Man up for a motorcycle camping tour in Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite ... - Los Angeles Times
The other dusty men and I, having warmed our boots by the campfire and filled our bellies with scrambled eggs and thick-cut bacon, stirred slowly in the chill mountain air. On our leader's signal, we slipped on knapsacks, helmets and gloves, and fired up our red and white Honda motorcycles — dual-purpose bikes capable of riding on the highway and off. The day's ride was 150 rugged miles of mostly dirt road and trail. All of us had come to the mountains as paying guests of Steve Dubbeldam and his Wilderness Collective. We had started out as a team of 14 — nine riders, four guides and one man driving a four-wheel-drive support truck. Motorcycle camping is in vogue, particularly among small groups of younger riders who carry nothing but bed rolls strapped to their bikes. Wilderness Collective, like other motorcycle tour groups, offers a curated journey that includes great riding, good sightseeing and rider-to-rider bonding. We were carrying little more than the clothes on our backs. Otherwise, everything we needed for the four-day camping trip had to be carried in the narrow knapsacks Dubbeldam gave us at the start of the ride. The four days would take us from just outside Visalia, into Sequoia National Park, across Kings Canyon National Park, into Sierra National Forest and finally Yosemite National Park. Source: www.latimes.com
