March 6, 2021 Hikers, Bikers, And Jeeps…Oh My!
Palm Canyon RV Resort Borrego Springs, California Day 9
I had not yet walked into town for my morning walk.
We packed some lunch and went for a ride. We actually spent most of the day on pavement.
We started out on S-22, up and out of Borrego Springs.
It was a pretty Saturday in southern California and it seemed like everyone was out! Every trailhead was crammed full of cars.
The town is at 600 feet of elevation. These bikers were on their way to Ranchita at 4,000 feet of elevation. I cannot even imagine the strength and stamina required to make it the 15 miles up this mountain.
And the Jeeps, we passed more than 100 Jeeps of every sort. Just when I think that I have seen every possible accessory…I am surprised by something new. We even saw a longhorn skeleton today, strapped to the grill of a Jeep. The Jeep trails in this area were busy today!
We chose to take a scenic drive. We passed Ranchita and we were in Montezuma Valley. Here we saw great pine trees and lush, green fields. It was rather refreshing to see, after being in the desert for the past 7 weeks.
We passed through two really lovely little towns, Santa Ysabel and Julian. There were shops, restaurants, breweries, and cideries. It was so tempting to stop and walk along the streets. It was crowded and though about 2/3 of people were wearing masks…1/3 were not. We need to keep being smart and careful. If we stay healthy, we can always come back another time!
We stopped at Desert View Park. Standing on the top of the mountain we could see miles, the whole valley below us.
Traveling on we found Cuyamaca Lake. We ate our lunch here, watching an eagle, cormorants, Canadian geese and white pelicans.
The caracara blood navel oranges that we bought yesterday were tart, juicy, and delicious!
There was snow on this mountaintop…that is more than enough winter for us…thanks! The forecast is for snow in Julian later in the week. The higher elevations really do make a difference in terms of temperature. Borrego Springs was 75 degrees when we left around 10. In Julian, it was 59 degrees. We also saw this week how the mountains stop the moisture and rain from coming onto the desert side. The rapid change from cactus and dust to green fields and trees was astonishing. I know…it’s science…but it was still remarkable to see the differences in such a short distance.
We drove the Banner Grade all the way back down to the desert.
We did take one dirt road. We drove into Lizard Canyon. We took the trail until it became too narrow. We got out and hiked to the end.
Yes, this is the trail!
When we got back, we debated staying overnight there. We had enough food and water and we had our sleeping bags, but we were not really prepared. If the forecast would have been warmer at night, I think we might have tried to make it work. We went back to the RV. We need to think about how we can be better prepared so that if we spontaneously find a place we like…we can just pop the top and sleep under the stars!
