Masonic - Bodie 6/15

[Dudley]

On Saturday, June 15th, we're riding the Masonic and Bodie Hills area and you're welcome to join us. We'll meet at Nevada Hwy 338 and Forest Service Rd NF-028 at 9:30. This intersection is about 15 miles north of Bridgeport and 7 miles south of the Sweetwater Ranch. We'll loop south through Masonic to Bodie then head north through Bodie Canyon to Fletcher Springs. From Fletcher we'll go east to Lucky Boy Pass and top out at 10,000 feet on Corey Peak before heading back. We figure we'll be doing 75 - 100 miles so for those with limited range you might want to carry some extra gas. Our route follows good roads so we should be able to cover the entire distance in a reasonable time allowing for sightseeing stops along the way. This is intended to be more of an easy, fun, sightseeing ride than a "rock crunching" smash and bash. If you've never been to the Bodie - Masonic area, your missing out on a primier riding area. Hope to see some of you there.

Dudley

[Michale]

Sounds like a fun ride. Isn't there snow right now on Corey Peak still?

[Dudley]

Could be. Didn't see and from yesterday's satellite view. We won't know for sure till we get there. Wanna join us?

[TBluth]

How was the ride? I’ll be riding out there next weekend.

[Dudley]

3157

The ride was great! That’s the short version. Read on if you’d like the long version.

We staged at the northern end of the Bodie Hills Range where the East Fork of the Walker River slices through. From there we first went to Masonic to check out the remains of the aerial tram that carried ore from the upper mines to the stamp mill. We started off with three rigs but were joined by two others from the Lodi area, whom we met at the top of Masonic Mountain. They also had Bodie State Park as their objective. We pretty much stuck with the Masonic – Bodie road. There are still a few lingering snow drifts across the road as you get closer to Bodie, but detours are clearly evident.

We stopped for lunch at the park, which was jammed packed with tourists. For others riding in the area of the Park, here’s my first caution. BE SURE TO WEAR A HELMET. Although we drove through the park at a crawl, demonstrating our utmost respect for other visitors, one in our party was greeted by an over-zealous ranger. He was ticketed for not wearing a helmet.

Following that encounter and fearing more citations, we quickly exited the Park because several of us were also without helmets. We continued on Bodie Canyon Rd with our next intended stop, Fletcher Springs. However about 10 miles down the road, where the canyon narrows, the road is completely washed out. By that I mean impassible. Some may look at this as a challenge. To those, I’d say good luck. There’s an abandoned Ford Escape stuck down there. That pretty much marks your turn around point. Beyond there, what remains of State Route 3C, disappears into Bodie Creek.

At that point we abandoned our plans to loop through Fletcher Springs and up to Lucky Boy Pass instead opting to double back through Bodie. When we approached the town, riders with helmets and radios took the lead and informed those of us in back, (without helmets) when it was safe to pass through. The ride back to the trucks was uneventful except for the strong desire to return and explore some of the secondary roads and trails that crisscross the area.

Dudley

[Scrat]

We always carry some beanie helmets with us when we ride in California just this reason .

[Mike621]

Sounds like a great ride. [emoji1417]

[The Rattler (BLR)]

Sounds like a great ride and lots of excitement..

Sent from BLR Logistics

[FuncoZilla]

Sounds like a lot of fun need more pic's

[jrubicon]

hi dudley,

when you went to bodie, did you pass by the Aurora side of the loop? we attempted go down via aurora side (as opposed to masonic) and we turned around, it was too extreme rock crawling and it did have a sign road closed do not enter, we still went anyway but turned around when the rock crawling was too extreme for our machines.

[EPL]

Bodie area is a great place to ride !!

[lainracing]

Never mind