Posey Posse Rides Bear Valley

article and photos by Geno
April 6, 2002

Rich Blackmarr, Mike Turner, Dick Fraschetti, Herb Lee, Paul Gunkel, and Geno Masuda rode a 40-mile loop in Bear Valley in seach of springtime wildflowers. This area, west of Williams and north of Hwy 20 in Colusa County, is well known for its fields of brilliant yellow, orange, white, and blue wildflowers. April and May following winter rains are the prime months to view the wildflowers.

For most of the Posse, this mountain bike ride has become an annual springtime ritual. Bear Valley is a secluded picturesque valley, about five miles long and one mile wide, located at the southern end of the area known as the Unknown Valley.

The route follows rough paved, hard-packed dirt, and gravel roads through a very remote region of oak woodland, broad open meadows, rolling hills and mountains of the inner coastal range. Cattle ranching is the predominant activity. A portion of the route, Leesville Road, follows meandering creeks and climbs 1,600 feet over 5 miles over exhilarating switchbacks to a high point of 1,800 feet, then descends approximate 500 feet into Bear Valley.