Blues Traveler
08-04-2008, 11:04 PM
Finally got to get out and do some camping last weekend. New job meaning no vacation time this year. Was able to bank time by working a few hours over everday (Bank Time) and use it later on a pre-aranged weekend.
The 4th annual WMRS event was a hoot. My 1st time, and what a great place to camp. Have passed by many times while doing the Benton Loop just 11 miles south of Mammoth. Check out the morning view from our camp. Taken with my new camera, sitting in my Pico chair with a nice hot cup of espresso. You could actually see the fish jumping from camp.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08093.jpg
The were very mild up at about 7400 ft. 84°. Morning lows were around 40°. Glad I threw my warmer bag on the bike at the last minute.
Early friday morning we (Mike (Rackman) Roberts) pulled out at 5:00am to meet up with another at the top of Cajon Pass. After waiting 45 minutes Mike and I decided to move on. I left a message for our no-shows on his cell and we headed for Olancha for Breakfast. The Ranch House Cafe is probably the best place for breakfast between Kramer Junction and Bishop on Hwy. 395. We've just about tried them all along that stretch of hwy and the Ranch House is where we all seem to meet up for breakfast when were headed out 395.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08009.jpg
George, our 3rd in party was 20 minutes behind after checking my cell once we arrived in Olancha. We had just sat down and got our coffee when George pulled up out front. As he put it, right on time. George seems to ride a little faster then the rest of us.:D
Breakfast done we headed for Bishop. It was now 9:30 and our next stop was Lone Pine for Gas. There we met up with someone else headed for the event. His 400 actually did a good job keeping up at first but soon fell behind.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08010.jpg
George got us to Bishop where we all topped off and headed out. We arrived at our destination around noon. What a great camping spot. Right on the Owens river just north of Crowley Lake. The view was just breath taking. The campgroung was one run by Browns Campground. Have stayed at one in Bishop and it had everything. The differance here was the showers closed at 4:00pm and opened again at 8:00 the following moning. $2.00 got you 7 minutes of hot water.
The event is schedualed around the open house at the White Mountain Research Staition. This is taken from the ADV website:
Once a year the White Mountain Research Station has an open house. Located in the Bristlecone Pine Forest, this is the only time of the year that you can ride all the way up to the station and check it out ( 13K ft ). It is always the first Sunday in Augast, this years ride dates are 7-31-08 thru 8-3-08, with the open house on 8-3-08. The area is loaded with great dual sport riding and camping. This a great weekend of riding the high country , with much cooler temps. I will be making the trip, hope you can join me. The pic reports below say it all.
Info On White Mountain Research Station:
White Mountain Research Station, with its principal office located in the Owens Valley near Bishop, was established in 1950 to provide laboratory facilities for any qualified research investigator wishing to utilize the high-mountain environment for his or her work, and to serve as teaching facilities for field courses conducted in the region. There are four separate laboratory sites: one in the Owens Valley; a second at Crooked Creek, at an elevation of approximately 10,000 ft (2,090 m); a third at the base of Mt. Barcroft, at an approximate elevation of 12,500 ft (3,801 m), making it the 11th highest high-altitude station in the world and the fourth highest in North America; and a fourth, the Summit Laboratory, atop White Mountain Peak, at an elevation of 14,246 ft (4,340 m). The Summit Laboratory is the fourth highest high-altitude research facility in the world and the highest in North America.
Here are a few more pictures taken at the event.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08075.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08143.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08132.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08137.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08148.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08152.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08025.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08044.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08049.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08073.jpg
Thats camp off in the distance.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08110.jpg
I did seem to have developed a louder then usual clatter after warmup and only at Idle. Asked around and came to the concusion that I should pull both valve covers and take a look. The big GSA is an easy 40 minute valve adjustment, so thats what I did.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08158.jpg
Everything was fine. I did go ahead and reset everything since I had everything apart.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08159.jpg.
Everything good to go there I went for a quick ride to see how she sounded. Loud ticking was still there after warm up. Probable cause, L/H cam chain tensioner. It was still early and being Sunday morning we broke camp and headed home. We were on our way by 11:00 am. On the way home we stopped and had taco's in Bishop. Damn was it hot down at 4000 ft. We both broke out the cooling vest and headed on. I treally love that cooling vest. 103° and I was actually chilled as we headed home down 395. Bike ran GREAT! just had that tick/tap tap tap at idle everytime we stopped. Was home in my garage by 5:45 pm.
What a good time. let's do it again!
For more pictures from the event click below on my Webshots.
The 4th annual WMRS event was a hoot. My 1st time, and what a great place to camp. Have passed by many times while doing the Benton Loop just 11 miles south of Mammoth. Check out the morning view from our camp. Taken with my new camera, sitting in my Pico chair with a nice hot cup of espresso. You could actually see the fish jumping from camp.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08093.jpg
The were very mild up at about 7400 ft. 84°. Morning lows were around 40°. Glad I threw my warmer bag on the bike at the last minute.
Early friday morning we (Mike (Rackman) Roberts) pulled out at 5:00am to meet up with another at the top of Cajon Pass. After waiting 45 minutes Mike and I decided to move on. I left a message for our no-shows on his cell and we headed for Olancha for Breakfast. The Ranch House Cafe is probably the best place for breakfast between Kramer Junction and Bishop on Hwy. 395. We've just about tried them all along that stretch of hwy and the Ranch House is where we all seem to meet up for breakfast when were headed out 395.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08009.jpg
George, our 3rd in party was 20 minutes behind after checking my cell once we arrived in Olancha. We had just sat down and got our coffee when George pulled up out front. As he put it, right on time. George seems to ride a little faster then the rest of us.:D
Breakfast done we headed for Bishop. It was now 9:30 and our next stop was Lone Pine for Gas. There we met up with someone else headed for the event. His 400 actually did a good job keeping up at first but soon fell behind.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08010.jpg
George got us to Bishop where we all topped off and headed out. We arrived at our destination around noon. What a great camping spot. Right on the Owens river just north of Crowley Lake. The view was just breath taking. The campgroung was one run by Browns Campground. Have stayed at one in Bishop and it had everything. The differance here was the showers closed at 4:00pm and opened again at 8:00 the following moning. $2.00 got you 7 minutes of hot water.
The event is schedualed around the open house at the White Mountain Research Staition. This is taken from the ADV website:
Once a year the White Mountain Research Station has an open house. Located in the Bristlecone Pine Forest, this is the only time of the year that you can ride all the way up to the station and check it out ( 13K ft ). It is always the first Sunday in Augast, this years ride dates are 7-31-08 thru 8-3-08, with the open house on 8-3-08. The area is loaded with great dual sport riding and camping. This a great weekend of riding the high country , with much cooler temps. I will be making the trip, hope you can join me. The pic reports below say it all.
Info On White Mountain Research Station:
White Mountain Research Station, with its principal office located in the Owens Valley near Bishop, was established in 1950 to provide laboratory facilities for any qualified research investigator wishing to utilize the high-mountain environment for his or her work, and to serve as teaching facilities for field courses conducted in the region. There are four separate laboratory sites: one in the Owens Valley; a second at Crooked Creek, at an elevation of approximately 10,000 ft (2,090 m); a third at the base of Mt. Barcroft, at an approximate elevation of 12,500 ft (3,801 m), making it the 11th highest high-altitude station in the world and the fourth highest in North America; and a fourth, the Summit Laboratory, atop White Mountain Peak, at an elevation of 14,246 ft (4,340 m). The Summit Laboratory is the fourth highest high-altitude research facility in the world and the highest in North America.
Here are a few more pictures taken at the event.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08075.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08143.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08132.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08137.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08148.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08152.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08025.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08044.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08049.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08073.jpg
Thats camp off in the distance.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08110.jpg
I did seem to have developed a louder then usual clatter after warmup and only at Idle. Asked around and came to the concusion that I should pull both valve covers and take a look. The big GSA is an easy 40 minute valve adjustment, so thats what I did.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08158.jpg
Everything was fine. I did go ahead and reset everything since I had everything apart.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ownst1100/4THANNUALWMRS8-1-08159.jpg.
Everything good to go there I went for a quick ride to see how she sounded. Loud ticking was still there after warm up. Probable cause, L/H cam chain tensioner. It was still early and being Sunday morning we broke camp and headed home. We were on our way by 11:00 am. On the way home we stopped and had taco's in Bishop. Damn was it hot down at 4000 ft. We both broke out the cooling vest and headed on. I treally love that cooling vest. 103° and I was actually chilled as we headed home down 395. Bike ran GREAT! just had that tick/tap tap tap at idle everytime we stopped. Was home in my garage by 5:45 pm.
What a good time. let's do it again!
For more pictures from the event click below on my Webshots.