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A Word About Tassajara Road in Carmel Valley, CA


Hank R1200RT

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Hank R1200RT

Don't.

 

I was returning from the Apple Developer conference in San Jose and decided to swing through Monterey county. Avoiding weekend traffic, I rode G20 (lovely road) and then on to G16. I had never been to Big Sur, so I decided to swing by, then maybe take PCH to Cambria and slab home from there.

 

Trapping "Big Sur" into the Nav 4, I got a routing via Tassajara Road. Headed south, and saw signs from the locals saying that it did not go through. Trusting the GPS, And believing the signs were there to discourage motorcyclists from a great road, I continued to a sign which informed me that PAVEMENT ENDS. (Cue theme music from Jaws here.)

 

I decided to try it for a while. The road got worse - washboard, sandy washes in corners, lots of small sharp-ish rocks, and potholes...even one small creek across the road. I kept on going, thinking this had to get better. It didn't.

 

17 miles or so later, I came across a couple of dozen cars alongside the road. And a gate. No sign I could see. Rode around the gate and discovered I was in the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. It seemed to be a lovely place, with several soulful meditators walking around. Rode (quietly) past the cabins to a sharp right hand turn on the GPS and...nothing. No road, cow trail, just brush. The Nav 4 indicated a road continued onwards, but Mother Nature disagreed.

 

Turned around and stopped in the main desk/admin/whatever it was. Ran into Darius, a GS rider. He indicated one other GS had ventured up the trail, and dumped it along with his riding companion. A test of the relationship.

 

The store had many zen and meditation books, incense, and et cetera, but no water. They verified that there was no road south. Oh well. So I headed back.

 

I had a few tense moments - RT is not the best for this road - but managed to keep my underwear its original color.

 

Later checks showed that Google and Apple maps both had the road ending at the Zen center. I will file a report with Garmin...don't know my version number, but I updated maps within the last year, I think.

 

Moral -check multiple sources when traveling off main roads.

 

Bon appetit,

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Hank R1200RT

That was suggested by Darius. It was late enough in the day that I just decided to slab home. Also hoped to eat at Jocko's, but couldn't wait for 1-1/2 hours. I have that pencilled in for a future loop - after Highway 1 is repaired :(

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Unfortunate loss of your time. I hope it wasn't a complete waste of time, the area sounds beautiful, if fruitless as a pass-thru.

 

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, or Zenshinji (Zen Mind Temple) — it has a wiki page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tassajara_Zen_Mountain_Center.

 

From the gImages, it looks like a nice place: https://goo.gl/a4TazJ

Edited by echo7tango
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  • 1 month later...

Hank- That road is a doozy...Used to live in the CV Village and would take that road down to the Zen Center for a little afternoon ride every so often. I ride a GS 1200 and can hardly imagine doing that road on an RT... Recommend slap Darius upside the head for the recommendation. Picked up a small DR200 and took that road on it- was actually fun- Almost burned up the brakes on the GS the first time down that road.

The folks host small groups for meditation and just getting away from it all certain parts of the year. There is no Cell or Inet in the area. Guests park 10 to 15 miles away from the center and are shuttled down and back by Suburban... I believe they purchase a new Suburban yearly just for the task and due to the wonderful road down there... Read the Wiki referenced above- Its a beautiful place....

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