Losing another drone 😫 and biking remote desert (SoCal Ep.3)

Bike is all packed. We're ready to go. Look at this beautiful, beautiful sun. Great camping spot. Glad I decided to camp a bit early last night. Didn't want to absolutely smash myself on my second day. Still building into the fitness of this, this bike touring, bike packing. Basically moving my body every day. Let's do it. This is pretty cool. Monday morning, day three of the SoCal Ramble. Oh, dreamy. This is dreamy. An absolute privilege to be here. California, I am dreaming. Oh God, I didn't mean to do that. Let's move that bit of log. Look at that. Oh, beautiful. This looks much hillier. Oh, yeah. Champagne Pass, two miles up uphill. Oh, this could be hard. Bike pushing. Here we go. This is tough. Very tough. First thing in the morning. It's not even, it's just gone out of seven. Blowing. I'm glad for the morning cool. These beautiful flowers. These are pretty cool. Thankful for the blue skies and what's going to be a scorching day. So I think I'm following this all the way up and around there. I think, unless it goes up here, it's very hard to work out. I'm making more progress walking, so I feel a bit safer. There's some drop-offs here. You do well to get up there fully laden. Travelling by bike on remote roads teaches you to take things slower. In life, we're often racing to appointments and everything can feel like a rush. There's no way to rush travelling on these roads. And as cliche as it sounds, the journey is the aim, not the destination. So it makes sense to save every minute possible. See where I've just come in from. That wiggly trail. That is tough. There's flies everywhere. Let's get going. These shady bits are very, very nice. Yes. I've got a couple of options here. So this is the Socar Ramble route, is to go down here, wiggle all the way down there and there's still a fair bit of climbing that way, about 200 metres. The problem with that way is it takes you to a highway and you spend like seven kilometres or so on the highway. Another option is to follow the Pine Mountain Trail, which then connects to part of the Stagecoach 400 route, which is a different off-road route, but all looks very good. So I think I'm going to take this one. Mix it up. Let's do it. I could really do with some more water. I've got about two litres left. Even the climbs, now I look back, I look fondly on this part. It was challenging, beautiful. I didn't see any mountain lions, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, but these little trails have just been absolute joy. I've only seen two, three people in the last maybe 15 hours. On to the next bit. A little bit of downhill before a bit of a climb. Here we go. Anza Borrego Desert State Park. That is beautiful. That is the first view of the desert I'm heading to. You can see them in the far distance. Oh wow. Seeing the California desert for the first time since my world bike tour in 2019 made me feel quite emotional. Memories of riding through Death Valley came flooding back. This time I'd be leaving the safety of the roads and would be venturing into the sandy tracks and trails. That's pretty epic. The end of the tarmac. The return to the off-road. I'm about to cross over the Pacific Crest Trail. I only go across it for like 10 metres or so. So this is the Pacific Crest Trail. It's something I've always dreamed about doing. So to be on it, it's a privilege. But this is it. I will be only doing 10 metres of it today. That's where the PCT goes. That way. It's very remote. Looks very difficult. So after just crossing the PCT, I've got an 800 metre descent. I've got 15 kilometres to the next store where I'll be stopping to stock up on water. Here you can see the trail. It's getting warmer. Common theme, running low on water. I've only got one metre left in this camelback. All my bottles are gone. I've only got 15 kilometres to the next shop. It's called Butterfield Store. Let's go Butterfield. I'd like some cool pops. Oh, I might get myself an ice cream after this downhill. Proper desert. It's getting hot, hot, hot by the minute. I think that's a combination of it becoming midday, plus going lower, plus going towards the desert. This is cool. Very rocky. It's a bit of tension. It's actually quite mentally fatiguing. Oh no. I've just realised I've left my drone remote here. I didn't strap it away. And it's at the top of that mountain. There is absolutely nothing in me that wants to go up there and get it. So that is the end of all drone footage. I'll be carrying a drone around for nothing. That was nice for three days. Oh, you idiot. I am exhausted. That is the last dregs of that bottle. That has changed. Look at that. This is the most highly awaited bit of tarmac. See you later, Oriflame Canyon. You were a beast. That's where my drone remote control is. Butterfield. Oh, this is very, very welcome. I am very happy because I got some red mountain dew and starry. I've got a lot of lollipop as well. Butterfield Ranch, you saviour. American soda with your high fructose corn syrup. You hit good. Look at this. That is magnificent. These stringy cactus things. They look like alien heads. Hot Springs. That is far too tempting. Found a swimming pool and a hot spring in the middle of the desert, which is just in here. Do I think I'll be able to film in the swimming pool? There's people in there. Trust me, it's going to be good. Hot Springs complete. I've spent far too long here. It's so good. Look at that. Got inside the pool. My hands have pruned. With the sun dropping closer to the horizon, I had to leave the comfort of the hot springs and made my way to the Canyon Sin Nombre. The canyon with no name. That is the end of the turn off for the Canyon Sin Nombre. No more cars for a while. I've got about 50 kilometers, about 30 miles or so, with no traffic, no people. Look at this. I've hardly even started this bit. I'm 600 meters in and I'm already struggling. Let's have a go. See how that helps. That's too much. Or is it? So this stuff on the right is like cycling on Bournemouth beach, but with ants. Look at it. It is a nightmare. Come on. Trying to stick to the side. It's a bit harder off-piste, but the off-piste bits stop. I could be walking this entire route if it's like this. Canyon Sin Nombre. I have a new name for you. The Sand Canyon. The outside can only go for so long. When it gets narrow, this is great. Bloody hell. Took a big bump there. Going so slowly, I was just able to step off. I didn't even try to save it. Look at this. It's got some cool rock. This stuff is rough to touch. Look at this. Otherworldly. All right, let's get going. There's only so much air I can let out my tyres before it becomes danger close. Wow. I am speechless. Look at these white lines. These cracks. Oh, I need to watch the road. There's paw prints there in the sand. I've never seen a landscape like this. Never mind biting one. I can see the mountains getting pink in the distance. Oh, it's beautiful. I've decided to call it a day here in Canyon Sin Nombre. Beautiful little patch of ground to put my tent down. You can see the sun is setting. I've got this to go down tomorrow, all the way down here. It's beautiful. This is where I've just come from. What a day. I said earlier that day one is always the hardest. I think those three days, just between, like together, those three days are the hardest three days of bike travel, including the world bike tour, look at my hair, that I've ever had, which is quite amazing really, if you think about it. I think a bit of it's just because I'm not quite bike touring fit and it's hot and it's hard terrain, very difficult, but it is beautiful and that is worth it. All right, let's put a tent down. Let's go and eat some food. It's been an absolute joy to share this journey so far. If you've not already seen episode one and two, go back and watch them and I will see you on the next one as I make my way through the Canyon Sin Nombre.