 
Friday, October 5, 2001 - Thru the In-Koh-Pa Gorge and Tiptoeing Thru the Desert
73 miles. Outdoor World RV Park (near Boulevard CA) to Crown Motel, El Centro
CA
Today was one of those days that stand out on any
trip. We left the RV camp early. When we got up before dawn it was
cold, probably below 50*. Good moonlight thru the big live oaks we were
underneath helped the preparation of breakfast; coco wheats, coffee and dry
toast. When we left it was cold enough that Joan put her long pants on.
Being clear it warmed rapidly. We passed thru Boulevard, CA and came to
Jacumba where we ate a hearty brunch in preparation for the Gorge and Desert to
come.
We climbed gradually, the border as close as 200 feet,
until S.R. 94 merges with I-8. Here we entered the E-way and started the
descent into the In-Koh-Pah Gorge, a 6% grade for ten miles as the road drops
3,000 feet. The gorge is only wide enough to take the east bound lanes and
the west bound lanes are forced to ascend Devils Canyon out of sight a mile
away. The road takes a wide sweeping turn showing several miles of itself
with traffic crawling along before falling into the real gorge of towering
cliffs with cactus growing in impossible spots of the sheer walls. The
entire landscape was thrown into high relief by the sun and appeared as if some
Titan, upon orders from Zeus, had dumped colossal truckloads of rock over the
earth. We stopped several times to let our brakes and rims cool.
Exiting the canyon we could see the Imperial Valley far in the distance as we
dropped into the Yuha Desert at midday. The Masters peleton of two, with
me in front, was riding in a pace line up a small rise in a low gear when
I slipped on a patch of sand and pebbles that had blown onto the pavement.
As the bike slid to the right, reflexes (I've still got 'em) took over and I
stepped out of the toe clips and one, two, cha, cha, cha I was standing
unscathed in the road. I looked back just in time to see Joan collapsing
onto my steed in a heap of bicycles and panniers. I helped her to her feet
and found ourselves unhurt and the bikes undamaged.
We hopped back on and took off there being no reason to
hang around in the desert. All of it belongs to the BLM {thanks Dad} with little
vegetation, not even cactus. We finally passed the half way point I
had been predicting for miles and with our thirst mounting stopped for a rest.
I looked to the side and noticed one of the white boxes with a blue pennant
marking it. They were spaced every half mile or so and said agua or water.
Said I to Joan, "Do you think there is actually water in it?" I
walked over to it and it was full of sealed gallons of water that was still cool
from the night chill. We quickly polished a gallon and were on our way out
of the desert.
A line of palm trees delineates the edge of the
Imperial Valley. We took a break above the main western canal and cruised north
to Seeley, CA on a quiet farm road framed with occasional Great Wall of China
bales of hay. To my surprise it appeared that all the cropland we went
past was planted in alfalfa. They truck it into SoCal to supplement the
meager pasturage available there until the winter rains finally arrive.
Unable to camp in Seeley we were forced ride on to El
Centro, the big ciudad in the Valley. Just before El Centro the Border
Patrol finally pulled us over. He was quickly convinced of our bona fides
and we learned from him the source of water in the desert is the local U.S.
representative, a Democrat no doubt, to help "aliens" coming thru the
desert. He said they stay away from the water because they fear a setup
and that, "I wish you would drink it all!" It makes his job more
difficult by making the desert less of a barrier. We assured him that the
Canadian border is far more wide open.
We continued on into El Centro over a rumble strip
repaving project that fortunately lasted only a couple of miles and found a
richly deserved motel room.
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