Today was a welcome zero day, just a few days into the trip, but at a crucial point we had previously planned for; we wanted recovery with unseasoned legs and a previous-day's big climb. Janna and I absolutely slept-in late. After waking up, we walked down the street from the cabin in the day's already garnering warmth to get some breakfast at a local restaurant. While there, we saw two PCT-hikers who I chatted with about their experiences and plans moving forward. Afterwards, we stopped by a local pie restaurant for the best chocolate cream pie I have ever eaten...
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After a fitful night's sleep in Banning, we got up early knowing that today was going to be a crux ride. Since beginning the tour, we had cast nervous eyes ahead to Big Bear knowing that we had over 8,000 feet of gain to do in a day. I slept terribly thanks for uncertainties about my brake and whether it would perform well on the rest of the route (or at least until I found a better caliper). The morning was bright, sun smack pumping heat. It was chill enough for light wind jackets but we knew that a 90+ degree day lay ahead down here. The roads were clear of vehicles at 6 am as Janna and I wound through the streets of Banning that I had ridden the day before to get to the bike shop. And then we passed the bike shop with a laugh and continued on into Beaumont...
Janna and I started our morning in Idyllwild late and leisurely. We only had 30 miles planned out today and only a couple of thousand feet of gain. The Sierra Cascades would take us up and over, then down the San Jacinto range to Banning, CA right along the I-10 as it crosses a vein of the low Mohave Desert. We had originally planned on camping at Bogart County Park just west and north of town, outside of Beaumont. However, the campground and park had closed to tent campers due to COVID, and all reservations were cancelled. All other camping in the area was either closed (due to COVID) or restricted to RV park usage. I had searched fruitlessly and settled on the fact that we were going to need to book a hotel room in the area; this was also encouraged by the major vein of urban desert that was due to be over 100 degrees...
Rain pattered our campsite throughout the night as a gentle pour from the inland-stretching marine layer. We slept well. Morning was subsequently overcast and cool. A thick stew of clouds smeared atmospheric-opaquicity over Mt. Palomar rising about the campground. Mixes of blue sky wafting here and there suggested it wouldn't last long. We were in the desert for sure, but knew that we needed to descend even lower in elevation today before an all-day climb up into the cool pines of Idyllwild. The marine layer was affording us well-tempered temps we knew to take advantage of. Quickly, Janna and I packed up camp, ate breakfast, and pushed out onto the highway edge...
It was a truly relaxing night on top of Mount Laguna. The start of the night left me sweating from the heat of the day, but that quickly dissipated in the early hours of the morning to coolness. In fact, there was a chill in the air when we woke up the next morning. We packed up camp from the quiet and empty campground before pushing out down to the Laguna Mountain Lodge and Trading Post. Unfortunately, it was closed and not due to open for another hour or two; we had miles to go so we took a few pictures and continued up a slight incline in the trees. The road curved and suddenly, we were heading down the north/opposite side of Mount Laguna. Pines quickly faded to oaks which fell away in an old burn scar now filled with manzanita. Before us, expansive views down to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park opened up at every curve in the road. We stopped again and again to gaze down at the legendary desert. It seemed such a contrast to be up here in the green manzanita flanks of a mountain with wind jackets on and high cloud cover ahead while distant bleached desert peaks and a venerable roasting oven of Anza-Borrego Mojave desert lay below us...
The four of us slept hard given the recent end of the school year. We woke up early and got going in the car by 5 am. Matt and Colleen were driving our vehicle since we had the bike rack on the back with all of our gear. We skirted the streets of El Cajon out towards the rural countryside and into the rocky interior of the Cleveland National Forest. Ranchlands and farms dotted mountainsides amid the chapparal and shrouded mist of marine layer permeating the inland...
The school year ended after an extension to June given the postponed start due to COVID-19. And with it came the close on my first year working and living at the Grand Canyon. It felt a little off-kiltering to realize the year had come-and-gone all while COVID-19 continued to press down on the world sizably. With summer break nearing, Janna and I fleshed out our adventure plans. We settled on the Sierra Cascades Bicycling Route by the Adventure Cycling Association. The route is a road/pavement-based tour that acts as the bicycle equivalent of the Pacific Crest Trail. It starts in the mountains along the US/Mexico Border and continues across the crest of the western-coast states all the way to Canada. We had eyed the route several years ago when deciding our first tour and wisely thought it too difficult to start with. Our original plans for this summer were to bike the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. However, an injury I sustained in February resulted in medical advice to avoid jostling rock/dirt surface for pavement...
After yesterday's big miles and elevation gain, I awoke today to find (rather unsurprisingly) that my hip was in some pain. Little did I know that a few days later I would find out I had a pelvic fracture. But for moment, all I knew was that it was throbbing. I had two days left on the route, but given the pain, I decided to do one last day shortly looped through the woods to retrieve my car in Tusayan...
Somehow the night was warmer than the evening. Whether it was the storm passing and taking its gale or a warm front slightly moved in, but the dawn broke even and comfortable. Today was planned to be a big day. My pelvis was doing well, so I planned to make up some distance/time by hitting up all the capes and making it to the South Rim Village for the night. No rain was forecast, so I didn't feel compelled to hurry my morning too quickly. Instead, I used the latrines over by Grandview Tower, enjoyed a long breakfast, and then got comfortably going for a big descent off the Coconino Rim down to the Upper Basin...
The bugling elk persisted into the early hours of the morning, whereby I got some sleep when I finally put earplugs in. Usually, October mornings have a bite of cold that gets chased by sun in the middle of the day. But as soon as the sun crested the horizon, it felt like a warm summer morning. I exited my shelter into dawn light calm and smooth. I packed up quickly knowing that today was forecast to have even more storms than yesterday. I wanted to make sure I didn't get caught in caliche substrate when the rain came. As I was eating breakfast, a bunch of USFS Hot Shot vehicles and fire trucks flew down the road I was camped next to. I noted that possibility of a fresh fire after last night's lightning show...
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