Spent this weekend at a private campground down south... Songdog Ranch, its
mostly used by motorcyclists... Its on a mesa above Cuyama Valley, off route
33, a couple of miles south of route 166.
The place has amazing horizons, and both friday and saturday, were
stunningly dark after the crescent moon went down, there was only the
dimmest light dome to the northeast (Bakersfield area), a dimmer one to the
west (Santa Barbara), and a rather diffuse one to the south (LA). When
the milkyway came up last night, I stared at it naked eye for an hour.
This was every bit as dark as glacier pt, yosemite.
Songdog is a neat place, its run by a guy named Rev and his family...
camping there is $5/night, there's running water, pit toilets, and they are
off grid, there are no lights.
He also does a killer tritip and chicken BBQ for $30/head if you have $1000
minimum (33 folks at $30 per) and set it up in advance. The dinner
includes salad and blackeye beans, and it includes a french toast breakfast
in the morning (juice, bacon or ham, fresh fruit, etc).
The downside... no showers, pit toilets. I guess you could bring some
black garden hose and a low flow sprinkler, and make a solar shower :D
its also rather remote, around 250 miles drive from the bay area (well, 250
miles of meandering back roads on my bike anyways). The last mile up to the
mesa is a dirt road (easily driven in any car or bike).
Received on Sun Apr 25 19:15:25 2004