Palomar Observatory
Exploring Southern California on a motorcycle
I live at the beach in San Diego. I’ve ridden along the beach all the way north to Big Sur and into the deserts, but I haven’t spent much time in the mountains of San Diego. I remedied that with a trip to the Palomar Observatory and was rewarded with beautiful views and cool mountain air.
To get out of the city I took Interstate 15 north to Bear Valley Parkway, which is the exit for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This road leads to State Route 76 which I took east toward the mountains. At this point the scenery became more rural and the road narrowed to two lanes while getting curvier. This led to an even better road: South Grade Road. This was a tremendous road with tight turns and beautiful scenery that took me higher and higher till I was 5,600 feet above sea level.
The observatory has a small museum where you can read up on the history of it. The museum does a great job of showing the history and mission of the observatory in a compact and efficient way. You can look at and read everything in there in about 15 minutes. I learned some fascinating things while I was there. A planetoid (a minor planet) discovered by the Palomar Observatory in 2003 is the most distant planet in our solar system. It is so far away it takes 10,500 years to circle the sun. It blows my mind that we have technology that can see something so far away and it’s not new technology either. The glass in the telescope was made 80 years ago. Pyrex made it in 1934 at their factory in Corning, New York. It weighs 20 tons and is 18 feet in diameter. After it was made it took over a year for it to cool off enough so they could ship across the country on a train.
On the grounds of the observatory there is a small picnic area under some trees with large boulders all around. It was a good spot to eat the leftovers I brought with me from home, but I had a craving for something more, and something sweet. I knew the town of Julian, which is famous for its apple pie, wasn’t far away so I pointed my bike that direction.
Leaving the observatory I took East Grade Road which is every bit as good of a road as South Grade Road is. It has all the same incredible scenery and winding twisting roads. This road took me by Lake Henshaw and linked up with California State Route 76 which I took east. This road runs into California State Route 79 and taking it south leads into Julian.
After parking my bike on the main street of Julian I went to my favorite apple pie store, but was sad to see they were closed for the week. This isn’t a problem in Julian where it seems everyone is selling apple pie and they’re all good. A passerby recommended I go to Candied Apple Pastry Company, it didn’t disappoint. I had a slice of apple and blackberry pie with cinnamon ice cream and it was great. I also got a loaf of Zucchini Walnut bread from them to enjoy at the house.
Leaving Julian I stayed south on California State Route 79 which goes through beautiful Cuyamaca State Park. New blacktop on this part of 79 makes for a smooth ride while going thorough some great scenery. This park also has the second highest peak in San Diego County at 6,500 plus feet above sea level. It is great hike that lets you see a lot of the county from one spot on a clear day. Route 79 eventually runs into Interstate 8 which I took west back into San Diego. As superslabs go Interstate 8 is a good one. It offers great views of the desert as you skirt by the Mexican border.
San Diego not only has perfect riding weather most of the year, but it is also the kind of place where you can see and experience the beach, the desert and the mountains all in one day.
Round trip I did 170 miles, paid $16.32 in gas and $11.65 in food for a grand total of $27.97. It was a bargain for getting to see what I got to see.
