Went Coastal Today • The Dodge Challenger Message Board

by **Jon** » 02 Oct 2009 2:18

It's been darn Hot this summer. :s001:

Finally had a chance to take an early fall drive out to the coast. Temperature around 80 and clear as a bell.

Here's a few pictures.

by **Hezzel** » 02 Oct 2009 8:21

Sure looks like a nice trip :thumbsup:

by **jh27n0b** » 02 Oct 2009 19:20

Beautiful. I have driven that stretch of road twice and I just love that part of California.
Bob

by **Jon** » 02 Oct 2009 22:55

Soon as the brakes are rebuilt I'll post better pictures further north, towards Big Sur. The road gets tight, and steep. Rocks fall to the road daily with the weather changes. I didn't really feel comfortable with 40 year old wheel cylinders. :s014:

Any advice on doing a caliper rebuild and best brake pads? The rest of the system is new including the master cylinder, brake lines and hoses.

by **ianandjess** » 03 Oct 2009 5:56

thats an awesome looking piece of coastline would be a great drive you lucky bugger
cheers ian

by **Jon** » 05 Jan 2010 2:11

Did a 200 mile loop up to Pinnacles National Monument Sunday. Here are a couple shots.

There are awesome trails with impresive vistas throughout the reserve I plan to hike. Need to get in better shape though. Also the vertigo/fear of height problem must be overcome. :s008:

by **dave-r** » 05 Jan 2010 14:23

I am thinking of taking a drive up (or down) a part of that coastline next year and maybe swing by Pinnacles as well. :wink:

by **drewcrane** » 05 Jan 2010 15:16

thats it im taking mine out today, ice on the roads or not im gonna drive it somewhere (if the battery aint dead) :s024:

by **Jon** » 05 Jan 2010 21:27

Just follow the La Reya belt Drew. That will take you to sunny California. :s002:

It's 65 here today, payback for those hot summer days.

After that drive with the brakes working better, I think it's time for the Big Sur loop from Cambria up through Monterey soon. That will take better part of the day for sure.

by **drewcrane** » 05 Jan 2010 23:53

yea i thought about the laraya belt today i did get a spin around in the slush today but for the most part the roads are dry , but not as dry as SUNNY cali :s017:

i have been through monterey area and carmel also beautiful places :thumbsup:

by **The Toy Peddler** » 07 Jan 2010 0:39

Jon!
I can't believe you just posted a picture of Pinnacles! I was a ranger there from 1992-95. That's really a great hiking park and if you're into climbing, it is a fantastic place and where I learned. I have lots of fond memories of working there.
Your picture looks like it's from the west side with the "balconies" in the background. I used to drive from So. Oregon down there on fridays, work the weekend and then back on mondays so I could finish my EMT classes up here. I just wish I would have had a sweet ride like that to do it in!
Thanks for sharing.
BTW, this picture I posted in an earler post was taken at Pinnacles!
Small world huh?
Paul

by **Jon** » 07 Jan 2010 2:33

Yeah Paul those pictures are from the west side of the park. Great place to cut you teeth for sure. :s017:

I'm not into rock climbing just mellow trails for now. Any tips from back in the Magnum P.I. days? :s024:

I would like to check out the lake up top too.

And yes, small world for sure. :nod:

by **The Toy Peddler** » 07 Jan 2010 13:25

There really isn't much of a lake, more like a resevoir from what I recall. On your first pic, that is a very steep trail over the top to the east side. If you want a bit easier hike, I suggest going straight out from the west side towards the balconies. You will be going through the cave. It's really tough to do this time of year and spring because you have to wade through a lot of water. There is a trail around it though.
They have a great spring wildflower show there and worth going back for.
Paul

by **dave-r** » 08 Jan 2010 12:00

You guys might like the walking I do over here. Two hours drive from my home.
Not sure if these links will work or not?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... 13bbbed805

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... ff62330e84

by **The Toy Peddler** » 08 Jan 2010 13:26

Nice!

by **dave-r** » 08 Jan 2010 13:41

They are not as big as the mountains you guys have but the bases of them are only about 150ft above seal level and these ones rise to between 2600ft-3200ft above sea level. So it takes a good part of a day to climb up and walk across a few of them at a time.

by **dave-r** » 08 Jan 2010 13:45

Here are some more for you.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9 ... e050ad6105

by **Jon** » 08 Jan 2010 15:30

Thanks for the photos Dave they are quite inspiring. Some of those areas are steep! Your family must have some mountain goat in them. :wink:

Question, why are the valley plains sectioned in that way. Are those rock walls?

by **dave-r** » 08 Jan 2010 15:45

Yes. This is the way farms and fields are divided in this area. The walls are "dry stone" (i.e no motar) and need regular maintainance to keep them intact. Building a good dry stone wall is a bit of black art.

These hills have been used for sheep farming since pre-historic times and the dry stone walls here probably date back thousands of years. Certainly they were there before the Vikings and possibly before the Romans came.

by **dave-r** » 08 Jan 2010 15:54

The difference between a maintained wall and one not touched for probably a couple of generations.

by **dave-r** » 08 Jan 2010 16:00

Almost in the exact center of this image is a small group of trees and in the little group of trees is the smallest church in England. It is VERY old.

The lake you can just see the end of at the top of the photo is shallow at one side and 700ft deep near the other. It is the deepest lake in England.

by **Jon** » 09 Jan 2010 3:35

dave-r wrote:Yes. This is the way farms and fields are divided in this area. The walls are "dry stone" (i.e no motar) and need regular maintainance to keep them intact. Building a good dry stone wall is a bit of black art.

These hills have been used for sheep farming since pre-historic times and the dry stone walls here probably date back thousands of years. Certainly they were there before the Vikings and possibly before the Romans came.

So the walls are like our wire fence here, guess that was the way back then.

A lot of work but the fields probably needed stone clearing to cultivate anyways.

I wondered about the lack of trees in your pictures, animal grazing seems to be the reason. I keep telling the neighbors if you graze the land no new trees will make it past the hooves. Once the elders are gone so goes .....

by **Dick Landy** » 06 Feb 2010 20:37

Hi,

sorry, one question about your Challenger: is it right that your Challenger has CA Black Plate's? Are they original to the car? I think they ended in Dec. 1968!?

Thanks

by **dave-r** » 06 Feb 2010 21:36

Jon wrote: So the walls are like our wire fence here, guess that was the way back then. A lot of work but the fields probably needed stone clearing to cultivate anyways.

Just realised I hadn't replied to this.
Wire is made of iron. These walls were probably first erected before iron was invented. But yes, as the area was once carved by glaciers, it would have had to be cleared of the stone debri as well.

I wondered about the lack of trees in your pictures, animal grazing seems to be the reason. I keep telling the neighbors if you graze the land no new trees will make it past the hooves. Once the elders are gone so goes .....

The few trees that do grow tend to be short and hardy things. Pine never made it to this area. There is not much topsoil in those parts either. Even grass cannot grow on the upper slopes of these hills. Crops and trees do not grow well. It is a cold wet area most of the year. Sheep are the only things that can do well in this area. These days the farmers need heavy funding to remain in business. But because without them the landscape would be spoilt it is cheaper to pay them to stay farming and maintain the area.

by **Jon** » 07 Feb 2010 1:31

Dick Landy wrote:Hi,

sorry, one question about your Challenger: is it right that your Challenger has CA Black Plate's? Are they original to the car? I think they ended in Dec. 1968!?

Thanks

You maybe correct about the timing of the color switch. Those are original California plates with the 6 digit/numeral format. I changed them to Black to match the car better. So far no complains from :s016:

I'm pretty sure my dads early 70 El Camino had black plates though.