Trip Report
I Drive the Five
Monday March 2, 2015 6:58pm
Ok, it's not climbing but it showcases the itinerant beauty of a part of the state that some might justifiably call the armpit of the state. I often drive Interstate 5 between LA and SF Bay Area, and here's a snapshot of one such trip- today.

It begins curling around Mt Diablo:
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Sneaking out the backside of SF Bay
Sneaking out the backside of SF Bay
Credit: NutAgain!
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First rainbow sighting.
First rainbow sighting.
Credit: NutAgain!
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Second rainbow sighting
Second rainbow sighting
Credit: NutAgain!
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And then a long stretch of pleasant green; such a difference a color makes! I recognize the raw and primal and rugged beauty of deserts and wastelands, but that is. Sort of cerebral pleasure, a sensory experience absorbed in an artistic or philosophical way. But there is something hardwires into our being, a natural and easy attraction to verdant life giving landscapes, a place of food and shelter that tempts us with survival.

And so the arid crusted plains of California that I have learned to love during the worst of times, are now beguiling me with her new ornaments- an emerald carpet. Spring lasts but a moment on California, and in some parts it's often done before we're through winter. But it is there to enjoy and my lifelong love fair with California continues, as I experience different parts of her in all her moods.

Alas I've for a busy work week, not ready to dally on this trip, especially since the weekend promises snowy adventures if I get my stuff done before then. So I'm remiss in sharing pictures of the verdant valley. But I offer in humble substitution a series of clouds during my afternoon and evening whilst hurtling by in my metal cage. But for me, the metal cage is a passport to freedom. The clouds:

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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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I'm enjoying the changing mood, my music selections tracking the sky.

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Credit: NutAgain!
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Birds flying into the sunset are a fitting end to this photoessay.
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Credit: NutAgain!
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Onward toward the grapevine, into the eye, where snow is a near certainty and we shall see if my trusty Prius can rise to the challenge like it has on so many other adventures where typical hybrids fear to tread.

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Credit: NutAgain!
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  Trip Report Views: 2,575
NutAgain!
About the Author
NutAgain! is a trad climber from South Pasadena, CA.

Comments
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Mar 2, 2015 - 08:05pm PT
Thanks for the weather report.
Neat and sweet.
Keep on truckin'.
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
  Mar 4, 2015 - 09:39am PT
Ten and two, man!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
  Mar 4, 2015 - 10:20am PT
Beauty is all around us....some people don't look. Nice reminder!
Jones in LA

Mountain climber
Tarzana, California
  Mar 4, 2015 - 12:03pm PT
There's just one fly in the ointment (literally): The massive feed lots at Coalinga Rd. Those speckly things in the photo are cows -- tens of thousands of pissing, pooping, belching, farting cows. When you approach this area do not slow down, do not roll down your window, and do all you can to maintain positive air pressure inside your vehicle.

But this is an aberration on an otherwise lovely drive. Nice photos there @NA. Have you ever pondered the climbability of some of the scruffy outcrops just south of Grapevine at the edge of the Valley? Some of the rock looks crystalline in nature.

Rich Jones


edit: I am not a vegetarian so I have to accept some occasional smelly cows as a price to pay for burgers and steaks.
Fish Finder

climber
  Mar 4, 2015 - 03:32pm PT
Hey nut


the most beautiful spot on the 5 interstate is the Budweiser factory

is that in Burbank

Love the orange sky over Burbank



phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Mar 4, 2015 - 04:45pm PT
Always nice to see a TR from you. Thanks.
crankster

Trad climber
No. Tahoe
  Mar 4, 2015 - 05:30pm PT
Imagine a train going by at 200 mph.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
Author's Reply  Dec 3, 2015 - 10:38am PT
Bump for finding the sublime in the ridiculous.

Hey LA Jones, some time last summer I got a flat tire RIGHT EXACTLY AT THAT SPOT. That pissing pooping farting cow spot. Horrendous! Kids were on the side of the road almost vomiting. Character building!
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
  Dec 3, 2015 - 10:59am PT
I love it, Scott! That Budweiser factory included, until sometime in the 1970's, Busch Gardens. It was a rather unique amusement park, in that the beer was free, but the soft drinks not so. I remember riding a sort of telepherique into the beeer plant itself as one of the attractions.

That feed lot at Coalinga road is for Harris Ranch - a supplier of excellent beef. In the good old days, before I-5, Highway 99 was the fastest way from LA to SF, but you passed through Manteca. In those days, the slaughter houses were such an odiferous operation that I learned, at a very tender age, to roll up the windows at about Ripon, even in cars with no air conditioning and 100 degree weather. Fortunately (since I still pass through Manteca often) that odor has disappeared there.

John
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