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The Fresno topic got me thinking about this.

At first I would figure, San Diego. Because when I head south from TM is like 325 miles. But they do have some quality rock climbing right in SD.

El Centro, I have cousins from there, but no they can go to AZ, Mexico, San Diego and JT.

So I figure the Central Coast, a long drive north or south, to make a end run around the Coast Range, than a cross valley drive on Farm Roads....... so you can get to the west side of Sierra.
But even along the dirt mts of the central coast there is climbing and some pretty peaks to hit.

Redding... but no, Shasta is right there as well as Castle Rocks.....

So if that's the worst I can think of, I figure anyplace in California is the bomb....

anybody name a bad place?

gk

Dingus Milktoast wrote:El Centro.

DMT

Yes that place is pretty grim.... they get like 12 weeks of killer weather than its hot as hell... like Texas.

My mom's friend has a sugar cane farm down there. They were shocked at how much the value of the farm has gone up in the last 10 years. I've been down there a few times, El Centro has awesome taco joints.

Guyzo wrote:
So I figure the Central Coast, a long drive north or south, to make a end run around the Coast Range, than a cross valley drive on Farm Roads....... so you can get to the west side of Sierra.
But even along the dirt mts of the central coast there is climbing and some pretty peaks to hit.

Hey, I take exception to this, as I live in Santa Cruz. The Pinnacles and Castle Rock State Park are local areas. Tahoe and Yosemite are about the same distance, in terms of driving. And there is a large climbing community here.

The Central Coast is a great place to live, whether or you are a climber or not.

Anywhere in California, that is if you are stuck inside at a mind numbing job and your coworkers could give a rats ass about climbing. Hell they even threw away your newest issue of Alpinist cuz it wasn't People magazine.

Gary Schenk wrote:Trona. I don't care how close it is to Great Falls Basin, it's still Trona.

I've gotta agree.

Humboldt. You are fairly close to to the Trinities and some great wilderness, but not much in terms of climbing. Shasta may seem close, but it's still a long ass drive from Eureka. Beautiful area, kinda sucky weather though.

The Imperial Valley is a furnace in the summer, but you've got good weather for 6 months of the year, and you're no further away from great climbing than you'd be in the Central Valley or the Bay Area or LA.

...wait, I think Avalon would be the worst place for a climber to live

KathyW wrote:

Gary Schenk wrote:Trona. I don't care how close it is to Great Falls Basin, it's still Trona.

I've gotta agree.

+1
I haven't driven by Trona in ~18 years, yet I still clearly remember how dismal it was.

I agree anywere on catalina really....

maybe one of the federal correctional facilities?

-CS

Dougb wrote:I think Trona gets a bad rap for two reasons, first the name "trona" sounds unappealing, and secondly, that Kerr-McGee plant there that tends to be malodorous. I bet if you changed the name to "Desert Oaks" and planted a few trees, got rid of the chemical plant, put in a costco and walmart, put up some condos and a golf course, people would not say all the bad things. After all, Ridgecrest is only 20 miles away, and ya never hear negative remarks about Ridgecrest.

Trees or grass does not grow there because of all the minerals in the soil, hence the chemical plant. But it has the only dirt football field in the United States. The deposits of chemicals and minerals around Trona contain 98 of the 104 naturally occuring chemical elements

The first time I came through Trona I also thought that this must be the worst place in CA.

Dougb wrote: …..I bet if you changed the name to "Desert Oaks"….

Hmmm…I was thinking Meth Springs or Tweaker Flats might be more accurate.

Drove thru Trona in the middle of the night while coming back from Telescope Pk a few years ago. I could smell that chemical plant 5 clicks away and it looked like Mordor, yikes!

fossana wrote:

KathyW wrote:

Gary Schenk wrote:Trona. I don't care how close it is to Great Falls Basin, it's still Trona.

I've gotta agree.

+1
I haven't driven by Trona in ~18 years, yet I still clearly remember how dismal it was.

Yep. Awful, awful town, and the fact that there are some pretty nice place relatively close doesn't make make up for the awfulness.

Yeah, Trona is pretty bad, but is it as bad as this place?

Smells as bad, if not worse, more humid and hotter than Trona, AND you can't even go swimming in the GIGANTIC body of water that is about 10 yards behind the picture.

Anybody know where it is? (HINT, pretty close to J Tree).

Dougb wrote:After all, Ridgecrest is only 20 miles away, and ya never hear negative remarks about Ridgecrest.

You're kidding, right?

The best thing about Ridgecrest is it lies at the triple divide point for peakbaggers between the SPS/DPS/HPS lists. The next best thing is .... the Starbucks? the Walmart? the mild summer weather? The only reason it exists is because of the military base, no?