Sadly, today was my last Day at Ellen and David's... It has been so nice to spend time with them and recharge in their beautiful home. I was up early (0430, without an alarm). Since it was a Federal Holiday, I initially hadn't thought about working. However, my company informed me that this was a "floating holiday" - as a result, I did some teleworking while getting ready to leave on the next leg of my trip. I took one short break for breakfast (cereal, fruit) with Ellen and David. After that, I finished teleworking, packed up my car, said goodbye to Ellen, David and Robert (and the dogs) and reluctantly departed Gilbert (0930). On my way towards the southwest, I stopped for gas at Chevron in Chandler (0940). Next, I got on AZ-202 and later used I-10, South Maricopa Road and AZ-347 (AKA John Wayne Parkway) in an effort to reach I-8. During this time, I crossed into the Gila River Indian Reservation. Google Maps next took me west on AZ-238 and I entered the Ak Chin Indian Community. The weather was good (clear, dry and high 80s) but the roads were clearly very wet after the last few days of rain. Regardless, I didn't expect to find a "road closed" sign after almost 10 miles of driving through a part of unincorporated Maricopa County. I first tried to find a way around the closure signs by driving south from the highway (at Google Maps' suggestions). Unfortunately, I soon encountered even more evidence (standing water on some roads) that the last three days of rain had affected the area negatively. During this time, I saw people parachuting in the valley and figured out that I was on the edge of the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Sadly, I couldn't get closer to either of these interesting places because I found more road closure signs. After finally giving up on the routing, I got stuck at a long train crossing. Backtracking on AZ-238 to the John Wayne Parkway, I then headed towards the south. Google Maps continued trying to take me into the flooded area but I ignored it and continued in the general direction where I knew I-8 would be located. When the Parkway finally ended, I used AZ-84 (with brief stop at West Pinal County Park at 1100) and eventually found the ramp for I-8, After that, it was smooth sailing to the west. Along the way, I got to see some more of the Sonoran Desert National Monument (didn't stop, though) and listened to audiobooks. At Gila Bend, I saw a sign for Organ Pipe Cactus NM and decided to detour in that direction (before this trip, I'd hoped to visit the park). The distance (75 miles) did seem a bit excessive for seeing an NPS Unit and, even worse, there were no other routes besides the one I was on (AZ-85) that would take me towards California when I was done. Regardless, I decided to keep going... It was interesting to drive across fields of cacti and I was surprised by the amount of traffic that was streaming north from the Mexico/US Border (I also saw lots of CBP vehicles). Along the way, I crossed the Barry Goldwater Missile Range and then passed through the towns of Ajo (had interesting architecture) and Why (funny name). Almost 50 miles after getting off the Interstate, I reached the entrance to the National Monument (1230). At the welcome sign, I found several examples of the Organ Pipe Cactus and I didn't see a need to keep driving deeper into the park. Instead, I backtracked to the north, stopping briefly in Why (rest stop at 1240) and Ajo (maps and info at BLM Site at 1305). Before I was done with AZ-85, I had to pass through an immigration checkpoint (1330) but it went smoothly. My maps and brochures had a lot of information about Sonoran Desert animals, environment, etc. but I didn't see much activity - by then, it was quite warm (90s). After finally reaching Gila Bend, I got back on I-8. Continuing west, I listened to audiobooks and tried to pass the time during a relatively "boring" stretch of highway. During this timeframe, I noticed that I was getting horrible gas mileage - I presumed that this was due to the very strong headwinds. Along the way, I passed more signs for the Butterfield Overland NHT (I've been seeing them since northeastern New Mexico) and the Juan Bautista de Anza NHT (new during this trip). I had to pass through another immigration checkpoint on I-8 just before Yuma - fortunately, these brief interruptions of my journey have not affected me greatly. At 1500, I joined our Knights of Columbus Council Meeting via Zoom - I was able to stay online for almost 40 minutes (when it cut off). During this same timeframe, I also was able to get a late lunch at Taco Bell (1510) and gas at Speedway (1525). After that, I continued west. The weather was still good but temps were still very hot. I crossed the Colorado River and passed through the Imperial Dunes but didn't stop during this phase of the drive. There was evidence of the border to the south and I kept thinking about some of my visits to El Centro during the early 2000s. As I approached the base of the Laguna Mountains, I began to encounter HUGE winds and ultimately had to drive well below the speed limit during my climb through the rocky passes up to 4000 feet. On top of the the climb, the wind died down and I started looking for access points for the Pacific Crest Trail. Fortunately, I was able to find it by exiting the Interstate near Campo and using "Old US-80" to reach the Kitchen Creek Falls Trailhead of the PCT. After parking there (1720), I walked a little bit of the trail but soon determined that it mainly paralleled the highway. I'd seen signs for the Boulder Oaks Equestrian Campground, located nearby, and decided to drive over there to investigate. After I'd parked, I determined that there were some very interesting birds in the area (Merlin App did wonders). I also got to meet up with three PCT LASHers (they were camped there) and had a nice chat with them (1730). It was much cooler (low 50s) in the area and I started to wish I'd worn more than just shorts and a t-shirt/ Hoping to locate another PCT trailhead, I drove north to the next exit for I-8 (located at Buckman Springs Road) and found some interesting food trucks on the corner there. Next, I drove south and found some places where the PCT was visible from the pavement and, I think, where it crossed Buckman Springs Road. Afterwards, I returned to I-8 and resumed my drive to San Diego. Surprisingly, I had to pass through yet another immigration checkpoint in mountains. The rest of the drive was a trip down memory lane and I passed through many old familiar areas of San Diego that I remembered from when I lived there in the mid-1990s. The traffic volume was OK but I did encounter some crazy drivers. Reaching the main area of San Diego, I got on I-5 and headed north for a little bit - I exited the highway at the Pacific Beach area and arrived at my friend's (Charlie's_ home by 1850. Almost immediately, I met his nice neighbors (Gino and his sons) and then got a nice tour of his nice home. From Charlie's deck, there were amazing views (towards the south) of the entire city. By this time, it was breezy and cool (50s) - overall, though, the conditions were pleasant. We watched some baseball - the evening games were nearly completed but it was still early in California... A bit later, I met Charlie's wife (Janna) and some neighbor dogs (Brahma & Izzy) that love to stay over at his place. During the next hour, we ate dinner (pizza) and drank some good beer. As the night progressed, our interesting conversation (mostly about mutual Navy friends) continued we transitioned to bourbon. It was, after all, the US Navy’s 250th Birthday! Before I knew it, the clock read midnight (!!!). Fortunately, I managed to get to sleep quickly but my earlier commitment to a 0400 wakeup in the morning was not looking fun... PCT Today = 0.5 miles / Grand Total PCT = 7.0 miles
