Forks in the road

When last we met I said I was going to a coastal stealth camping spot three hours north. So I headed up I-5 (or, as locals call it, the Five.) However, as I approached the Five/Four-Oh-Five Split I got thinking of the traffic ahead. Weekend congestion can be as bad as weekday commutes as people run errands and seek recreation. Did I want to be at my new destination badly enough to creep along with millions of others through Orange County, Long Beach, the South Bay, the West Side and San Fernando Valley? Mmmmm, no. Some other time.

So I stayed on the Five to the Fifty-Five and headed inland. Okay, but then what? Take the Ninety-One to the Sixty and the Ten and then east toward Phoenix? Or take the Fifteen to Las Vegas then onward to southwest Utah? Yeah, the Fifteen.

But did I really want to go to the Vegas area on a weekend? No so much. And did I want to drive that far today anyway? No.

So… Hmmmmm… Ah-ha! I know!

At the fork in Barstow I took the Forty east. My destination: the volcano trailhead at Amboy where I stayed a month ago. That would be the perfect place to legally spend the night, get away from crowds, and reconnect with the desert. Sometimes I don’t know where I’m going until I get there. It's good, though, to have multiple options along the way.