Not having a rain fly, when I stirred during the night I got to gaze up into a beautiful, clear dark sky, and then see the bright crescent moon rise in the wee hours. It was pleasant to wake up to the Spanish moss hanging from the oaks.
Wildlife activity was all around; the osprey and eagles were back, a gaggle of Canada geese splashed down nearby, and I heard wild pigs from across the lake.
The morning was cool and still as the sun came to warm the landscape.
It was so isolated that I left the door of the outhouse open while using the john. I got a visit from a Western fence lizard.
The road out was still a stupid slog but not as stupid as the way in. After the big haul to get out of the lake basin the rest of it was pretty rideable.
The ride plan for the day was relatively short, so I had some time to relax in Cloverdale at the hippie coffee shop.
I resupplied at the natural grocery, and maxed out my water supply. It was going to be a hot one; temps were expected to reach the 90s.
After a bit of wine country riding in Alexander Valley, I picked up Geysers Road and headed up to the ridge.
The bottom portion of Geysers was great, a quiet road with great views and more tree cover than I expected. Reminded me of Morgan Territory, probably my favorite road in the Bay Area.
The road climbed up a deep canyon, with a running creek down below. There were a few dirt roads heading down but they were marked as No Trespassing. As I got hotter and saltier on the climb I kept looking for a way to access the stream, and suddenly, there it was; a short, sandy road heading down to a creek crossing.
It felt indescribably good to wade into the creek and splash cool water on my face. I laughed audibly. It wasn’t deep enough to fully swim in but it was an incredibly welcome sensation on day 2 of a primitive camping bike tour. I half considered camping on the sandy creekside, but I was still a long way from the top of the ridge.
As I continued up the road I started to encounter remnants of old mining camps, and then the still-active geothermal plant along the ridge.
After passing the plant, things got serious; 7 km of 5-10% grade gave way to 3 km of 10-20% grade, out in the sun. As I started up that part of the road, a plant worker in a pickup truck pulled up and said “You’re a badass!” He might have been right but I hadn’t made the climb yet.
It was a steep grind, slow in the heat, but I kept it moving and enjoyed the dramatic transition at the summit as the road crossed into the neighboring canyon.
A short descent led to the town of Mercuryville, population 2. “Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again.” [Foreshadowing…]
My plan was to take one of the fire roads which connect Geysers Road to Pine Flat Road, and camp somewhere on the BLM land around Pine Flat. But, when I rolled up to the intersection, Rattlesnake Fire Road was signed as No Trespassing, as were all the other offshoots from Geysers Road. Hmm.
I was bikepacking, so I didn’t need much of a campsite, just a flattish spot where my tent wouldn’t be obvious. Problem was, the terrain was steep on both sides of the road, so even finding a flat spot was a challenge. I thought about camping behind the frog.
I also considered this thicket, but there were too many biting bugs around.
I was getting tired enough to seriously consider riding down the hill to some of the commercial campsites I’d researched, but then I found this lovely meadow just uphill from the road. Probably private property but not signed as such.
My friend Sayre used to work at Henhouse Brewing in Petaluma. He might be upset to know that empirical evidence demonstrates that an Incredible IPA carried five hours in a CamelBak on a hot day is better than the same beer from a cold pub tap. But I can tell you, it’s the truth.
It wasn’t until I laid down in the tent, still clothed, that I really felt how overheated and tired I was. I laid there breathing deeply until I could summon enough energy to get prepared for sleep.
My GPS track had a glitch so this is partially reconstructed, but it looks pretty close to correct. Not a very long ride but a ton of climbing.