Brawley, California to Julian, California
Destination Julian - At Brawley I had 2 choices of routes to San Diego. The "low road" included a stretch on the interstate (I-8) plus 2 mountain passes. The "high road" included some long stretches through the desert and one mountain to climb. I got an early start and opted for the "high road."
The first 23 miles were flat through the western Imperial Valley. Hay everywhere, plus hay trucks whizzing by on their way to L.A. ports, leaving a maelstrom of swirling hay shreds to pedal through.
I rode past the southern edge of the Salton Sea and it smelled like the seashore. Locals told me stories about walking along the shore on fish bones 3 feet deep. Apparently this "sea" formed in the early 1900's as an inadvertent result of irrigational engineering efforts to harness the Colorado River. Now an environmental hotbed, one such struggle involves agricultural pesticide runoff which periodically destroys fish populations. If you look at a map you'll see a large body of water. You'd never know that it didn't exist 300 years ago. Plus a lake that did exist called Lake Coachuilla that the Indians and Spanish settlers used is gone. But that's another story...
At the 23 mile mark the road splits. This was an appropriate place for a border patrol check point and after clearing that, I headed out on California Highway 78 west across theAnza-Borregos Desert. This would be a fantastic ride on a motorcycle, in a car or on a bike too if it wasn't for those ridiculous headwinds! They came back suddenly about 10 miles in, causing me 30 miles of struggle. Mile after mile I rode past thousands of Ocotillo and Cholla cacti. The road would wind through small canyons and mountains. Many times wide open desert would turn to wonder of how the hell the road will get through the tightly bundled mountains ahead.
Up until a turn-off for Borregos Springs I was on the Juan Bautista de Anza Historical Trail - a Spanish explorer route from Mexico to San Francisco. Soon after that the road made a climb to 1000 feet of elevation. I had passed a sign 7 miles west of Brawley, CA that indicated elevation 173. My destination of Julian, CA is at 4,200 ft. so I knew I still had some climbing to do. The road then became very twisting and winding, up and up through the mountains and out of the desert and I soon passed a sign for 2,000 ft. elevation. Then off in the distance I saw a one-mile section of road that appeared to be nearly vertical. Well it wasn't of course, but it was a very unfriendly grade. On the other side of that obstacle I crossed the Pacific Crest Trail (something I hope to hike one day) and walked it in a token way for a bit. A few years back, up in Yosemite we hiked a few miles of this trail. A sign for a nearby park stated that it was closed from June through September, no doubt because of unbearable heat.
Okay, onward - finally 7 miles from Julian, a store! Went inside and got a couple of ice cold drinks and food. The woman at the counter informed me that I have 7 more miles to Julian and we're at 2,800 and Julian is at 4,200 ft. I went to sit down. My knees were feeling a bit stiff now and I wished I was done for the day. After 68 miles of desert, hills and headwinds I really had to summon the strength to go the last 7 miles. Maybe I was losing my edge because I was feeling so close to the final goal, thinking a remaining short distance makes it easy, but every mile is still a mile. Take it a mile at a time I told myself...you'll get there. Well I don't know how, but aside form one break to pee, I pedaled continually up that hill. I put myself in a trance-like state of mind and basically willed myself up that mountainside.
When I got to the top, I was elated, for tomorrow it will be all downhill to San Diego. I'm now in San Diego County at least. 55 miles to go! ONE MORE DAY! Party night in Julian for me!
This town is hokey. Touristy with lots of inns, B and B's but most of the stores and shops closed at 6 pm. I got cleaned up in a public restroom and wandered town. A barbecue place with live music looked like dinner, but first a stop at the Boar's Head Saloon.
At the bar I met Stephen Charland. I loved talking to this guy!! A transplant from Boston, out here some 20 years, and loves the West too. He was enthusiastic about my trip, kept high-fiving me and could relate to the general sense of the adventure because he's planning to hike the Appalachian Trail in the spring. He has been researching that for a while now and could easily draw a few parallels to biking across the country.
He also told me about doing the houseboat thing on Lake Powell. This is something I've always wanted to do, so getting the lowdown from someone who's actually done it was much better than reading a brochure. One year me and Peg rented kayaks and exploresd the lake and in the summer of 1998, with the kids, we rented a power boat for an overnight on Lake Powell. We rode all the way to Rainbow Bridge which is a huge arch several hours by boat. Stephen told me the water level is down quite a bit the past few years and this year you could only get about a mile away from the arch and had to walk the rest of the way. I liked this guy a lot because I felt we were cut from the same cloth - both possessing something that would drive us to find adventure in this life and seek and enjoy what's out there. I wish him well in his AT hike.
He offered me a place to stay but I was already set to camp. It was a bit chilly in Julian but I was told the temps wouldn't go below 50. I already sent my warm clothes home, even my sweatshirt, which made me contemplate buying one, but in the end I just threw on an extra shirt and the tent was warm.
Said good-bye to Stephen and had a great (well-deserved-after-2-days-of-hard bike riding) barbecue dinner and off to bed.
Totals for the day: 76.88 miles 7 hours, 35 minutes 3,372.0 total miles