Coming back from Santa Barbara this weekend, I decided to take a little squiggle I always saw on the map every time I drove down to LA on the 5 but never had an excuse to take until now, Im glad I did

 

The 33 start just before Santa Barbara and the first half goes up the foggy wooded side of the coastal mountains, then its down the high-desert like hills canyons of the Los Padres national Forest

 

Pine Mtn summit, 5000ft, at this point the clouds from the foggy coastal side of the mountain whip over the top of the ridge and instantly evaporate on the hot desert side, the change of weather and enviornment at this very spot is so sudden and dramatic its down right surreal, the mass and speed of clouds spilling over the crest was like nothing Ive ever seen in nature, just amazing

 

unlikethe tall redwood hills around here, you could see forever in all direction from up top.

 

As for the drive, wow

many sections were as nice as any of the roads we run here in the north bay, and the last half of drive on Lockwood Valley Road from the bottom of the hills to the 5 had huge stretches of flat-out straights, that first pic I posted doesnt really show it, but thats a good 5 mile stretch you could see end to end there, and best part, not another car anywhere!

I had a couple trucks pass me the other direction the whole time, but never came up behind a single car, or had a car come up on me, for over 100 miles. Perfect

 

oooOOOoo nice

 

I love that road.

 

beautiful pics

 

this is the part where i say hawaii sucks-

"Hawaii Sucks"

ok... there i said it.


aloha from the summit of Mauna Kea

 

yup, great roads. i used to go to school in SB, and I used to take those roads every once in a while.

 

Me too! That's great stuff.


Last time I did that piece of 33, I got pinned behind a thousand slow bastards, but on the right day, it's glorious.

Thanks for the great pictures.
Mike

 

yeah we came back on a monday morning so I guess I lucked out, Im sure it would be a bit more crowded on the weekends

 

The natural event you are talking about with the clouds my good friend Jeremy is called orographic lifting. When air is confronted by a mountain, it is lifted up and over the mountain, cooling as it rises. If the air cools to its saturation point, the water vapor condenses and a cloud forms. The air is still pouring over the mountain taking the cloud with it however the cloud evaporates on the other side which sometimes creates rain shadowing. Sorry for the Science lesson, I just took a final on it.

 

Nice pics,nice area !

 

don't apollogise.... here's some more...

The rain-shaddow effect that you reffer to is a common feature of the Coast Range all up and down California.

The coastal side of the range is covered with farms and vinyards, but on the inland side, cattle ranging is often all they can manage, and good groundwater is hard to find.

Fun with science...
Mike