About six weeks ago I finally followed one of the primary north-south streets near us to where it ended at the edge of The Mesa, the area where the Victor Valley floor drops off into Cajon Pass and down toward the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga) and the LA Basin, Pasadena, and the San Fernando Valley. Today, on a whim, I finally did it again, this time on another primary street that’s just around the corner from us.
As previously mentioned here and there, one of the things I truly love about this are and our Forever Home is that I can hear the trains all day and night. We’re about a mile from the primary BNSF tracks coming up through the Cajon Pass connecting the major ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach and San Pedro to points east, including Barstow, Flagstaff, Kansas City, Fort Madison, and Chicago. It’s not a constant stream of trains 24/7/365, but it’s at least 50-60 trains a day.
From our house we can’t actually see the trains, but the tracks run just over the edge of The Mesa, where the land starts to drop off. Having looked at the maps I was pretty sure that I could get closer here than I did on my first adventure in April.
While driving home, on the spur of the moment I decided to go train hunting.
I was successful. From where the road ended the drop off into the canyon was more hilly and less direct than I had hoped for, so I had to go hiking for a quarter mile or so down these dirt trails that cover the hills (for hiking, ATV and motorcycle riding, horses, etc), but I finally got a good view.
Heavy clouds were moving up the Cajon Pass, while the Sun was setting and bright behind me, so the contrast was stark.
This site is probably less than a mile from our house, so at some point I want to try simply walking there and back instead of driving. I need the exercise and I need to start rebuilding my stamina.
Dramatic skies!
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 