Camping at Laguna Seca

[expatbrit]

Right!

First time off to the races; the girl got us tickets to the Laguna Seca MotoGP for my birthday, so we're off in July from NM.
Pretty happy with a planned route across UT and thru' Yosemite. A little less happy with NV, and would welcome any suggestions that won't be ridiculously hot.

Looking for any advice/experience with camping on-site. We have spaces on Fox Hill, will probably be getting in Thursday evening/Friday morning depending on how much time we spend in Yosemite.

Food, security, etc are all a bit up in the air.

Also, who else is going?

[Kneescrubber]

I camped in '06, '07, & '08. Had a great time although '06 was kinda hot. I've done both the low road; I40 to Bakersfield, CA58/US101 to San Luis Obispo then PCH to Monterrey and I've done the high road from Grand Junction to Reno. They're both pretty miserable. I'd say the high road is more tolerable. Even though it's a longer distance of hot riding the temps aren't nearly as high as they are on the lower route.

[stew71]

Right!

...would welcome any suggestions that won't be ridiculously hot.

There aren't any. The Central Valley in July is an oven. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be in the high 80's/low 90's. But it shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours from Yosemite to reach LS.

I've never camped onsite, so can't help you there.  Sounds like you have quite an adventure planned.  

[expatbrit]

There aren't any. The Central Valley in July is an oven. Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll be in the high 80's/low 90's. But it shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours from Yosemite to reach LS.

I've never camped onsite, so can't help you there.  Sounds like you have quite an adventure planned.  

That doesn't sound terrible. I'm more worried about NV. There's no good route across the central valley, I fear.

[Blunder]

Ya, in July it's hard to avoid all the heat. US 50 across Nevada, if you've never done it is interesting because it's wall-to-wall fuck-all out there.

Foxhill camping is still first come first served, right? Get there early and find a rare flat spot. It's call Foxhill for a reason. During the day there's a wide variety of food and beer choices at the track, but after hours you have to bring your own. Fires are restricted on the hill, too. Best make friends with an RV camper. Security is OK. Don't leave stuff out in the open and you should be OK.

[Kraz]

Foxhill camping is still first come first served, right? Get there early and find a rare flat spot.

Shouldn't be a problem on a Thursday.    Find a flat spot *with* a view of the track.  It's worth taking your bikes down a few feet to get the view.

[GTS_Rider]

... Fires are restricted on the hill, too...

Not sure if this will help, but perhaps you could still get away with this (probably not).

Last time I 'camped' at Laguna goes way back, still the 500cc two-strokes and I believe Wayne Rainey won that year, so I'll call it 1991...

Back then the rule was 'No Ground Fires'. I was bummed, because camping always calls for a campfire. After we unloaded all our crap and set up camp, we went for a beer/food run to Carmel shopping center, over Laureles Grade, 'of course'....  http://goo.gl/maps/IGkv

As we're shopping for food and beer, I spied a mini-hibachi or whatever you call it, something like this...



Not the same, but you get the picture, date the same thing 20 years back in your mind...

Yeah, maybe 15 bucks for one of those and 5 bucks for a bundle of wood. I strapped the hibachi and the bundle of wood on the back of my '86 FJ1200, and my buddy took care of carrying the the ice/beer/food, I think on my 750 Virago that he borrowed for the trip. I also remember loosing the bundle of wood going back over Laureles Grade, but successfully retrieving it and tying it down a bit more securely.  

Anyway, the final outcome from our beer-run was priceless. We were the only ones that had a camp-fire in our little moto-camping area, I could see all the eyes looking over enviously  . Wood carefully placed in our 'above ground' hibachi, we still managed to get 'hassled' by 'the man', a bit, when we had a real roaring fire for a while. Still, when we said we were just trying to build a good base of coals to cook our steaks on, they left us alone after we said we wouldn't build it any bigger...  



 

[esqualey]

Sorry, nothing really to add.  I just clicked on that link to the map and was immediately transported back to the very early 90's when I was a Spc at the 8th Evac hospital there a Fort Ord.  7th Infantry Division (Light).  Light just meant you had to carry everything without a truck!  

Loved that coastline and my barracks room looked right out over the bay to Santa Cruz   just like the beginning of the movie Lost Boys!  If I had to pay for that view it would have been 1000 a night!

Lived in Salinas for awhile, just down the street from the McCormick spice plant.  Could be why I gained a lot of weight.  

Pauley

[expatbrit]

I camped in '06, '07, & '08. Had a great time although '06 was kinda hot. I've done both the low road; I40 to Bakersfield, CA58/US101 to San Luis Obispo then PCH to Monterrey and I've done the high road from Grand Junction to Reno. They're both pretty miserable. I'd say the high road is more tolerable. Even though it's a longer distance of hot riding the temps aren't nearly as high as they are on the lower route.

We've both actually got a chunk of time off, so it's UT 12 for us across Utah to Panguitch, then ... something across NV (6?) to Yosemite. Heather has herself a nice '07 F800ST that'll be better for the miles than the SV650 she had for Yellowstone last year (and at the track, and ... and .... Have I mentioned I love my GF?).

Route back is all up in the air. Looking for nice reasonable days, not hammering ourselves, and enjoying the ride out there as well as the destination. Life doesn't get better than that.

[expatbrit]

Back then the rule was 'No Ground Fires'. I was bummed, because camping always calls for a campfire. After we unloaded all our crap and set up camp, we went for a beer/food run to Carmel shopping center, over Laureles Grade, 'of course'....  http://goo.gl/maps/IGkv

Stashing that route, for sure.

As we're shopping for food and beer, I spied a mini-hibachi or whatever you call it, something like this...



Not the same, but you get the picture, date the same thing 20 years back in your mind...

Yeah, maybe 15 bucks for one of those and 5 bucks for a bundle of wood. I strapped the hibachi and the bundle of wood on the back of my '86 FJ1200, and my buddy took care of carrying the the ice/beer/food, I think on my 750 Virago that he borrowed for the trip. I also remember loosing the bundle of wood going back over Laureles Grade, but successfully retrieving it and tying it down a bit more securely.  

Anyway, the final outcome from our beer-run was priceless. We were the only ones that had a camp-fire in our little moto-camping area, I could see all the eyes looking over enviously  . Wood carefully placed in our 'above ground' hibachi, we still managed to get 'hassled' by 'the man', a bit, when we had a real roaring fire for a while. Still, when we said we were just trying to build a good base of coals to cook our steaks on, they left us alone after we said we wouldn't build it any bigger...  

Love it. I don't need a campfire when camping, but they're damn nice. The Mutley should have space to strap a mini-grille on, and if it's cheap can always bin it at the end of the week.

[2DFlyer]

Leave at home all fragile and sharp objects, combustibles, incendiaries, explosives, and anything that can be used against you as a weapon.