Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Click here to view a slide show of all 151 Picasa Web photos
Today’s century heads south east from Livermore to Patterson along two very remote roads with little or no facilities; Mines Rd and Del Puerto Canyon Rd. The route begins near the Livermore Valley in Alameda County and crosses over the Santa Clara County line on Mines Rd to the Stanislaus County line on Del Puerto Canyon Rd.
We begin the 24.5 miles ride up Mines Rd from the large gravel turn out area about a tenth of a mile from the Y turn off at Del Valle Rd. The first mile or so along the flats through the horse ranch and farm leads up to the bridge crossing over Arroyo Mocho creek.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- at gravel parking area
-
- lower Mines Rd
-
- horse ranches
-
- Arroyo Mocho creek crossing
The road slowly stair steps its way up the mountain for the next 5+ miles with gradient ranges of 5-8% along with steeper pitches of 9-11%. Every curvature of the road provides a different view of the chaparral covered mountains, open grasslands and deep canyons of the Diablo Range-it’s quite beautiful!
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- 5-8% grades
-
- canyon views
-
- 9-11% grades
-
- chaparral covered mountains
-
- continue climb
-
- open grasslands
The road eventually narrows for the 8+ mile segment along the ridge down to the valley floor. Hidden residences up the dirt driveways and side roads along with cattle and horse ranches occupy a large portion of this open valley. The grassy meadows are dotted with grazing cattle and horses with soaring raptors flying overhead.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- country art
-
- single lane road
-
- grazing cattle
-
- open grasslands
-
- valley floor
-
- cattle ranch
-
- grazing horses
-
- to Santa Clara county line
We cross into Santa Clara County at the 20 mile road marker where the single lane becomes a two lane road again. The gentle rolling terrain for the next 3 miles has one short steep pitch up to the gap at the Ruthy sign.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- Santa Clara county line
-
- climb up to gap
-
- gentle grades
-
- top of climb-Ruthy sign
The sweeping descent is followed by a half mile 7-9% climb up to a ranch. The road descends towards the valley with one small bump up to the CAL Fire Station and to the Junction. The Junction Café doesn’t open till 12 PM so you’ll need to bring enough food, water and snacks!
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- descend Mines
-
- wagon wheel gate
-
- 7-9% grades
-
- half mile climb
-
- mountain views
-
- top of climb at ranch
-
- bump up to CAL Fire station
-
- at the Junction
-
- view of Mt Hamilton from Mines
We continue east on CA-130 on Del Puerto Canyon Rd for the next 25 miles to Patterson. You’d think it would be ALL downhill but it’s not-there is one short climb up to the summit at the Stanislaus County line.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- chaparral hills
-
- short climb to summit
-
- to Stanislaus County line
-
- Del Puerto summit
From the county line, the roads descends through the gorgeous canyon with a diversity of habitats from the chaparral covered hills and oak woodlands to the vegetation growing along the dry streambed and expansive grasslands.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- descend canyon
-
- diverse habitat
-
- horse ranches
-
- canyon views
-
- dry streambed
-
- to valley floor
The wide open area through the valley floor is scattered with a few old ranches and farms with grazing cattle and horses. It also looks like a great geological place with plenty of different rock formations and different types of stones and minerals-WOW!
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- valley floor
-
- roaming cattle
-
- old shed
-
- diverse habitat
-
- exiting canyon
-
- sandstone formations
-
- rugged rocks
-
- scattered ranches
The road continues east out of the canyon into Patterson. Our lunch stop is the Chevron Station at the Villa Del Lago Plaza off I-5. Fill up with plenty of water as there is none available on the return up Del Puerto Canyon.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- gorgeous hills
-
- soft rolling hills
-
- flat rolling terrain
-
- view of trucks on I-5
-
- orchards
-
- to Oatterson
-
- lunch stop-Patterson
-
- at Chevron Station
Now it’s 25 miles back up Del Puerto Canyon-it’s interesting because you get to see the road from another perspective. I ride pretty slow and like to look around a lot. The apricot orchard along the lower valley is abundant with fruit and ready for picking and packing. There’s a dead wild pig lying next to the fence line and lots of little ground squirrels running about.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- back up Del Puerto Canyon
-
- beautiful open grasslands
-
- orchard-packing crates
-
- dead wild pig
-
- wide open meadows
The gentle flat rolling terrain takes us back up through the canyon for a quick stop at the Frank Raines Park. This park has a nice picnic area with a new play structure and green grass. The restrooms are really lousy and there is NO drinking water! A half mile up the road is the Deer Creek Campground. This facility is great for RV camping with full hookups and non-potable water at each site. The restrooms are much better here.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- gorgeous valley
-
- grazing horses
-
- red barn
-
- up through canyon
-
- horse ranch
-
- OHV trails-Frank Raines Park
The road continues up the canyon on gentle grades for the next 3.7 miles.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- scattered ranch
-
- gentle grades
-
- new pavement
At the 20 mile road mark, the gradient increases to steeper ranges of 11-15% for the next 1.7 miles up to the Santa Clara county line. So far, the weather has been perfect for this ride-partly cloudy sky with temps in the mid 70′s. But as we started the steep climb, the clouds gave way to sunny skies with an instant increase in temps to the mid 90′s!
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- begin steep 1.7 mile climb
-
- 11-15% grades
-
- continue on…..
-
- to Santa Clara county line
The descent is followed by a short bump up to the junction at Mines Rd. We make a quick snack stop at the Junction Café to refill our Camelbaks with ice and water.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- descend Del Puerto
-
- Junction Cafe
-
- metal art
The return on Mines Rd has 2 climbs; the first one is about 2 miles long with 3-6% grades up to the ranch. The second climb up to the Ruthy sign is a little over a mile long with grades of 5-7%.
Click on any photo below to start the gallery slide show
-
- Ruth’s Trash & Treasures
-
- old barn
-
- 1st climb out
-
- 2nd climb-
-
- rolling descent
-
- gorgeous views
-
- descend Mines
-
- grasslands-lower Mines
Thanks to Michael for blocking and pulling me through the headwinds for the remaining 19 flat rolling miles back to the car!
There are little to no services on these roads and no drinking water on Del Puerto Canyon-come prepared to ride the 50 miles out to Patterson and be self-sufficient-bring a friend!
Come and lose yourself in the natural beauty of Del Puerto Canyon and Mines Rd! It’s a wonder that this is so close to the urban Bay Area and yet still seems so remotely distant. You’ll be blown away by the starkness of the undulating views and the quiet calm it brings!
Garmin Stats:
101 Miles with 6792′ of elevation gain
Max elevation: 2876′
Max grade: 15%
Weather: GREAT! Overcast partly cloudy morning skies giving way to brilliant sunshine. Temps ranged from the mid 50′s to the mid 90′s with NW winds
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Click here to view the interactive route map & profile
Follow this route for today’s ride:
