GB500guy
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2015
- Location
- Vacaville
- Moto(s)
- 1975 Honda CB125S
1989 Honda GB500
1989 Honda NX250
1989 Honda CB-1
1997 Honda CB50V
- Name
- Bill
Every year around this time I make a point of visiting Bear Valley in Colusa County for a look at its famous wildflower displays. This year mother nature skimped on the rain during critical mid-winter months so expectations were not real high as my riding buddy and I headed north from Winters on our NX250s. But wildflowers or not, we knew some wonderful riding was on the menu.
Link to Google map of route
From home I headed up Pleasants Valley Rd for our rendezvous in Winters. It was a beautiful morning, with the usual near-zero midweek traffic.
Once again I just can't seem to ride by Lake Solano without stopping to catch the reflections when the water is placid.
After grabbing sandwiches to go at Steady Eddy's in Winters, we headed up the always beautiful Capay Valley. The area farms are bustling with springtime activity right now, planting summer crops and still harvesting cool season vegetables. The fields at Full Belly farm in Guinda always look, well, good enough to eat. For a family friendly farm festival, check out their Hoes Down Harvest Festival every October.
Irrigation water from Clear Lake was flowing under the Cache Creek Bridge in Rumsey....
At Hwy 20 we crossed over to the start of Bear Valley Road, all gravel and very dusty this time of year.
A few miles in we stopped at the Wilbur Springs bridge for a look at Bear Creek. Up this road is historic Wilbur Hot Springs, where you'll find another type of "bare" at it's clothing optional hot springs.
Continuing up Bear Valley we saw very little signs of bloom but that didn't keep us from enjoying the solitude and beauty....with a generous helping of dust.
Approaching the main valley floor we finally saw splashes of yellow in the distance, raising our hopes.
The Keegan Ranch generously provides public access to one of their cattle pastures for wildflower viewing. Plenty can be seen from the roadside but this gate lets you walk right into a sea of color.
We feasted our eyes on huge swaths of tidy tips, goldfields, and cream cups, but poppies were sparse this year. Little did we know that near the end of our ride we would come across poppies galore.
continued....
-Bill
Link to Google map of route
From home I headed up Pleasants Valley Rd for our rendezvous in Winters. It was a beautiful morning, with the usual near-zero midweek traffic.
Once again I just can't seem to ride by Lake Solano without stopping to catch the reflections when the water is placid.
After grabbing sandwiches to go at Steady Eddy's in Winters, we headed up the always beautiful Capay Valley. The area farms are bustling with springtime activity right now, planting summer crops and still harvesting cool season vegetables. The fields at Full Belly farm in Guinda always look, well, good enough to eat. For a family friendly farm festival, check out their Hoes Down Harvest Festival every October.
Irrigation water from Clear Lake was flowing under the Cache Creek Bridge in Rumsey....
At Hwy 20 we crossed over to the start of Bear Valley Road, all gravel and very dusty this time of year.
A few miles in we stopped at the Wilbur Springs bridge for a look at Bear Creek. Up this road is historic Wilbur Hot Springs, where you'll find another type of "bare" at it's clothing optional hot springs.
Continuing up Bear Valley we saw very little signs of bloom but that didn't keep us from enjoying the solitude and beauty....with a generous helping of dust.
Approaching the main valley floor we finally saw splashes of yellow in the distance, raising our hopes.
The Keegan Ranch generously provides public access to one of their cattle pastures for wildflower viewing. Plenty can be seen from the roadside but this gate lets you walk right into a sea of color.
We feasted our eyes on huge swaths of tidy tips, goldfields, and cream cups, but poppies were sparse this year. Little did we know that near the end of our ride we would come across poppies galore.
continued....
-Bill
arty
