Pinto Basin - Winterlude 2020 - CycleBlaze

February 27, 2021

Pinto Basin

We’re packing up to move on this morning and we have a long drive ahead, so just a quick note for the history books.  We were torn about whether to go for a second bike ride in the park or take a longer hike, but were swayed by the weather forecast.  With a fairly strong northwest wind predicted, we liked the idea of biking southeast across Pinto Basin Road, getting blown up the gradual slope and then coasting back into the face of the wind.

It’s a fine enough ride really, but a bit of a letdown after yesterday’s.  Pinto Basin is a broad, open expanse - an alluvial fan, I think - that just doesn’t have the drama of the route through the park’s higher, rocky country to the north.  Not quite monotonous, but on the edge of that perhaps.  We’ve been to this park three times now and we’ve ridden this route teach time because it’s lower elevation and quieterq; but if we ever return I think we’ll skip this and take a hike up in the rocks instead.

We start our ride at the Cholla Garden, and the site of my worst cholla attack, back in 2012. How long do teddy bear chollas live, anyway? One of these cute rascals could have been the one that jumped me.
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An interloper in the Cholla Garden.
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Bill ShaneyfeltToo bad this year has been so dry. Hedgehogs have wonderful blooms!

https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&rel-taxon=begins+with&where-taxon=Echinocereus+engelmannii
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3 years ago
Leaving the Cholla Garden, heading southeast into the broad, barren Pinto Basin.
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Once you’re on the floor of the basin, there’s not much vegetation beyond the creosote and an occasional stunted yucca. It’s quite hazy this morning, not nearly as clear as yesterday. We found the right day to bike to Keys View.
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Miles like this. It’s still hazy and we’re biking into the sun, so we’ll put away the camera until the ride back.
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How do we like the Cottonwood Springs Visitor Center? Mum’s the word.
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Jen Rahn"Mum's the word!", Rachael said.
So long as this mask's on my head.
She may try to speak
Through face cover so chic
But she sounds like her mouth's full of bread!
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3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnSo I’m going to start a contest with myself to see how often one of my photos merits a poetic response. I was pretty confident on this one.
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3 years ago
Rachael AndersonTo Jen RahnI love it! I wish I had your talent!
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3 years ago
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Homeward bound, with 20 miles of creosote flats ahead.
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At the furthest point of the ride we’ve risen above the basin and into the rugged high country again. It’s quite scenic here, with more varied vegetation.
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Another view of the same spot. I wonder what that white scar is. There’s nothing else like it here.
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Bill ShaneyfeltMakes me want to go look for fossils or other interesting rocks. Contact zones just seem so interesting.
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3 years ago
Rachael got ahead of me for awhile, but then waited for me so she could include me in the day’s video. I stopped again almost immediately though to check out this blossoming shrub lining the road, so she gave up on me and rode the rest of the way back on her own.
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I’m sorry to have such a brief cameo appearance in the video, but it was definitely worth the stop to check out this bladderpod (Peritoma arborea).
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And here’s another one new to me: a pencil cholla.
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In Joshua Tree, at the higher southern edge of the park.
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These first few miles on the way back are definitely the most interesting part of the ride.
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Mohave yucca is more prevalent and robust up here above the basin. At the bottom there are just scattered, scrawny individuals barely eking out an existence.
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We’re just coming to the end of this rockier zone now. It’s all creosote and rocky sand from here on.
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About 15 miles of it.
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The air has cleared up quite a bit since the morning though, enough so you can get a good view of Pinto Mountain to the east.
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Back at the Cholla Garden. You can’t see it from this shot, but it’s quite congested now. The parking lot is full, and cars are queued up waiting to get in. Definitely better to visit the park during the week.
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This gives you a good idea of how vicious these plants are. Look at those loose buds lying around, waiting for a chance to latch on to an unwary thigh or ankle. And these are no joke - the barbs have hooked ends, and don’t pull out neatly with tweezers like some cholla thorns do. They have to be ripped out.
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Bill ShaneyfeltDeceptive and stealthy, they are!
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3 years ago
marilyn swettHi Scott - I love the light shining through these cholla. In fact, I've been so intrigued with the rides you've done in Borrego Spring and Joshua Tree that we're planning to go to both on a trip we're working on for the fall, on the way to Arizona from Idaho. We'll be in California in late October which looks like nice temps. We did want to also go to Death Valley but the timing isn't right as temps are still very high for most of October. We might just drive through there and call it good for this year.
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3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettI’m not sure Rachael would agree with this, but I’d go back to Borrego Springs before Death Valley. As incredible as DV is, I think the cycling is better as BS.

And, as long as you’re in the neighborhood, you should really swing by Saint George. It might be the best of all of them. Stay tuned.
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3 years ago

Video sound track: It Feels So Good, by Grover Washington, Jr.

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Ride stats today: 42 miles, 2,400’; for the tour: 3,130 miles, 127,600’; for the year: 43 riding days, 1,865 miles, 70,600’, and 3 flat tires

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 3,130 miles (5,037 km)

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