Heading for the Coast ... 16th November

Originally I had the intention of reaching the West coast around the Big Sur area before heading back to San Francisco & the Bay Area. However this did not eventuate ...

Coming out of the (seeming) fresh air and hills of the Sequoia & King's National Parks into the San Joaquin Valley area saw a distinct change in both the scenery and the air quality. As a whole, this trip has been relatively (& surprisingly) free of the sense of a polluted environment. Now, parts of the New Jersey Turnpike area had provided probably the most industrial and perhaps polluted looking atmosphere for me on this journey, but it did not compare with what confronted me in this part of California. For one, it was hot and I imagine this did not help with the hell on earth scenario of smog and haze which filled every direction. I was in the open countryside, yet the hot sun was filtered through a smog the like's of which I'd only ever experienced in large cities such as Bangkok. Except for China, where the countryside's atmosphere can be tainted with coal smog, yet the mere fact that I was comparing California with China in terms of pollution haze seemed to shock (& interest) me. Also, being a valley does not help I would imagine, and this combined with certain unique natural weather features to the area compounds the effect.

According to the Wikipedia, California is the world's 5th largest supplier of food & agricultural supplies and you don't get to that level of production thesedays without some environmental casualty I guess...correct me if I'm wrong, but this area seemed like it would be one of California's main agricultural producers.

Besides the intensive farming and the occasional factory, there seemed to be a fair amount of population dotted around the valley, with alot of new housing going in as well. This area would be one of the last places that I'd live! I wanted to get out of there that afternoon, ASAP - so I headed in as straight a line as possible to the coast. The harvested cotton fields and other crop rows made for an interesting landscape as I sped through the fluffy white remnants on the State Route 198.

I left the valley area when I crossed the Interstate#5 and climbed into the Coast Ranges. At last, a breath of fresh air! The picturesque hills I was now winding through gave me a a real sense that I was finally approaching the sea. I aslo had a sense that my whole journey was close to coming to an end.

In fact, mentally I was running out of steam. I had probably driven close to 10,000 miles by that stage and the winding road approaching the elusive (for me) Monterey county was getting the better of me - scenically beautiful as it was. My loss of the hope for seeing the West Coast that day in the daylight was finally realised when the sun disappeared behind the range between me & the sea. It was getting dark fairly early thesedays - it was only around 5pm.

So I booted it up the highway 101 past the traffic jam that was the San Jose area into the now familiar sights of San Francisci & the Bay Area.