I had the opportunity to ride with Chad and Karsten from Adventure Designs (www.advdesigns.com) and several of their customers (Chris & Mike) a few weeks ago - for those of you that don't know about their firm, they specialize in gear and tools for adventure riders and are located in Hayward, CA. They personally test everything before they sell it and I got to view quite a few of their products in action - very impressive. I especially liked their compact tire pump and purchased it for the trip. I have used it quite a bit since then and it works great!
The ride was fantastic - after everyone met at their shop, we took a selection of back roads and highways to Feather River Canyon (Route 70) and then on to the Quincy area. Just outside Quincy is an area called Three Lakes and it is only accessible by jeep trail. After making our way up the trail, we dry camped by one of the lakes - incredible views and great location - it will definitely be a destination for future trips. The group made it up the trail in pretty good shape, but some of the protection pieces by AltRider that they sell came in handy!
All in all it was a great trip - Chad and Karsten did a great job setting it up and leading the group.
Mike