2024 Pashnit Touring on a Hayabusa
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Due east of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada Foothills at the 3000 ft level is a region we call Apple Hill. When the kids were young, my wife and I lived in the heart of Apple Hill, we could walk to High Hill Ranch (the center of that region). Southern California has a doppelganger of NorCal's Apple Hill Region known as Julian. However, this tiny town of 1700 at the 4200 ft level in the Laguna Mountains due east of San Diego is not someplace you want to be near due to the congestion and touristy nature of this town.
The plan though was to ride up into the Laguna Mountains and cut south to the Mexican border, avoiding Julian, but also riding to within a few hundred yards of the border fence. You can bypass Julian (but first we stopped in Santa Ysabel for pie) by heading into a maze of narrow single lane paved roads into the community of Pine Hills southwest of Julian. We made it through Pine Hills to Engineer Grade and onto the Sunrise Highway headed along the crest of the Laguna Mountain Range. To the east are the desert regions below of the Anza-Borrego Desert and a dramatic temperature difference from the top of the range to the desert regions below.
Who wants pie?
The plan though was to ride up into the Laguna Mountains and cut south to the Mexican border, avoiding Julian, but also riding to within a few hundred yards of the border fence. You can bypass Julian (but first we stopped in Santa Ysabel for pie) by heading into a maze of narrow single lane paved roads into the community of Pine Hills southwest of Julian. We made it through Pine Hills to Engineer Grade and onto the Sunrise Highway headed along the crest of the Laguna Mountain Range. To the east are the desert regions below of the Anza-Borrego Desert and a dramatic temperature difference from the top of the range to the desert regions below.
Who wants pie?
Our giant all day loop goes something like this- This is only 215 miles which is a very relaxed day, but that give us plenty of time for stops, kicking tires, and not being in any hurry to get somewhere. A solo rider could do a lot more mileage, but this loop is perfect for an averaged sized group of 14 bikes.
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Retracing some of our ride from the previous day - the ride up to Mount Laguna
At the summit on Mount Laguna - elevations here are around 6000 ft.
No forests up here, can only find those above 6000 ft, below us is desert landscapes of Southern California.
Plus, we're only a few miles from the border with Mexico.
At the summit on Mount Laguna - elevations here are around 6000 ft.
No forests up here, can only find those above 6000 ft, below us is desert landscapes of Southern California.
Plus, we're only a few miles from the border with Mexico.
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