Originally Posted by
stevepusser
Well, if you don't mind one hill. That hill climbs 11 miles from Borrego Springs Christmas Circle at 600' to the summit at 4227' just east of Ranchita. There's no shoulder, and parts of it reach 8% grade, but traffic is usually not too bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euHdevqgZVE
A longer alternative is to head south out of Borrego Springs over Yaqui Pass, up to Banner at 3000', then up the Banner Pass Rd (Hwy 78) to Julian at 4200'. Longer, but the climbing is broken up into sections, and Julian is a nice tourist trap (whoops, I mean town). From there, you can descend east and rejoin highway 79. Shortly before Banner, San Felipe Road does climb NW up to Ranchita on a gentler grade, if you do want to head that direction.
I was just there last weekend. Yes, it's a wearing climb, but I don't think I was passed by more than 10 cars in 1.5 hours it took to get to the top. (That was Saturday morning and there was more traffic going in the other direction, into the desert. The situation is probably reversed in the evenings, when off-roaders and RVs head back into town.)
Banner Grade has no shoulder either and it's a lot busier. Personally I would be even less comfortable climbing up Banner Grade than climbing up I-8 from Ocotillo. I try to avoid the 78 as much as possible.
Yaqui Pass to San Felipe Road is a good alternative if one wants to avoid 8% grades.
P.S. Montezuma Grade does have a shoulder most of the way up. It's narrow, but sufficient for climbing. Unlike Banner Grade, where you have literally none (traffic lane ends within inches from a dropoff into the canyon or a crash barrier.)