Day One: A quick ride to Salton Sea
The sun is setting over the Salton Sea as my first road day
draws to a close. The first day always seems hectic so I was glad to have a
near destination predetermined. Last night I opted to put away much of the gear
I had out to bring and consolidated down to a more reasonable load. I had been
thinking about the hiker’s saying, “Travel light, freeze at night.” Now I was being
reminded of a discussion two weeks ago at the Overland Expo where world
adventure riders stated they start with a minimum of gear knowing they can pick
up something along the way if they really need it. In the end I compromised
between those two extremes.
Highs reached 102 degrees today which is about 3 degrees
lower than the forecast for Arizona and Texas over the next couple days. Lows
are scheduled for the mid 70’s which encouraged me to lighten my load by
switching to a jungle weight sleeping bag for this trip. I just keep remembering the temperature dropped to near freezing outside of Flagstaff, AZ, a couple weeks ago after riding across the Mojave Desert...
A rider once posted on the Adventure Rider forum that they
will only stop for food at “local” places when traveling, purposely avoiding
all national chains. Hmm, sounds like a good idea. Hadley’s Orchard in Cabazon
met the bill with a quick stop for a BLT. They have great date shakes but I
passed on that with the heat!
My primary concern today was the wind on the 11 mile stretch
of Route 10 by the wind farm outside of Palm Springs. The high center of gravity on the GS makes it
a bit of a wind magnet. With the extra pack and case on the rear it would catch
the wind pretty hard. Fortunately, the wind was lighter than normal and I was
able to stay beside a large truck which effectively controlled much of the buffeting.
Having passed through this area many
times, I forget the awe I felt the first time I drove through. For more info on the wind farm, try this link:
And now I sit on the edge of the Salton Sea, a quirky area
with a lot of history. My bivy will be set up on the beach which is really an
area of crushed barnacles versus sand. Actually, a surprisingly pleasant place
to sleep and wake up with all of the birds that populate the area.
Tomorrow will be my first full road day. Let’s see where I
end up tomorrow night!
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