for coffee and to hopefully avoid the heat by getting through the central valley early in the morning... spirits were high and folks were eagerly anticipating one of our favorite trips of the year.

Stevie and Susan...


Patrick and Victoria...


Kendall's espresso was kicking in...


And even a surprise visit from two of my favorite FJR gents, Russ and Brodie...


A few of the bikes at the ready...


My favorite anti-freeway road out of Livermore is Patterson Pass Rd. but it is closed at the moment so we opted for Corral Hollow Rd. instead... and it was good...






Seems the graffiti got on someone's helmet!


The smoke was heavy from the Butte fire and a heavy reminder of the devastation that was going on...


Scooting along 132...

Until we came to a new treat... I had found Marshes Flat Rd. on the map, connecting 132 and 49, and realized it was an unknown one to me... did a little Googling and found out it was a goat road but paved so off we went...








There was a very small section that was under construction so it was dirt/gravel... but the group all traversed it just fine...


A couple of long open straights that made it easy to keep an eye out for the free range cattle roaming about...




And then the very steep descent down to 49... pics don't give you the sense of the grade but it is very steep!




Another sobering reminder of our water shortage at Don Pedro Lake...

We worked our way over to Sonora and then up 108 toward Twain Harte where we would be treated to a wonderful lunch by SBR friend, Chris/ktm55, and his lovely wife, Penny (as in lucky!), at their home... we had almost 30 people and they handled our group with kid gloves, good food, and a great atmosphere...










Their pups got lots of lovin'...




John took notes from Jack and found a comfy spot for a little power nap...


Until someone got too close to a plate of food and was sent to doggie jail...

Tummies full, we headed out to ascend one of my favorite passes, Sonora Pass/108... the day stayed surprisingly warm even as we climbed in elevation...




This rig pulled over and I hope he decided to turn around and go back down... he was having trouble getting through some of the sections already while we were behind him... an dyou know it don't get easier from here!


Fall colors just starting to show...






Wheeeeeee!!

We arrived at the Settlement with time to kick back and relax...


Hang out by the crick behind our cabins...




Smoke cigars...


Check out the crawdads...


Get visited by the local blue jays...


And enjoy a few of these...


Nice product placement, Chris!


Belly up to the makeshift bar, kids!


Owners Jimmy and Brinn working their magic at the grill...


Excellent food and something for everyone, including the non-meat eaters...



We celebrated a birthday...


Had a bonfire after dinner...


And set booze-soaked Fig Newtons on fire... it's become a tradition...

Everyone drifted off to their respective abodes for the evening... I fell asleep to the sound of the stream running behind the cabin and the crickets chirping... morning dawned and we had a delicious breakfast at the onsite restaurant...


Stevie found a new pillion assist mechanism but couldn't find a way to take it with them...


We had originally planned on heading back via Monitor and Ebbetts passes but given the activity that would be going on due to the Butte fire, we decided instead to reverse our route from Saturday and take Sonora Pass again... it's a different road going the other way, right? The smoke was very heavy heading toward the pass...


We made it out early enough to miss a lot of traffic...


And didn't see that car hauler rig stuck on the road so guessing he turned around...


A rest stop at Donnell's Point... that's smoke not clouds or fog...




Love the symmetry of the bikes in those big sweepers... this group rode really well together...


Chris and Penny again graciously opened their home to us for a yummy pizza lunch where Scott played Dog Whisperer...


Once lunch was done, it was time to buckle down and head home... it was hot and humid through Modesto so we donned our cooling vests for the final miles home... I was looking forward to the cooling trend as I got closer to home but no such luck... it was hot everywhere! But everyone made it back in one piece and ready to do it again next year... many thanks to the moto friends who joined in the fun and shared their stories and spirits!

FIN