Halloween Moto Camping in the Carrizo
Halloween Moto Camping in the Carrizo
Sunrise at the Rideout Hideout
The distant sound of the roosters’ crow and the sun hitting the thin layer of my rain fly reminds me that I am three hundred miles away from home. The brisk air rushes my tent as I work my way into the morning routine. I add layers and boots while sparking a small fire and heating water for morning coffee.
Snores fade and yawns roar as campers slowly rustle awake to the expectations of the weekend’s activities. Soon the smell of morning coffee puts pep in their step. Some plot the day’s events while others gear up, sorting themselves and bikes with tools, snacks and supplies for the day.
Mounting up after breakfast, we depart on a group ride through the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Our route takes us through the Selby Campground and up to Caliente Ridge, then down to the massive Soda Lake, and across Seven Mile Highway and into the town of McKittrick for a lunch of burgers and steaks at the local hole-in-the-wall. Half of our group reminisces about the morning ride; others plot alternative routes for the rest of the day and weekend. Meanwhile, I am soaking in this moment—a harmony of perfect strangers, attuned with our common love for exploration and motorcycle adventure.
Abandoned farm equipment in the Carrizo
Our campout weekend was a much needed escape from the chaos of the election coupled with a pandemic-Halloween. Once the city’s white noise starts to fade and nerves begin to calm, our senses pick up the sounds and smells of nature. Our eyes strain to take in the enormity of what could be the most beautiful sunset that we’ve ever seen, only to be outdone by the following evening’s display.
The pings and notifications from the dozens of apps that run our lives are replaced by cheerful and intriguing conversation around the crackle of the campfire. Any anxiety about missing a news update or the latest Netflix series fades away as the topic of camp pooping has the group giggling like middle school children. Our day-to-day obsessions of profits and politics fall away and is replaced with the feeling of freedom that comes with camping off of a motorcycle.
The stars take center stage, and you’re momentarily paralyzed in witnessing the Milky Way for the first time. The experience akin to falling in love for the first time, all over again. This moment alone, can be worth the downsides of that come with camping. Though the tent is not big enough, nor the sleeping bag warm enough, somehow rest and relaxation eventually find you. The camp dinner is a poor substitute for a home cooked meal, but live and undistracted conversation can fill any part of you not satiated by the simple camp food.
Last sunset before the Day Lights Savings Time change
Lining Up at the Southern Entrance to the Carrizo
Camping, like motorcycling, is not always a comfortable experience. It comes with sacrifice and trade off’s. Even possessing a strong passion and love for riding or camping, may not give you equal skills to prevail or survive. It can take years of effort and practice to get it right, pack the necessary supplies or to find the perfect hidden campsite. Just like riding, part of the fun of camping comes out of its inherit dangers and challenges. Learning such skills comes slowly in time and with its own incremental rewards.
This weekend again reminds me that the pursuit of adventure, with all its wonder as well as failures, always speaks to my quest for special meaning. I am humbled by the enormity of the natural world, its beauty and order—thankful for my brief time of experience and discovery. It takes me beyond my time. It is a journey through stages of life, with leaps of faith into the darkness of the unknown.
Our last morning is spent sipping coffee around a small fire, making final repairs to bikes, and the arduous packing of tents and gear. Our youngest adventurer is headed out for one last ride around ‘the loop’ (a three-mile mixed terrain trail that starts and ends at our remote Carrizo campsite), He is accompanied by his drone, loyally flying and filming from above. This kind of tech is impressive and beyond my nineteen-ninety’s education, but the passion that drives him is shared and ageless. The urge to take just one more sunrise motorcycle ride is the type of longing that brings our diverse group of riders together.
Each of us, from the apprentice to the retiree, have discovered at least a piece to the secret of our happiness and the fuel for our souls through riding. We return to our homes to recharge and navigate our commitments. Always chasing time, planning our next journeys and adventures into the unknown, and always on two wheels.
Matt Hoffman | Owner, Breaking Away
To learn more about Breaking Away and our Motorcycle Adventures, please visit breakingawaytrips.com
