In the old days, the Luiseno indians of San Diego's north county would look up at the high point of Palomar during rain storms and marvel at all the lightning sparks that Taakwish (Tahquitz), the fallen shaman of wondrous power, created as he pounded the bones of his victims on his favorite rocks atop the mountain range. Taakwish is notoriously man-hating and can't wait to beat up on people venturing up his mountain (Lily Rock on Tahquitz Peak), canyon, and his bone pounding places like the highest prominence of the Palomar range.
The base of High Point TT (8SO5) is quite sandy.
Getting to the first steep bit on High Point TT.
It wasn't the legend of Tahquitz that deterred me for so long before attempting to reach the high point of Palomar Mountain by bike, however, but the prospect of actually destroying my road bike on a rough people-less trail with nary a chance of being in cellphone reception range for a mayday call in mountain lion country. Having picked up a sturdier Fuji Finest with clearance for bigger tires and a good pair of disc brakes, and scoring a willing riding partner changed things, and one morning in April I cycled up to Aguanga where my partner, Mike, was waiting, and together we set off up High Point Truck Trail (8SO5) to pick a fight with the devil.
Hike-a-bike stretch where High Point TT runs into Oak Grove TT.
The gate at the top of Oak Grove TT.
High Point Truck Trail, I must say, doesn't have much of a soft spot for rigid road bike running any tire smaller than 30mm. I was running a pair of moderately threaded 28mm, and had quite a bike handling work out on the many really soft sandy stretches at the bottom of the climb, and then again when the road gets rocky, rutty, and quite extremely pitchy as we stopped half-way up to have a look at Oak Grove TT to see if it would make a good alternative escape route from the top. For the record, it doesn't!
Rather than burning off as the day wore on, the cloud just sat on the road, wetting down the dirt.
A peek at Palomar High Point Lookout Tower.
We hiked the bike as much as we rode the last mile to the intersection with Palomar Divide TT (9SO7). My partner had road cycling cleats on, and the wet dirt was wreaking havoc on his ability to clip on and off his pedals. It was quite a lesson to me, as I had never used road clipless system (I went from riding flat pedals to mtb spd system). This proved to be quite problematic since his feet weren't secure on the pedals, and made riding pretty hazardous. With the lateness of our arrival to the Palomar HP saddle, we opted out of going up another mile and a bit to tag the actual top in order to start our descent as soon as possible.
The junction of Palomar Divide TT (9SO7) and High Point TT (8SO5).
Palomar Divide TT put up a lot of fight to slow our escape from Tahquitz's favorite bone grinder. The top part of the road is really rough and full of pebbles that made it almost impossible to stay on a good descending line. The decline is also interrupted by more than a few sudden uphill spikes that are both too loose and steep to ride up. Heck, there are even sandy stretches that preserve quite a few wild spoors - some more concerning than others. For a good couple of miles we found ourselves reverse-tracing footprints of a mountain lion and two cubs... It was enough to grow eyes out the back of our heads and almost hallucinating big cats peeking out from every boulder and bush along the road.
A mommy mountain lion and two cubs went uphill on this road not long ago.
Looking back at the white domes of Palomar Observatory.
We caught some fantastic views of Mendenhall Valley, San Jose del Valle, and Lake Henshaw on the descent (especially once we made it to the old pavement bit below the old Ware Mine. I'm afraid I had accidentally knocked the GoPro downward during the climb up Highpoint TT, and am left with pretty useless footage of a lot of dirt and rut and not much else. As I was counting on getting some good stills from the video, I didn't stop to take many photograph with my camera on our way down the rough road. I guess this calls for a redo ride on the other side of summer!
Looking over the ridge to Valle de San Jose and Lake Henshaw.
I must say, the old pavement on the lower 6 miles or so of Palomar Divide TT is really no picnic to ride as it isn't maintained and is quite chopped up in places and full of debris in others. It's still a big relief from the deep sand and rough pebbles of the upper section, however. I don't know if my road bike would have survived much more of the latter.
The oldly paved lower slope of Palomar Divide Truck Trail.
We somehow made it down to Hwy 79 in one piece (with one minor crash each, sort of as sacrifice to Tahquitz for having invaded his territory on such unsuitable manpowered machines. It was quite a long morning of rough-road riding in quite wetter weather than anticipated (no rain perse, but riding into a cloud that just sat still was still quite a soaking experience). Hopefully I'll get to challenge Tahquitz for a rematch soon... on a bit bigger tires and maybe a slightly bigger cassette, too.
Thanks very much to my riding pal Spinmotion for hanging in there with me both on and off the bike!
Quite a few moons ago - before summer's muggy heat came to town and refused to leave - I made a few cycling trips east into the Laguna Mountains in search of new sights and amazing back roads. The last of such trips was quite a successful one that bears some revisiting. It might even become a regular cool-weather Smorg's Western Loop!
Crash site on eastbound I-8 east of Alpine. See the wreck?
The first bit riding east out of town on El Cajon's Main St and then
Old Hwy 80 was, I'm afraid, pretty boring, though things picked up a bit
as I rode on the shoulder of eastbound I-8 (it's bike legal between E
Willow and Hwy 79 simply because there is no alternative paved surface
road in between those exit to ride on) east of Alpine. An elderly couple
had drove their car off the side of the freeway earlier, and a road
crew had parked (and completely blocked) on the shoulder up the hill
from the wreck, trying to figure out how to get the banged up car out of
its resting place. It made for a photo op... though a rather
uncomfortable one since I had to swing into the rightmost freeway travel
lane for a bit (traffic was very light, but still... people drive 70+ mph on
that stretch!). Besides, the copious width of the freeway shoulder was
no longer any comfort after having seen real life evidence of just how
far wide of the marked lane a car can (and do, everyday) go.
I wish they'd pave Viejas Grade Rd!
Some views along Olde Hwy 80 in Descanso & Guatay.
The cool morning clouds started to break up as I made my way through Descanso and Guatay along Olde Hwy 80, making it difficult for me to speed through this area when it's being pretty like this. A few cows were out on the field along with a few plump wild turkeys and a whole lot of chatty acorn woodpeckers. Even a cute little mole was out and about on the highway rather than staying in his subterranean house! (See ride recap video at bottom).
No coasting for a while, I guess...
One of the many Forestry fire engines on Sunrise Hwy that day.
A PCT hiker heading back to the trailhead after having stocked up at Laguna Mtn Lodge.
Of course, all the leisurely sight-seeing riding had to be paid for at some point and the road dutifully pitched up after Pine Valley as I slow slugged my way up the long climb of Sunrise Highway. After a couple of miles of climbing I started getting passed by a long series of green forestry fire trucks, which had me a bit concerned. I had checked to make sure that there wasn't any wild fire out this way before leaving my Uptown pad, but had one erupted in the hours since? There was no smoke column that I could see, though. Then near the road crest all the fire trucks pulled into the Red Tailed Roost (Laguna Mountain Volunteer Association's HQ) parking lot. I guess they were just having an exercise.
Monument Peak Rd has a rough (and flies-infested during summer months) dirt section sandwiched by old tarmac bookends.
Anyhow, the day's main objective was an offshoot from Sunrise Hwy that leads to Monument Peak, a little-cycled (but much-hiked) peak on the escarpment between the Laguna Mountains and Anza Borrego Desert. It houses a bunch of radio antennae, a set of HPWREN weather webcams, and, at 6,271 ft elevation, is the 3rd or 4th tallest peak in San Diego County, depending on whether you count the 6,378 ft tall Cuyapaipe Peak almost next door or not. Cuyapaipe falls within the Cuyapaipe Indians Reservation and is off-limit even to hikers. Since there is no road accessing it, it doesn't count for two-wheeled me.
The BLM marker at the top of Monument Peak.
Looking south toward Stephenson Peak's FAA radar from Monument Peak.
The turn off from Sunrise Hwy is not marked, but I had studied the area map before hand and knew what to look for (if you get to the Big Laguna Trail dirt turn off, you had gone too far). There are a couple of car gates to navigate and a rather rough and rutty dirt section to power through before getting to the narrow old tarmac lane that services both the radio antennae on Monument Peak and the FAA radar on neighboring Stephenson Peak (the latter is quite off-limit, I'm afraid). Once past the lumpy pine-lined straight the road pitches up a bit and the view opens up all around as the final 1/4 mile climb snakes its way to the top. I don't think there's anything steeper than 15% grade on that road, though. It looks worse than it is... And even if it doesn't, the amazing view from the crest of the escarpment is a great painkiller.
I walked around a bit enjoying the scenery before locating the little peak-top BLM marker by the rock cropping between the two sets of radio towers. It was a nice payback for having spent most of the morning climbing!
A group of thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail.
A bit more climbing heading north past Garnet Peak.
It was a bit past noon when I headed down to resupply at the Laguna Mtn Lodge & Trading Post before deciding to take the long way home through Julian. This was still the spring side of summer, so there were still quite a lot of thru hikers making their way north along the Pacific Crest Trail which spends a lot of miles along the east side of the highway. I cheered on a few as I passed, and got to chat with others at various trail accesses. I wonder how many managed to finish their long trek all the way to the Canadian border.
Beautifully well-firred Whispering Pines near Julian.
There was a bit more climbing along Hwy 79 toward Julian before I could enjoy a nice and curvy descent into town. I was still a bit ahead of schedule when I got to the junction with Hwy 78 and decided to veer east to have a look around the Whispering Pines neighborhood and scout out the elusive 'Lutz Castle'. It was a fruitful little detour with lots of view and charming narrow roads of pretty quads-busting gradients. I'm afraid Lutz Castle (a private B&B) isn't much more castle-y than two low and hard to spot turrets, but it fits quite well into the surrounding, which, to me, is a plus.
A glimpse of the Anza Borrego Desert from the top of Volcan View Dr.
Twisty Canyon Dr and a glimpse of the Lutz Castle B&B.
All the climbing made me hungry, though, so I headed into Julian proper in search of some high-calories cycling fuel. I didn't have to do much looking... That charming little old mining town was overflowing with pies and tarts of many types of apple and berries!
Julian is heaven for the hungry...
Being properly weighed down by the sweets I slow slug out of Julian's pie-belly factories up the less-traveled lanes of Farmer Rd instead of the more frequented Hwy 78. It's a beautiful country lane with awesome view of the local fields and ranches... and the tantalizing Volcan Mountain and its radio antennae/fire lookout tower. There used to be a set of HPWREN cameras there, but it went off-line after a lightning strike during the storm of October 2013 and has not been replaced.
Farmer Rd leading out of Julian.
Volcan Mtn radio antennae.
Farmer Rd at Wynola Rd, where the fun begins!
Taking Farmer Rd instead of Hwy 79 added a few extra miles to the ride, but it was totally worth it just to turn left (west) at Menghini Winery and descent the uninterrupted and endlessly curvy Wynola Rd into Wynola Junction. It's one of the most awesome downhill runs in the county along with Montezuma Grade and Palomar South Grade Rds (with the caveat that there is quite more traffic on both of the latter than there usually is on Wynola Rd). So, naturally, I didn't get any photo of the Wynola twisties... It was too much fun to stop for a shot or two!
Luckily... there are some nice Youtube clips to give you some ideas. Mind you, I do think the lady driving this car was going a bit faster than she should. Fellow cyclists should also note how invisible we two-wheelers would be under those tree shades. If you plan on riding there, wear bright color jersey, use front and rear flashing lights, and control the lane until you see that the driver approaching from behind does see you before turning out when you find a safe spot. It doesn't do to make yourselves invisible by riding in the shadowed edge of the lane where drivers wouldn't see you until the last seconds... That's when they'd get themselves into the 'either head on collision or force the cyclist off the road' situation. Make no mistake, they always choose the latter rather than the former!
Wynola Junction itself is just a small collection of country stores and eateries. I headed west on Hwy 78 and swung off the sharp right turn on the descent into Santa Ysabel to visit the little memorial to the Inaja Fire of 1956 where 11 firefighters died during a flash over. The tragedy resulted int the enactment of the 10 Standard Firefighting Orders that is still in use today.
Wynola Junction.
Inaja Fire Memorial off Hwy 78 in Santa Ysabel.
The view SW from Inaja Memorial.
I'm afraid riding on the 78 west of Santa Ysabel is never much fun. Drivers go too fast and the road shoulder way too narrow (when one exists, that is). So, like most that have had to cycle between Ramona and Santa Ysabel many times, I couldn't duck into the much more sparsely trafficked Old Julian Highway fast enough. Besides, the OJH runs along the open back field of Camel Oasis Dairy and the are always a few of the hump backs out grazing the field during the day. I already have too many photos of these cool critters, but I can't seem to ever stop myself from taking more every time I pass by!
Camels in the field off Old Julian Highway.
Enjoying the low traffic Old Julian Highway before returning to the main drag in Ramona.
Yup, I'm afraid the low-traffic riding goes away once you get into Ramona proper as the only roads west and south of it are busy high-speed highways (well, Highland Valley Rd and a secret series of private lanes aren't as busy, but the former involves more climbing and drops you off further north in Rancho Bernardo. And the private lanes are, you know, private and still drop you off on busy Espola Rd where more climbing is needed to get back toward I-15 bike paths). I decided that the least painful of all the sub-optimal options was to take Hwy 67 to Scripps Poway Pkwy. It wasn't bad... but all those road safety reminder signs along that high-speed road really are there for a reason, and as careful a rider as I am, I have no illusion that luck is not a big part of surviving riding that thing a lot. When a driver does something stupid on that road, there really isn't much you on the bicycle can do to save yourselves. There isn't room to maneuver, and the driving speed is always too excessive. That's how it goes, I'm afraid.
After the draggy climb to the base of Mt Woodson, it's downhill most of the way back to Poway!
I'm not writing anything about the rest of the ride home 'cause it's a relatively boring and non-exotic city riding slug and this post is getting way too long already. I did make a little video of the ride, though. It was one of this year's better solo centuries. Here it is!
While Fallbrook and De Luz next door aren't exactly 'forgotten regions' amongst cycling San Diegans, riding through Rainbow for many usually just means riding along the Old 395, Rainbow Valley Blvd and Rice Canyon Rd. But there are so much more cycle-delic back roads to Rainbow than just the obvious main ones! A few months ago I ventured out there on one of the cooler days to check out a few not-so-well-beaten paths.
The ride started at the Mobile gas station off Old 395 and Hwy 76 in Fallbrook ('cause that's where the 389 bus from Escondido dropped me off, of course). I'm afraid my attempt at getting to Lancaster Mountain Rd was scuttled when the smooth & nicely flat dirt Lancaster Creek Rd runs into a fenced off citrus farm and I had to turn around back to Dulin & Pankey Rds. It was still a nice stretch spent dirtying up the bike while dodging ant hills and stalking Say's phoebes and a few flighty swallows, however.
Lancaster Creek Rd.
A couple of friendly goats along Rice Canyon Rd.
Another turn-around at the Pala Mesa Heights gate.
A side venture up the steep eastern bit of Pala Mesa Heights Rd also ended at a gate, with a bunch of funny California quails laughing at my slow progress from a low branch in a bush nearby. I started to tell them how ungainly they themselves looked quivering on the shaky tree limb when a cucumber-cool coyote came trotting out of another brush within 30 ft of us and disappeared into the ranch house next door. If quails are funny just staying still and bobbing their plumed heads, they are downright hilarious when they scatter out of freight!
Anyhow, I was getting pretty sick of running into gates half-way up a road, so I turned around and started up roads I knew I could pass through instead. Huntley Rd up to Rainbrooks is one of those. It's a steep thing to cycle up, but makes up for the pain with smoothly paved tarmac and amazing view...
A look back westward while climbing Huntley Rd.
Rolling through the citrus & exotic trees farms.
A bargain if there ever is one!
After a while the road sort of levels off into a series of minor rollers as it pokes its way through exotic trees and citrus farms, one of which had a little table out by the roadside supporting a rather cool 6 pack carton of varieties of eggs for sale on honor system for a buck. I was sold on the spot and shelled out the dollar, while secretly hoping that all the bounty will survive the rest of the ride intact in my backpack.
Past the tree farms the road makes a hard uphill left turn as the pavement dissolves into packed gravel, which made for an interesting ride. I was now on Rainbrook Rd and very grateful that I was running 25 mm Gatorskin tires on 80 psi rather than thinner tires at higher pressure. The road does a few minor rollers before leveling out at a right turn, returns to relatively well paved (except for a couple of rather hard to see mini speed bumps and cracks) country lane on its way to joining up with Rainbow Crest Rd.
Gravelly Rainbrooks Rd.
A view on Rainbow Crest Rd.
A little detour right on Rainbow Crest Rd gave a nice top down look on Gomez Creek Rd, the gloriously gory and photogenic monster I had to climb up the last time I ventured through this corner of San Diego County.
A look east toward Tourmaline Queen Mtn from Rainbow Crest Rd.
I didn't tarry long enjoying the magnificent view, though. It was a clear and sunny day and the temperature was starting to spike, so I headed west and then NW on Rainbow Crest to catch Rainbow Rd north toward Rainbow Conservation Camp before turning left uphill in pursuit of the day's main objective, the little broken tarmac lane tracing the cliffy west side of the hill by the name of Rainbow Peaks Trails. Have a look... it is quite a gem!
As you can see, I wouldn't recommend anyone riding this thing who isn't a good bike-handler and very mechanically-inclined. The view to the west is pretty darn awesome. You can see all of Rainbow Valley and its many orchards, and a few pretty tantalizing dirt roads in the area, too.
Rainbow Valley from Rainbow Peaks Tr.
I totally had to hike-a-bike down a bit of the super steep drop. It's just too broken up with huge potholes and lots of loose dirt and pebbles for my dual-pivot brakes and road tires to deal with. At the fat part of the right switchback I veered left onto the rutty dirt path (Rainbow Peaks Rd) for a bit of slippery climbing back to the pristine pavement of Rainbow Heights Rd, sneaked a look east from the water tank, before a nice smooth coast down the wiggly descent to Rainbow Heights Junction.
Rutty dirt bit of Rainbow Peaks Rd
Awesome paved descent on Rainbow Heights Rd
All the climbing done earlier in the day was well paid off by the time I got to Rainbow Heights again. I only spared a brief detour into the lovely Rainbow Inn B&B (alas, nobody was home) before gingerly getting back on the right side of the road (the inn is located right on a blind turn on the steep descent) and free-wheeling my way down the deliciously curvy road into Rainbow proper.
A bit of loveliness at Rainbow Inn B&B.
I'm afraid it was too hot to go poking around Stewart Crest after I got down into the valley, so that's an adventure for another day. I did stop by Nessie Burger for a bite of Fallbrook's favorite monster lunch, though.
It wasn't a very strenuous ride, so I settled for the Nessie Dog instead of the full on burger before catching the bus home. Oh, in case you were wondering, all the eggs I picked up from Huntley Rd survived!
