The geography that exists between Bakersfield California east to the Arizona border sets the stage for my favorite stretch of this trip. As you come down from the Tehachapi pass, you start the slow assent to the Colorado plateau that makes possible the Grand Canyon and the next 900 miles of your experience. I noted in 2008 that you have to ‘disavow yourself of everything you think a desert should be’. This is high desert and everything is bigger. The winds are stronger, the air is both hotter and colder than seems possible. But the best are the thunderstorms and the desert did not disappoint today.

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