Los Padres
I've been posting far too infrequently and seriously as of late, and that's a habit that's no fun for me, and certainly not much fun for the two of you that I haven't yet managed to scare away. So without further adieu, I offer a little trip report on a ride I took a few weekends ago up to Los Padres National Forest.
Los Padres is about an hour's ride from my home, and is located a little bit northeast of Santa Barbara, California. Here's the route I took:
My trip starts out at the little green box at the bottom right of the map, then went around the top loop clockwise before doubling back home. The little red pushpins on the map are where I took the photos below. Shockingly, the weather that day was gorgeous. Okay, so that's not so shocking in Southern California, but I was still loving the sunshine and blue skies.
When I go on these rides, I rarely have a specific destination in mind. I usually dial up a map, draw a 60 mile radius around my home, and look for some roads depicted as really squiggly lines in that radius. If the road goes somewhere cool, great. If not, that's ok too - the road is the part I enjoy most. This trip featured the delightful CA-33, Cerro Noroeste Road, and Lockwood Valley Road.
Los Padres has some fairly tall mountains, and one, Mt. Pinos, features a paved road that takes you pretty close to the summit. Mt. Pinos Road is a 9 mile long dead end that splits off from Lockwood Valley Road and ends at the summit, so there isn't much traffic and the views are spectacular. The elevation at the top is 8,300 feet, and the weather is about 15 degrees cooler than the lower elevations.
On the day I was there, a group was doing ski patrol training at the Base, so I didn't hang around long - the place was busy.
Heading back down the hill, I got back onto Lockwood Valley Road, which loops back to CA-33. It passes through an area burned in what was called the La Brea fire a little over a year ago. I didn't see much of the burn area, but did pass a few charred trees.
Since little of the burn area is visible from the road, most of the views are beautiful, and I even got a little sample of what passes as fall colors around here.
Whenever I go on these rides, I always bring my cameras with me, thinking that I'll stop and take a lot of shots of the scenery - but I rarely do. The roads are so much fun to ride that it takes my mind off the photography.
All I want to do is ride, ride, ride.
Los Padres is about an hour's ride from my home, and is located a little bit northeast of Santa Barbara, California. Here's the route I took:
My trip starts out at the little green box at the bottom right of the map, then went around the top loop clockwise before doubling back home. The little red pushpins on the map are where I took the photos below. Shockingly, the weather that day was gorgeous. Okay, so that's not so shocking in Southern California, but I was still loving the sunshine and blue skies. When I go on these rides, I rarely have a specific destination in mind. I usually dial up a map, draw a 60 mile radius around my home, and look for some roads depicted as really squiggly lines in that radius. If the road goes somewhere cool, great. If not, that's ok too - the road is the part I enjoy most. This trip featured the delightful CA-33, Cerro Noroeste Road, and Lockwood Valley Road.Los Padres has some fairly tall mountains, and one, Mt. Pinos, features a paved road that takes you pretty close to the summit. Mt. Pinos Road is a 9 mile long dead end that splits off from Lockwood Valley Road and ends at the summit, so there isn't much traffic and the views are spectacular. The elevation at the top is 8,300 feet, and the weather is about 15 degrees cooler than the lower elevations.
On the day I was there, a group was doing ski patrol training at the Base, so I didn't hang around long - the place was busy. Heading back down the hill, I got back onto Lockwood Valley Road, which loops back to CA-33. It passes through an area burned in what was called the La Brea fire a little over a year ago. I didn't see much of the burn area, but did pass a few charred trees.
Since little of the burn area is visible from the road, most of the views are beautiful, and I even got a little sample of what passes as fall colors around here.Whenever I go on these rides, I always bring my cameras with me, thinking that I'll stop and take a lot of shots of the scenery - but I rarely do. The roads are so much fun to ride that it takes my mind off the photography.All I want to do is ride, ride, ride.
posted by steve at 11:28 PM
4 Comments:
What is it about getting in the car and just driving? It is the best.
Cupcake: Hell YES! Southern California is such a great place for road trips.
Nice pics, Steve! You are making me crave a road trip in my convertible--it's been too long. Grand Canyon, maybe?
Thanks, Lisa! If you do the Grand Canyon, let me know - maybe we could meet up for lunch in Flagstaff.
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