La Brea Today

Santa Barbara County, California


The La Brea Fire began near La Brea Creek in Santa Barbara County, inside of Los Padres National Forest.[49] The fire burned 89,489 acres (140 sq mi; 362 km2) of chaparral between August 8 and August 22, but only destroyed two structures—a cabin and an unused ranger station.[50] The huge Zaca Fire burned in the same region in 2007, and some of the same fire lines were used to contain the La Brea Fire.[51] A propane stove at an illegal marijuana plantation inside the National Forest is believed to have ignited the fire. The plantation held approximately 30,000 marijuana plants, worth an estimated US$90 million. Prior to the blaze, seventeen other plantations hidden in the forest had been discovered by authorities, who destroyed more than 225,000 plants worth over US$675 million. No suspects were captured at the site, but investigators did find an AK-47 assault rifle, and warned the public that the suspects could be armed and dangerous.[52]courtesy of Wikipedia



Really had no intention of checking out this area as I rolled out of my house on Saturday, I just kind of stumbled on to it. I was going to do a circle route of 101 to 154 to 166 to 33 and home...which I eventually did do, but not until 50 or so miles of back country goodness with some animal encounters

Up and at em by the crack of 10...weapon of choice K7 Wee...it doesn't nothing great and everything OK but she has my respect having put up with my shit for 47K over 4 years

Up the 101...to Santa Barbara


Break off the 101 onto Rt154...into Chumash Valley and Santa Ynez...no cloud cover today..last time I came through here it was swamped in


Stopped into the overlook for a peak..




Spring is springing


Off 154 and onto Foxen Canyon Rd..farm country, happy beef and vineyards...lots of spandex warriors to dodge...






Foxen Canyon to Tepusquet



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Long ass video through the twisty part of Tepusquet

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166..wide open, sweeping turns...couple speed traps due to the beautiful weekend weather



Came up on this sign, don't know how I missed it before...

I just had to check it out. Sure glad I did!! Beautiful views with nice, easy, fast gravel roads



A stop to say hello to the horses and drain the tank...



spring still springing up here


Happy to not have stayed down there...off the beaten path is always best

a steady climb up to 5k with great views of the valley along the way...haven't seen one other vehicle nor person in the last 60 minutes that's good for me

as I rounded a blind corner I was ear to ear grinning as I gazed onto the terrain that awaited me



perhaps it is just my recent transplant status from the East Coast, but this terrain is striking to me and fires me up



instead of going down I went up a little more to check out the camp ground...nice set up! no toilets, no water, some shade, but the locale of the highest point makes up for any short comings



down from the camp site to explore the roads below, try to look around some to get the scenery, but babyhead rocks kept me looking forward
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more campgrounds to check out!!

down, down, down...roads getting a little rougher, but it is still good to go, nothing the big bike can't handle..








mamma cow and babies enjoying the shade with their little puddle of mud




little suckers can move when they want to...I knew eventually I would run into the herd by the number of apples on the road...

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stopped to check out the campground (horseshoe flat) that you can see at the end of the video...nice, plenty of shade, pit toilets

continued down the road, the GPS said I could get back to pavement that way....but this says otherwise


back the way I came, I saw a ranger parked in the campground, stopped to talk about the gate, they said it is perma-locked due to the private land on the other side oh well...nice ride back out



up top I hung a right toward McPherson Peak...great road that follows the ridge, fast dirt with great views..




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along the ridge road to Bates Canyon, had to come down to get fuel, next time I will fill before I get off the tarmac..



14 miles to the pavement...did not expect to see what I did next...ice and snow in the shade...slick as owl snot on a brass door knob :eek1



rode the first little bit of snow, but then it was ice...should have kept filming as i managed my way through...bike in gear, engine off, clutching to slow, got over to the mountain side of the road as it was a long ways down, figured it better to crash into the hill than over the edge

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down, down , down..great road once you got the past the ice nice campground at the end as well...will definitely be back to explore more and camp here soon...






free range

back onto 166...flat balls out again to 33, pay 4.79 a gallon in Ventucopa :eek1 only bought 1.5 gallons to get me home...


back to the ocean in time to catch the last rays of a great day from the hills above Malibu so blessed to live here



that's it! thanks for coming along. till next time, ride fast...take chances

Damn, those are some beautiful hills! Looks like a bucket list place to ride!

Damn Chris, that little calf was hauling ass!

The snow vid was working for me. I'll have to check back in later.

Glad you are enjoying the other coast.

$4.79 a gallon!
For regular?Or Diesel?
Damn!
You better keep ride'n the bikes,and leave that new 4x4 at home.

It is a great place to ride! Lot a bit of everything out here, coastal cruising, mountain twistys, dirt, desert, farm lands, etc...

Thanks for stoppin in garrett Those cows are deceptively fast. Felt like I was in trouble when I saw Mamma cow

yep, they are raking us over the coals out here 4.29 is the best price I have found and that is on base $25 to fill the Wee on average :eek1 It's worth it in a way.

Looks like a real nice ride thanks for sharing!

Good report,like always.

BUT,:huh

Needs more,Darth Peach poses.

That was my fiancee and I in the lycra at about 27 seconds into your video where you descended from the top of Zaca Mesa on Foxen towards Aliso Canyon. When we rode by, you were in the pullout, checking out your camera in your left rearview mirror. It crossed my mind - hey, I wonder if this is the guy who did the ADV postings of Highway 33 and Soda Lake Rd, etc. But in a moment we were already flying down the descent, and I thought - well, if it's him then maybe I'll see a posting on ADV of his ride. Sure enough, here it is, and there we are! Sorry we didn't get to meet - the 150/33 from Carp is one of my favorite rides (on a Kawa Versys). Small fun world!

nice!

"Foxen Canyon to Tepusquet "


Thanks for sharing!!

I rode from Sonoma all the way down Hwy 1 and ended up in Santa Barbara. What a great place to ride.

I did Foxen Canyon Rd. Kick ass!!

Thanks again and be safe.

Michael