Full Itinerary (Subject to minor changes): Saturday, May 9th, 2015 Start at sunrise at Salton Sea: 5:15 AM Meet at the south end of Ave. E on the shore of the Salton Sea (Dirt parking for about 10-15 cars). Depart: 5:45 AM. Drive to Brownie’s Dinner in Brawley, CA: 6:30 AM 990 Main Street, Brawley, CA 92227 Apx 30 miles from Bombay Beach. Parking for 15+ cars and plenty of seating. Gas station available immediately across the street. (8 pumps available) Depart: 8:30 AM. Highly suggest everyone fill their gas tanks here. All fuel readings will be based on having a full tank at this point. Salton City Checkpoint 9:10 AM 36 miles from Brownie’s. Stop on State Route 22 just past corner gas station. This is the corner of State Highway 86 and State Route 22/S. Marina Dr. This will serve as a meet-up point for those wanting to start the run later in the morning. We will be dividing the group, if necessary, so that spirited drivers are up front and less aggressive drivers on in the rear here. Depart 9:25 AM. NOTE: State Route 22 is VERY bumpy for first 2 miles. Maximum speed apx 40 mph will be observed. It is rough for apx the next 3 miles and maximum speed will be 50 mph. After that we will be following posted speed limits. The view in this area is incredible. It feels like youre off roading in the desert but were on the pavement. On both sides of the road are ravines and chasms where folks are driving off road feet from the pavement. Great photo opportunities here for the navigators. Borrego Springs Arrive/Depart: 10:10 AM 14 miles from Salton City Checkpoint. Fuel just above 7/8ths We are only stopping here just outside of town to gather up the group before heading into the hills. The run up the mountain from Borrego Springs is a technical section with great views of the desert behind us. There is a bit of a break before we hit another technical section on Hwy 78 before we get into Julian. Julian Checkpoint Arrive/Depart: 11:15 AM 56 miles from Borrego Springs Fuel just above 5/8ths The drive from Borrego Springs up to State Route 2 is very technical and while we shouldn’t get vehicles in between cars, the group may get spread out. We will pause on State Route 22 in the long straight section before it dead ends into State Route 2 in order to gather up the group. If we feel we need to reshuffle the slow and fast groups, we will do it here. State Route 2 is a fairly leisurely drive but after we turn on Highway 76, we see another very technical section of road so we will stay in our fast/slow groups if applicable. Just before we enter Julian we will be stopping at the Julian Library parking lot to regroup. For those planning on joining the group, do not do it in Julian, plan on doing it at Round Up BBQ for lunch. We will get separated again moving through Julian and when we turn left at the stop sign to continue on Hwy 79 down to Santa Ysabel and Dudley’s Bakery. Santa Ysabel: Arrive/Depart: 11:30 AM 7 Miles from Julian This will just be a quick regroup. Round Up BBQ: 11:45 AM 11 miles from San Ysabel. This is our Lunch stop. Huge parking lot and will try out the food sometime soon. This will be a good break as the next section is the most challenging of the trip and having a bit of a rest after the Borrego and Julian sections will help recharge our drivers before they get another workout. Depart: 1:45 PM This section of the drive will be up and over Palomar Mountain. There are some great views during the drive immediately after we turn off Hwy 76 onto State Route 7 (East Gate Road). We will turn onto State Route 6 (South Gate Road) to come back down the mountain. There are some great mountain views as we come back down SR 6. Navigators have your cameras ready for this leg. Important Note: South Gate Road is very twisty and down hill. We will be taking it easy down this road to preserve those who have stock break equipment. I drove this route mildly spirited and had no brakes two or three turns from the bottom of the hill. This is the most challenging section of the drive. Gas and Meetup Point at Highway 76 and Interstate 15: 2:55 PM This will be a quick gas up for those who need it and a join up spot for those that do not want to do the first half of the run. This will be our last gas stop before hitting Dana Point. Depart: 3:15 PM This section of the run will take us through the De Luz loop and the Santa Rosa Plateau. The Plateau is one of the last remaining areas of Oak Woodland in Southern California. Most of Southern California was once this Oak Woodland. The scenery is very beautiful and the drive calm and pleasant. While De Luz is tight and technical, the Plateau and Lake Elsinore area are open and gentle giving a good wind down from De Luz before we hit Ortega. The drive through Fallbrook will be another boring section but will probably come as a welcome break between Mt. Palomar and De Luz. Meetup Point at S. Spring Street and Lakeshore Drive in Lake Elsinore, CA: 4:45 PM This is a chance to gather the group together. Photo opportunity with the lake and mountains as a backdrop. Depart: 5:15 PM Base of Ortega Highway Meetup: 5:30 PM This is just a quick 10 minute stop to gather the group together before heading over Ortega since we will probably become separated in Elsinore. This is the Ortega Hwy leg of the run. Great views going up from the lake side of the mountain. Good photo and video ops for Navigators. Depart: 5:45 PM Ortega has some great views overlooking Lake Elsinore as it twists up the mountain. Navigators will once again have some great views out their side of the cars in the early section of this leg. Then Ortega goes into the woods and the turns get a little tamer for a while as it cuts through the National Forest. It drops down into Orange county and once out of the mountains the rest of the route is straight roads and cruising. Well pass in front of the Mission San Juan Capistrano but there is not much to see here, sadly. Arrive for sunset and photo opportunity at Dana Point: 6:45 PM Sunset is supposed to be after 7. Dinner at Wind and Sea: 8:00 PM Map has been updated 1/19/2015. This is a pretty finalized route. I may make a couple more test runs on the De Luz and Elsinore sections of the run just to get some better times but This should be pretty spot on. Route Map: https://google/maps/d/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=zEL9eBJEv7uQ.krSyUWoo5KdE
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 05:39:20 +0000