escape pt. 3

[Charles Earl]

Has anyone ridden California's Lost Coast area, specifically the roads between Ferndale, Petrolia, Honeydew and Sheltor Cove (Wilder Ridge Rd, Mattlole Rd. and Honeydew Road, etc.). How did you like it? I've only been down the Briceland-Thorne Rd. to Shelter Cove. The pashnit site has good info, but I am also interested in any dirt sections. Thanks, Charles P.S: A few people asked me why I had a copyright notation on my last trip report. The reason is that I aspire someday to write a book(s) about motorcycle travel and may want to use past excerpts. It takes a lot of work to write and edit long trip reports. It's not to say that my writing is necessarily good. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com

[Rick]

LMAO! Funny story, and I can relate as I tackled some hardcore trails last year on an NX650 and the next day I felt like I'd been hit by a steamroller. rick

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, Dan Pauley wrote: > My upper body feels like I went through a wringer. I'm > exhausted, can't breath and even my eyelids hurt. YZ dad > finally pipes in and sez "We are almost at the half way > point."

[wcb]

I rode that area last June starting in Leggit and going north from Hwy. 1 on Usal Road (dirt) to Usal Beach and Shelter Cove. Then north on Horse Mt. Rd. (dirt) and on through Honeydew, and Petrolia to Mattole Beach, and then around Cape Mendicino to Ferndale. I returned back down again through Honeydew to Humboldt State Park, and finally through Benbow back to Leggit. I took about a week to do it and loved it. I alternated between camping (Usal Beach, Mattole Beach, Humboldt State Park, and Standish Hickey State Rec. Area) and B&Bing (Shelter Cove, Ferndale, and Benbow). Usal Rd. is easy from 1 to Usal Beach but it gets steep, muddy, and rutted north of there. By June it starts to dry out a bit, but this year's rains may make this section tricky until later in the year. During the spring and winter months even most four wheelers leave it alone. Horse Mountain Rd. was pretty easy, but if it's wet it can get muddy and rutted also. The rest of the roads are paved and in pretty good shape for the back country. Watch out for the cattle guards, they like to put some of them on the curves, which makes them blind and potentially slippery in wet weather. I shod my pony with pretty aggressive nobbies for the dirt sections and I was glad I did. Bill

> Has anyone ridden California's Lost Coast area, > specifically the roads between Ferndale, Petrolia, > Honeydew and Sheltor Cove (Wilder Ridge Rd, Mattlole > Rd. and Honeydew Road, etc.). How did you like it? > I've only been down the Briceland-Thorne Rd. to > Shelter Cove. The pashnit site has good info, but I am > also interested in any dirt sections. > > Thanks, > > Charles