Adventures of a Quantum Cowboy

State highway 14, the Antelope Valley Freeway, extends from its junction with I-5 south of Santa Clarita, through Palmdale, Lancaster, and Rosamond, and then on upward into the stark Mojave Desert until it reaches US-395, the desert spine highway of California. The lower, more mountainous stretch was covered previously.

The desert stretch is not devoid of mountains however, it just skirts by them instead of plowing through like its southern counterpart.

These imposing desert peaks divide the Mojave Desert from the Los Padres National Forest, hoarding the moisture from the Pacific for the western side, and not sparing the east so much as a drop. The joshua trees distinctive to the Mojave Desert coax moisture from the air and from a dry soil to survive.

Check your engine temperature and oil level often… and don’t get lost out here.

Post 6 of the roadtrip series.

Awe-inspiring. Peaceful. Beautiful. Words fail me. This astounding national monument of towering coastal redwoods was one of Teddy Roosevelt’s greatest gifts to the nation.

Day 2 of the roadtrip was climbing up the coast from Palmdale to San Francisco, taking CA-166 through the mountains of Los Padres National Forest to Santa Maria, and then north along the Pacific on CA-1, with brief stretches of US-101. Easily the the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. You will be hard pressed to convince me that there is any road so breathtaking anywhere else on the continent. Unfortunately due to the need to make time on the road, I wasn’t able to stop and take every picture I wanted to (this would have taken months).

CA-166 winds through the mountains to the coast.

The city of Morro Bay and Morro Rock National Monument are quite close to the college/resort town of San Luis Obispo, home of CalPoly.

The robber baron William Hearst built an enormous (and outrageously ostentatious) castle for himself in the hills near the central coast, and filled it with art from around the world. Upon his death, he donated the entire estate to California, and it is now a state historical monument. We didn’t have time to take the tour, but that is something definitely on the list for the next time.

Elephant seals bask on the central coast between San Simeon and Big Sur, north of the castle.

There is a lovely hike along the hilly coastline somewhere along the way… we don’t exactly remember where. Find it if you can, its fabulous.

The city of Monterey is located on Monterey Bay just north of Point Lobos State Reserve. It is also the site of the Naval Postgraduate School. Tough life, getting stationed there. This photo is from Carmel State Beach, looking south towards Point Lobos.

From the same location looking north, there is a splendid view of the Pebble Beach golf course.

Farms and vinyards dot the north-central coast.

Alas, we had a birthday bash to get to that night, and the afternoon was creeping into evening with 120 miles to go. We passed fantastically beautiful stretches of road cut into the coastal cliffs, and especially at the Bixby Bridge I wanted to stop to photograph so badly… no dice. Oh well, there will most certainly be a repeat of this one.

Near CA-14. Photo by Nalin A. Ratnayake, August 2006.

Known as the Antelope Valley Freeway, State Highway 14 itself is relatively short and boring compared to many of the roadtrips you could be taking. From end to end (Mojave to Santa Clarita) the highway is only about 60 miles, and a good portion of it goes through possibly the two most most boring towns in Los Angeles County, Lancaster and Palmdale. However, it does have two major things going for it:

1. At sunrise and and sunset, the northern part of the highway sports spectacularly gorgeous views of the Mojave Desert painted with the warm colors of the sun. Anytime in between, its just hot.

2. The southern part of the highway winds through the border between the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountain ranges, offering an almost arterial level of access to the multiple national forests, state parks, natural areas, wildlife preserves, and other oases of untouched mountain wilderness that separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles metro area.

Canyon near CA-14. Photo by Nalin A. Ratnayake, August 2006.

Many of the canyon highways that crisscross the Santa Clarita Valley have exits or at least straightforward access from CA-14. These backroads are well worth a trip just to drive through, but their hidden treasure is the vast number of hiking, biking, and horseback trails accessible through their travel. Bouquet Canyon Road, Soledad Canyon Road, and Placerita Canyon Road are notable examples.

Joined at : Avenue K, Lancaster
Left at: Placerita Canyon Road
Mileage: 31
Stops: 76 station, Acton

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At August 21, 2006 8:44 AM, Anonymous said…

loser! you posted about that before our santa barbara adventure? Where’s the love?

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At August 21, 2006 5:13 PM, Nalin said…

Sorry, I’ll get to it… I’ve started writing the post, but I don’t think I have any good pictures of the road itself. Probably I’ll put up some of the beach shots for the CA-1, but I’ve got nothing for the 126 or the 23.

Having a car is wonderful. Back in the college days at ASU, I was one of those poor souls without a vehicle, trapped within walking distance of campus unless I lucked out and got a ride from someone. With the exception of Honeywell, the airport, one camping trip in Globe, and a few parties, in four years of living in Arizona I really only saw a four mile square block of Tempe and the immediately surrounding cities. Now that I live in California, I drive way more than I ever thought I would, and not all of it is the commute. Between the move down from Idaho, seeing old friends who fly into town, and taking day trips around my new home state with new collegues at the office, my 2006 Nissan Sentra has put on 6400 miles through five states in the two months since I got it. With all this travel and my love of amatuer photography (though I’m not that good at it), I thought I’d start a new series on the blog about it. I’ll be doing some backdated posts to get in some highways that I’ve previously driven.

So… let’s get on the road!

By the way, if you’ve got suggestions for a roadtrip to take, or have additional photographs from roads I’ve written about that you don’t mind publishing, then just send me an email!

N.

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At August 20, 2006 5:38 PM, Nalin said…

On the queue:

US-395 (California)
US-101 (Reseda <-> Santa Barbara)
CA-1 (Santa Monica <-> Santa Barbara)
CA-14 (Palmdale <-> Santa Clarita, Soledad Canyon/Bouquet Canyon)
CA-23 (Fillmore <-> CA-1)
CA-58 (Bakersfield <-> Mojave, Tehachapi)
CA-99 (Bakersfield <-> Sacramento)
CA-126 (Santa Clarita <-> Ventura)
ID-55 (Boise <-> McCall)