Laguna Mountain – Julian

April 8 – 9, 2006

Wild turkeys and an ostrich were out this year for us to see, as were deer and many birds. The usual desert winds were with us too, but that didn’t discourage the nine riders who came on this excellent and scenic pannier tour.

Starting in the town of Santa Ysabel, we cycled up Engineer Road, a quiet backcountry two-lane treasure that led to Cuyamaca Lake where we had a breezy lunch. Soon we were at the foot of Hwy S1, also known as the Sunrise Highway, with its long, sweeping, uphill curves and good shoulder that took us to the pine forests at the top of Laguna Mountain.

Our campground was peaceful and inviting after a day of climbing over 6,000 feet. The overnight low was in the 30s and Sunday dawned bright and sunny. Most of us had breakfast in Julian, about 18 miles down (with a few uphills) on an all but deserted highway with gorgeous, sweeping views. What a ride!

The Banner Grade downhill into the Anza Borrego Desert was another spectacle. At Scissors Junction, we climbed the long grades slowly to San Felipe for lunch, then on to Mesa Grande with its splendid view of Lake Henshaw , its green pastures and grazing lands, its forests and meadows.

If you missed this gem of a ride, we plan to offer it again next year when hopefully, there will be more wildflowers than there were this time. Come anyway, even if you don’t get to see the wild turkeys or the ostrich (the ostrich was in a corral with a horse, so it wasn’t exactly in the wild).

The participants were Gloria Nafel, Bob Lloyd, Kathy Shapiro, Ann Trank, Jerry Tate, Don Porter, Larry Moore, Mike Wolfe, and Ellie Antonio.