Carrizo Plain (kinda) Super Bloom Thread

[eatpasta]

For those of you who havent even been out to the Carrizo, you need to go.

Gunna post up a bunch of pics and maps etc so you guys can go check it out. I just got back and have much to do but I'll post a few teasers

Drone Footage

 

[GChristo]

I was going to start a new post but see one is already underway. It really is beautiful out there. It felt like we were nowhere near California. Flowers everywhere and plenty of dirt road to explore. Unlike the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve it wasn't a madhouse either.

Would be a great place for a group run while the getting is good.

Eatpasta we definitely crossed paths..

 

[RAD4Runner]

Nice, guys!
Yes, coords please!

 

[eatpasta]

So for those of you who dont know, Carrizo Plain is a large, flat valley that cuts between Taft and New Cuyama.

It's kind of like a mini Death Valley. Not a tree as far as the eye can see - and very beautiful.

You'll see more stars at night here than anywhere I have ever been.

It's been a ranch for >100 years but when oil was discovered near there, the big oil money came into the area and they actually used to drill for it out on Carrizo - one of the drill sites is actually one of the two campground now (Selby, where I stayed this last time).
If you go to Taft, you'll see oil infrastructure that you won't believe.

anyways, Carrizo is an awesome place to be able to go and just explore dirt roads, camp, take pictures. I go out there when I need solitude because the place is big enough that you can go a day if you want and not see anyone.

I wanted to check out the 'super bloom' so there were more people out there than I had ever seen before. I had never seen a Prius out there before and yesterday I saw three in a row.

Anyways, I camped at Casitas Lake at the base of the 33 in Ojai the night before. Great spot

the rig is the 3rd gen that I picked up a few week prior - really loving it so far.

2wd, 3RZ fury - 199,950 miles

The stock flex, including the anti-sway bars is actually pretty good

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hwy 33 out of Ojai, its an incredible road - one of the best motorcycle/driving roads in the state.

Today was pretty rainy but beautiful and dramatic.

I'm a hardcore biker and about 99% of the time I would prefer to be on a bike, but this day it was nice to be sitting inside, listening to music and getting to know my new truck.

 

[mwray8909]

So for those of you who dont know, Carrizo Plain is a large, flat valley that cuts between Taft and New Cuyama.

It's kind of like a mini Death Valley. Not a tree as far as the eye can see - and very beautiful.

You'll see more stars at night here than anywhere I have ever been.

It's been a ranch for >100 years but when oil was discovered near there, the big oil money came into the area and they actually used to drill for it out on Carrizo - one of the drill sites is actually one of the two campground now (Selby, where I stayed this last time).
If you go to Taft, you'll see oil infrastructure that you won't believe.

anyways, Carrizo is an awesome place to be able to go and just explore dirt roads, camp, take pictures. I go out there when I need solitude because the place is big enough that you can go a day if you want and not see anyone.

I wanted to check out the 'super bloom' so there were more people out there than I had ever seen before. I had never seen a Prius out there before and yesterday I saw three in a row.

Anyways, I camped at Casitas Lake at the base of the 33 in Ojai the night before. Great spot

the rig is the 3rd gen that I picked up a few week prior - really loving it so far.

2wd, 3RZ fury - 199,950 miles

The stock flex, including the anti-sway bars is actually pretty good

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hwy 33 out of Ojai, its an incredible road - one of the best motorcycle/driving roads in the state.

Today was pretty rainy but beautiful and dramatic.

I'm a hardcore biker and about 99% of the time I would prefer to be on a bike, but this day it was nice to be sitting inside, listening to music and getting to know my new truck.

Hey brotha Casitas is where I live. Hit me up next time.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[eatpasta]

Ok enough BS.

How do you get there? It's pretty simple - if you're coming from Santa Maria or north, you grab the 58 and enter through the north end of the plain. Anywhere south or east of Santa Barbara, take the 33 north or 166 and enter at the sound end of the plain.

I drove up the 33 out of Ojai and entered at the bottom just off 166.

Most of the roads on the monument are flat and fairly smooth. 50 - 60mph is pretty easy to maintain but you have to be super careful about washouts and drainage especially after rain

 

[eatpasta]

There were flowers for sure but it was certainly no super bloom

There are two camp grounds; KCL which is close to the bottom of the plain and Selby which is a few miles up into the foothills.

If you camp at Selby, there is a road right next to it that takes you up the west mountain

 

[eatpasta]

Hey brotha Casitas is where I live. Hit me up next time.

right on! Will do.

 

[eatpasta]

Up on top of the mountain, overlooking Selby and the rest of the Monument, there are some awesome views.

With all of the rain we have been having, there are patches of incredible color

Right about this time the 4Runner decided to make its big turn

There is a locked gate at the top and supposedly its a short hike to some kind of WW2 installation. I've never taken the time to go check it out as I dont have enough info on it.

Anyways, back down to the valley floor, I set out across Simmler road.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/... Plain March 25 2017/DSC_0509_zpsnopcvsem.jpg


This strafes Soda Lake with is usually a massive salt lick but right now, it's kind of a lake

 

[eatpasta]

I was going to start a new post but see one is already underway. It really is beautiful out there. It felt like we were nowhere near California. Flowers everywhere and plenty of dirt road to explore. Unlike the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve it wasn't a madhouse either.

Would be a great place for a group run while the getting is good.

Eatpasta we definitely crossed paths..

Were you in a silver 4Runner? is that you in my drone shot??

 

[GChristo]

Were you in a silver 4Runner? is that you in my drone shot??

Was in a white 5th gen. Sunday morning I heard a drone flying for a few minutes. We were camped ~2 miles southeast of the KCL campground. Could that have been you?

 

[outlaws]

Amazing, great photos and writeup. Thanks for the report!

Not threadjacking but i was out here 2 years ago too on my dualsport around the same time and loved seeing the yellow everywhere, matches my bike nicely!

 

[eatpasta]

Amazing, great photos and writeup. Thanks for the report!

Not threadjacking but i was out here 2 years ago too on my dualsport around the same time and loved seeing the yellow everywhere, matches my bike nicely!

Oh highjack my threads with bikes all day long. I spent many many weekends out there on my BMW. We rebuilt selby camp ground one weekend, even.

Ive never been out there in a car before!

ADVrider for life

:hurt:

 

[eatpasta]

Was in a white 5th gen. Sunday morning I heard a drone flying for a few minutes. We were camped ~2 miles southeast of the KCL campground. Could that have been you?

Since flying within the monument is technically illegal, I try not fly in there so much as on the fringes where it's away from not only the people but it's not strictly in the park.

It must have been someone else

 

[eatpasta]

Simmler road will run into Elkhorn. If you go right it will take you back out the 58. Turn right and it loosely parallels Soda Lake.

Its similar to Soda but actually goes across San Andreas fault.

There are a few 'outs' along the way that will take you up and over and into Taft, through the vast swath of oil fields.

I didn't take any (new) pics of any of that as I was flippin hungry. I found this sandwich shop - Hwy33 Sandwiches that was nothing short of awesome.
Check out this hot Italian!!

fook yeh.

On my way back in, I headed back down the 33, through Maricopa and just out of town you catch Elkhorn Ridge which takes you back over and into Carrizo.

There is lots to explore, lots of off shoots.

I'm pretty impressed by how well the 3rd gen climbs. That 3RZ motor isnt going to win any races but man its torquey in all the right ways. I tried some pretty tricky climbs and I'm impressed at how well it handled them.

Of course no vids going up. some going down to come

anyways, eventually that will spit you back out to Soda Lake and you've made a big circle

All in all Carrizo is beautiful and lots of fun. 4WD not really necessary unless you do some of these back roads hill climbs and even then with a little finesse, you can crawl up

 

[eatpasta]

My last day out there, I wanted to go see Painted Rock as Ive never seen it before (Petroglyphs). I asked at the visitor center about it and in a predictable bureaucratic tone the girl behind the desk told me that they do a guided tour on Saturdays.

I tried to explain that I used to volunteer with BLM to improve the Carrizo, blah blah blah - hey can you help me out - kind of a thing and that got me nowhere.... so apparently I'll have to come back on a Saturday at 10am with a internet reservation...

So, I headed over to check out Soda Lake itself, which I have actually never seen with water in it.

and the board walk. you walk, on boards.

more flowers, blah blah

Started heading out of the park and saw these guys

I did a little exploring on the south side of Soda Lake, of which there are a bunch of roads to explore.

I picked one and went for it

 

[eatpasta]

Nice, guys!
Yes, coords please!

I was running my GPS the entire time but the tracks are incomplete because my Garmin is a pile of llama crap. I spent two months in Baja a few years ago and it told me that I was in the ocean, most of the time....

Id be happy to give you guys what I have though.

The place is actually quite easy to navigate as there are only a few main roads - the distances are just long!

 

[violation]

holy shit that is nice.
[MENTION=109205]mwray8909[/MENTION] let's gooooooo

friday night i'll camp in your backyard, get up pre-dawn, use your facilities to freshen up and roll out by dawn. come back sunday. :rockon:

 

[eatpasta]

This is what it looks like to cross the plain in 20 seconds.... time lapse

Check out this vid, man

 

[N.Alvarez]

Thanks for the pics!! My wife and I were thinking of heading up there next weekend. Looks beautiful!