October 14 friend and local banker John Harelson and I head East up through Ramona. It’s early Sunday morning, the sun is just cresting the Eastern mountains and the further we go the colder it gets. To put things in perspective, cold for a Southern Californian is anything below sixty degrees. As we wind up the 78 into the town of Ramona we enter a fog bank and in the moisture the temperature drops, the official low is 51, including wind speed and moisture it was damn cold.
Riding out old Julian highway and into Julian proper we made good time – not many people on the road in the early morning, just riders out looking for some fresh air and no traffic. On the way to Julian we detour down Wynola road, enjoying the twisty road and beautiful fall colors. We pass a group of wild turkeys standing by the side of the road and then wind into the town proper, stopping at the Julian Coffee House on the East side of Main Street, next to the gas station.
A few cups of coffee and the tanks topped up, John and I head East on the 78, to the desert of Borrego Springs. The ride down the mountain is fantastic, the air crisp and the wide-open roads phenomenal. We continue through the desert on the long, long road, past the sand dunes and desert rats. The Harley Sportster's XL1200 engine motors along a comfortable vibration coming from the v-twin, seemingly effortlessly moving us along at a cool 70 mph. North on the 86 we head up through the first traffic of the day to Salton City.
The Salton City area is the land of lost expectations with streets named Sea Oasis, Desert Shores, and other names that came from a more optimistic time. The Salton Sea has receded over time shore-front properties are now in the middle of arid lands, far from the water. Looking for a road that will take us to the water’s edge, we finally come across an RV park that has access to the sea.
We ride down one of two jetties to get a look out at the Salton Sea. Further out the water is blue, up close it is mostly clear. Most striking is the lack of activity; used to seeing people enjoying in water, boating, jet skiing, fishing, swimming and more, it is strange to see so much water with only the occasional bird.
Riding back we head up through the town of Borrego Springs and into the mountains. The air is remarkably blue and crisp, perfect riding weather. We ride back down into the valley and head back West on the 76. In all we cover 270 miles in about six hours. The whole time we are reminded of the beauty of rural San Diego, the sights, the sounds, the smells. All of nuance isn’t noticed in the climate controlled environment of a car.
Monday, October 22, 2007
From Sea to Sea with Desert in Between
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