"Shasta Snow
Trip"
page 10
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4-Feb-01, Sunday p.m.
The shadows were becoming longer and the breeze had a cleaner edge to it....except, of course, downwind of our buses on those dirt roads! The land had a certain dreary but mysterious vibe to it. There had been massive geologic happenings here in the far past, and they left the bones of the world visible for us to ponder.
We had the feeling that we were lost
twice, but only once were we correct. Seemed that one of the signs for our
turn-off was only for travelers going the other way. It was upon this late
afternoon ride on the roads near Lodoga that we sensed a disturbance in the
Force. Or rather, on the fence....some sick bastards had
"arranged" in clothes, and signs, their trophies...coyotes...along the
fence as a warning to others....they coulda just gotten a llama or two to guard
their sheep, but I guess those guys like killing things...(no
pics of this here...too much bad juju)
Not too much later, or at
some other point entirely, (my notes and memories are
scrambled) we passed through a rodeo, where people
gawked at us and some guy yelled "peace!" There was more of the
same dry, dusty rolling grasslands with arroyos and crested ridges and copses of
hibernating trees, and still, without cease, (thank
the gods) the road continued on.....we traveled
Stonyford-Lodoga Road, then Leesville-Lodoga Road, until finally, we swung
westward onto Brim Road.....
At the end of this, we attacked what was to be the meanest, loudest, bumpiest dirt-track of the trip: Walker Ridge Road, which climbs steeply by one washboard-infested switchback up and along the ridgeline immediately to the east of Indian Valley Reservoir. I called it "Washboard Road", and that's probably where my air cleaner got rattled off!
Near the summit, but not quite, a crossroads was encountered. It presented
us with a small problem, but investigation of rudimentary signs pointed us
towards Highway 20. We stopped and ran around for a bit, and then headed
southwest. We stopped on the roadside one more time, to check something or
other, and changed driving order. Indian Valley Reservoir lay below,
softly reflecting the last vestiges of the sunset, and I said out loud that none
of these pictures we were taking of it would come out, and guess what?...they didn't!
So here they aren't...
Up 'til now, Brian had been in the lead, and now, as dark was becoming real, and he had been running on battery since midday, someone else would have to run point, providing light for him with only parking lights on. That would have to be me.....it didn't take me long to learn to hate driving downhill on washboard! And that wasn't a short little detour, either! Half-an-hour or so of that hell, and we were back on pavement: Highway 20 heading west. Brian was still going on parking lights alone, but no-one seemed to notice.
Swung left onto Hwy 53, through Clearlake, and onto Hwy 29, after Lower Lake and through Middletown, and near Calistoga...we ate dinner at some pub/pizza place in one of these towns, and then on to Hwy 128, and a turn at Franz Valley Road, and then Mark West Springs Road, where we staged some "Caravan Drive-By's" for the video, which didn't come out because of various reasons involving blindly positioning the camera and tripod by the side of the road, utter darkness, and the bright headlights washing out the buses as they thundered past. We'll have to get some of that footage....later...
At about 9:30-10:00 Sunday evening, we
came to Hwy 101 north of Santa Rosa, where we exchanged good-byes and good
lucks, and all that over the radios, and split up. Brian headed out to
Guerneville with only parking lights and no escort (he made it), Aaron headed
for home in Santa Rosa, and Stu and I hit 101 south to Petaluma so I could drop
him off at his house.
It was at the gas station in Petaluma that I discovered my air cleaner had detached from the carb, and looking at my filthy engine compartment, I could only shudder. So I shuddered. Once. I then re-attached the cleaner and got on with my life. Oil changed and carb cleaned next day!
We're looking forward to other great trips and adventures with our Volkswagens and their people. Hope you enjoyed the description of this one, and will join us on the next! Any ideas or suggestions are welcome...please contact any one of the participants if you care to....
At this point, this site was created with
no affiliation to any organization or anything. That could change, but for
now, it just serves as a place to share our experience with others and as a
time-consuming scrapbook! If anyone is interested in a copy of the
edited video (30-45 minutes) (whenever it may be out), let me know.... mizamook@sonic.net
...or just send a VHS tape and a self-addressed VHS tape mailer with
postage to:
Gene Cornelius
P.O. Box 244
Duncan's Mills, CA 95430
Thanks for reading....anyone else wanna do the next write-up?!
Cast of Characters:
Brian Piercy: Trip
Instigator, and Pilot of '66 Sundial kombisutra@hotmail.com
Babs Piercy: Wife of Brian, and Co-pilot of
aforesaid '66 Sundial bsktcase@sonic.net
Aaron Boice: Maniacal and
stylish Pilot of a '64 Kombi Speakerbus
Stuart Dunn: Uncle of Gene, and
Co-pilot/Cameraman of '60 Doublecab
Gene Cornelius: Archivist, Pilot of a '60
Doublecab mizamook@sonic.net
Have you checked out these ancillary pages? Trip Specs Other Related Links
Shasta 1 Shasta 2 Shasta 3 Shasta 4 Shasta 5 Shasta 6 Shasta 7
Shasta 8 Shasta 9 Trip Specs Other Related Links