The Santa Barbara 4 wheel drive club again joined in for the 2025 Goleta old town holiday parade. The parade was held on Saturday night. December 6th.
The Grand Marshall this year was Mr. James Marchiando. He is a lifelong Goleta Valley resident with deep roots in local agriculture and was honored for his dedication to farming, family and community. He drove his 1959 John Deere tractor in the parade, carrying four generations of his family.
With spirits high & Christmas music abounding, and with 73 entry’s and 1,766 total participants and an estimated 5-6,000 spectators we entered on to Hollister Avenue from Orange Avenue and proceeded up the packed parade route through old town to the Goleta community center.
Our group included Fifteen members from our club that participated in this year’s event, our riggs included a combination of TJ’s, JK’s, Gladiators, and several different makes of pickups. Matt even joined us on his Birthday.
Decorations included lots of Christmas lights, garland large lighted ornamental figures & inflatables of several different kinds.
Our decorated caravan was even accompanied with some all time favorite Christmas carols to boot.
The Goleta Old Town Holiday Parade is a wonderful community event that celebrates the holiday season and brings people together.
We were proud to be a part of it and look forward to participating in the future.
Thank you to all the incredible volunteers, sponsors and the Greater Goleta Santa Barbara Lions Club for organizing this event.
Participants: Danny and Myla Kato, Brad Burk, Bobbie Okamoto-Subject, George and Pam Tinker, Steve Smith
All except Steve arrived at the Stovepipe Wells Campground around 2:30pm. All were in front of the rainstorm that hit Santa Barbara. Since it had been raining for 8-10 days already, the ground was fairly wet, and muddy in parts.
Everyone got set up when the showers started. Not too much, but enough to be a nuisance. Several of us went across the street to have drinks and dinner at the Stovepipe Wells Hotel restaurant and bar.
The next morning (Friday) it was still drizzling, so it was a slow morning. We decided to stay on paved roads, and do some touristy things, so we went to the Furnace Creek Ranger Station, then drove to Badwater to see the lake that was there after the rains.
Steve arrived in camp around this time. Afterwards, we went to Zabriskie Point, and decided to try the Echo Canyon trail to see if it was driveable. It was, so we went to the Inyo Mine.
The road was in such good condition that most 2WD vehicles could have made it there. We stopped on the way back at the natural arch, and took a ton of pictures.
Very beautiful with the sunset coming through the arch. We drove home in the dark through lots of big mud puddles in the road. That night we had a big fire in camp.
Saturday morning was dry-ish, so we decided to go to Chloride Cliffs, where we had beautiful views of Death Valley, and most of us went up a steep-ish hill at the very end that only Dick did last year.
Then to Beatty via dirt roads that go down and across the Amargosa Valley (saw 3 burros).
One of the benefits of all of the rain is that there was absolutely no dust. Great for all followers. After lunch at a BBQ spot in Beatty, we took the old narrow-gauge railroad grade to the ghost town of Rhyolite, where we explored. As it was going to get dark soon, we drove home, and had another big fire.
Sunday morning, Bobbie and the Tinkers headed home, and Steve decided to do touristy things. He ended up doing a a little wheeling by himself: a portion of the Hole-in-the-Wall trail
(very bumpy, he said), and Inyo Mine (I think). Brad, Myla and I returned to Rhyolite, and took dirt roads (some pretty steep) over the hills to the north, and into the Nevada Triangle portion of Death Valley. We went over a lot of alluvial plains, and eventually went up Phinney Canyon, where the landscape changed from desert-y type of brush to pine trees and SNOW on the road!
At first there were just little pockets here and there, but as we ascended, there got to be more and more, until we were driving in full snow. Woot! We were hoping to get to the end, but when the snow got to be more than 6” deep, we decided to stop, as we were at a point where we could still turn around.
There was only a little bit of slipping and sliding. Then back across the desert to Hwy 95 (saw 3 more burros), Beatty for gas, then back to STW for another big fire.
Monday morning, Steve and Brad went home, and Danny and Myla stayed in the park and did some more touristy things. We left on Tuesday morning. And thus concluded another great trip to DV.
Rob organized and led a club run through the Rubicon Trail again this September. He shared:
We all met at the Rubicon trailhead behind the Loon lake Dam. The area has plenty of room for tow rigs and campers if necessary.
Dick, Bryan Karaffa,Jim,Jerry Holloway and Ryan joined Dorothy and I for a great adventure on the world famous Rubicon Trail.
Jerry handed his keys to Ryan to drive his first challenging trail. No Pressure! Very trusting and generous of Jerry to let someone else drive his jeep through a trail like the Rubicon.
His jeep is well built and well armoured. The first difficult obstacle was the Gatekeeper.
We all had a bit of trouble getting through except for Dick that drove right through.
We had pretty smooth sailing with only a few spots we had to do some winching. One obstacle we named Hoppe Rock after Dick, because he has always had problems with that obstacle. He conquered it this year with ease.
It’s a long day of driving with spectacular scenery and challenging driving the whole way.
It took us about 8 hours to get to camp. Rubicon Springs has a camp fee of $20 per vehicle a night. We got a great campsite in the Dirty Dozen camp area next to the spring. There were quite a few more people than we have seen in the past after Labor Day. We had great weather. It was supposed to be much cooler than it turned out to be which was a very nice surprise.
We teamed up and made some great food around camp and enjoyed our propane fire. The last day was a couple hour drive up Cadillac Hill and out to Lake Tahoe. We all aired up at the staging area on the Tahoe side of the trail and Jerry,Ryan and Jim headed for home. Dick,Bryan Dorothy and I headed for some good food and beers at a nice brewhouse in South Lake Tahoe.
We then went back to the Ice House Resort for another beer before heading back to the trailhead and our tow rigs and campers for the night.
We drove home the next morning. Another great trip to the Rubicon.
Thanks to all who joined us.
Members: for more photos and videos, see the club album for this event
Kristina ventured back to Joshua Tree National Park and shared this recap:
I did the Berdoo canyon loop, it’s nice, pretty short. I would say this is a nice addition if you are visiting Joshua tree. I had to loop past Palm Springs to get back to the park (you exit fully on the other side of the park), so I stopped there for a bit (you could also just turn around and go back through the canyon – it seemed like folks were doing that and looping through Geology Tour Road). At the end, there were maybe 15 cars and groups of people parked off the road and shooting at the canyon – I was expecting some sort of organized range but yeah very disorganized. A ranger did go by at the same time and seemed fine with everything. On Berdoo canyon, there were maybe 3 obstacles. I met a couple in an old 4 runner and we went together. I had no problem with anything in the jeep, but they picked a tire off the ground on one of the obstacles.
I also really enjoyed the covington flat area and eureka peak. There was pretty much no one out there and the peak is very nice. There were also denser groves of large Joshua trees across almost the whole area – very cool if you want to see some larger/wilder Joshua trees than you see on the road. It was safe enough, this would probably be an awesome stargazing loop at night.
The roads in the park were shorter, pretty, and no problem in the jeep – some washouts would block sedans or lower clearance SUV’s. It did look like they could get sketchy if it was wet/muddy. There also seemed to be a lot more outside the park. There was a large organized camp (maybe 20 trailers) on the BLM camp land just outside Joshua Tree with jeeps/side-by-sides/bikes that were heading out from the BLM land.
The sunset in the park was possibly the best part of the trip – looks unreal over the desert with the trees.
During the middle of October, the Santa Barbara 4 wheel drive club made its annual trek to the upper Kern river.
Camping right on the river, members enjoyed relaxing, hiking, fishing and having lunch at our favorite burger place, McNalleys, (which makes the best burgers and shakes), as well as wheeling in the nearby mountains.
As forestry fire restrictions were in place, we weren’t able to enjoy our usual wood campfires. The restrictions even included charcoal barbecues. As propane sources were still okay, we were able to enjoy a small propane powered fire ring for our evening campfires.
The weather was clear, cool and windy, especially at night.
During the day, we were able to observe fighter jets on low level training runs buzzing up the canyon between mountain ridges literally just above us. It was awesome.
On Friday, the club explored Sherman Pass Road, which still had significant snow above 7,000 feet.
After stopping and enjoying spectacular views at the lookout vista at 9,200 ft. elevation, our club members made our way down the backside and enjoyed a trip through the forest at approximately 8 to 9,000 feet through the forest on the last loop of the Sherman Pass 4 x 4 Jeep trail.
Our trek through the forest was beautiful due to the snow everywhere from the storm that passed through the week before. We found ourselves traveling through 8 to 12 inches of fresh snow. It was so much fun.
On Saturday, we headed back up to Sherman pass and entered the Sherman pass 4×4 trail on the middle access point. Led by Swifty, this trail was a steep climb entering several challenging areas, especially with slippery mud from the snow melting. We eventually made our way up to 2 old abandoned cabins (likely the Embrea cabins) where we got out, walked around and explored for a while. While the date of these cabins were originally constructed is not available in the trail literature, it is obvious they have been there for a long, long time as they are in severely dilapidated condition.
After leaving there and continuing up the mountain, the views became more and more spectacular. We eventually ended up turning around after trying to get to the radio towers on the top of the mountain because the snow became just too deep.
After a nice break, we traveled back down the mountain the same way we came up and eventually got back to asphalt, where we aired back up and headed back down the mountain. Some members stopped at the McNally’s burger shack for lunch, enjoying their tasty food at their picnic tables out front.
Sunday was pack-up day for our crew as we all headed out of the Kern river valley and back home.
Congratulations to Tad and Ann, newish club members making just their second extended remote trip with the club. They did great.
Peter organized an exploratory run into the long time closed South Coast Ridge trail within the Los Padres National Forest. We had multiple goals of places to explore, the initial rally point being an offshoot trail just above Gorda CA/Whaleboat Rock.
Members joining included Oliver, David S., James, Darrell, Tad & Anne.
Only a couple brave car campers attempted the exposed viewpoint as a campsite, with others positioning up the ridge or back in the trees where wind protection was present
Friday evening provided some awesome views
Saturday started with some marine layer push and wind which challenged those camped in exposed areas. No major impacts, yet as most of the area was unoccupied, it did allow some tent relocations/adjustments. David had an appointment back in civilization, so he couldn’t explore the southern arm with the rest of the group
On the southern section we knew that it would all dead end into locked gates as the trail crosses private property. However there was a promise of mapping a number of campsites by size, protection features, and amenities.
We did encounter a large down tree blocking the trail which gave us an opportunity to setup a winch solution to drag the large item from the trail. Great use of gear and geometry to pull the 24” + diameter trunk off the trail without the use of any chainsaws or timber jacks
We also cataloged some other offshoots for future campsites
Saturday evening had more marine layer influence, so a little protection and propane heat helped make it comfortable.
Sunday opened up for exploration farther north on the ridge road within those needing to return south sooner than later to return via the initial entrance road. Moving north we found more campsites that would accommodate even larger groups. This also allowed Hannah (Peter’s daughter) to apply some of her adventure photography skills, she captured some great shots for the album
We wrapped up the northern arm by returning to Hwy 1 near the Sea Otter refuge. This program has clearly been effective in providing them the environment they need
Thanks to Peter for organizing the run, great time was had by all!
This was originally planned to be the annual trip to Coyote Flats near Bishop, but plans were changed the day before due to some expected weather and a having a very small group of four. We decided to go to the Monache Meadows area in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains within the Inyo National Forest, which is somewhat nearer but still a fair trek up the 395 and over to Kennedy Meadows along Nine Mile Canyon Rd.
Wednesday 8/20. Three of us met and set off from Albertsons at the Casitas Pass Rd exit of the 101 in Carpinteria, Mike with Freya the Australian Cattle dog in his impressive 73 Chevy K5 Blazer, Dave in his nicely built 4Runner and me in my Rubicon 4xE. We were meeting Brad in his luxury Lexus GS off-roader at the Kennedy Meadows General Store.
Kennedy Meadows General Store
We made good time to Kennedy Meadows, met with Brad, had a burger and paid $7.49 a gallon for gas! The store is a meeting place for PCT hikers, and they can have packages delivered there for when they arrive, as well has check in on Wi-Fi and camp.
None of us were familiar with the area, but I had planned a route to a campsite that was recommended by Brent, the original leader of the Coyote Flats trip, using onX Offroad. This looked like we could get there on mostly unpaved road, but after going down several tracks and hitting dead ends or a motorcycle trail, we realized that was going to work. Dave was using Gaia and navigated us to the Monache Jeep Road 34E38 via Blackrock Road 21S03 and Smith Road 21S36. Monache Jeep Trail is a fun trail that’s marked as easy in the California Back Roads book, but it has some parts that make you think but nothing that’s going to damage your rig, unless you’re not paying attention!
Monache Trailhead
The trail leads to Monache Meadows which opens, as you would expect, to a beautiful meadow. There are many dispersed campsites along the trail and the site that Brent recommended was taken, but we managed to secure a beautiful site with plenty of room for the four us on the opposite side of the Meadow. We had shade, were able to spread out so we weren’t on top of each other, and we couldn’t see or hear any other sites. Perfect! The site was at about 8,000ft elevation.
By the time we had set up camp it was about 6pm with the temperature in the 60’s. Later in the evening we gathered round Dave’s gas fire pit to chat (no open fires allowed), and for some well-earned drinks and snacks. Overnight we all commented that it was a lot colder than expected.
Thursday 8/21. The sound of Coyotes howling and yipping was the morning chorus as we had coffee and breakfast. Brad, Dave and I went exploring all the trails in the area up to the South Fork of the Kern River. There are a lot of campsites near the river and they’re a popular destination. There are also Golden Trout in the river and Dave went for a hike, dropped a line and caught a couple of small trout. Brad and I continued to explore the rest of the trails in the area which where all dead ends across the meadow. Very nice though. We saw a hunter with a crossbow and wondered what he might be hunting. Then we noticed Deer Island on the map, so I guess that explained it.
Mike and Freya chilled back at camp and fixed a couple things he needed to on the Blazer. The latter part of the day was chilling back at camp, throwing the ball for Freya, reading a book in the hammock and cooking dinner. Later that evening we regrouped around the gas fire pit until the gas ran out so had to use my new telescopic LED light to provide some ambient light. Something spooked Freya while were sitting but we couldn’t see anything in the dark of the trees and we didn’t get visited by bears, at least that we know of! Freya sacred them off.
Friday 8/22. Using my Starlink, I was determined to find out what had gone wrong with my navigation using onX on Wednesday. I subscribed to Gaia and downloaded offline maps to see if that was any better. The route looked very similar but undeterred, the four of us decided to head back towards Kennedy Meadows General Store via the Monache Jeep trail and paved road, top up with gas – did I mention it was $7.49 a gallon – and try and make our way back on trails following Gaia. On the way back to the store we stopped in at Blackrock Information Center. The two volunteers were very knowledgeable about the area and when we showed the route on Gaia, they said it’s not doable. Many of the trails were motorcycle only and we weren’t the first to have this issue, several others using onX and other apps had the same issue. So, I feel a little better that it wasn’t my incompetence, not all of it at least.
We headed back towards camp, but Brad had more exploration on his mind and took the Beach Road 21S02 to an old corral in Beach Meadows. We all enjoyed another trip down the Monache Jeep Trail and back to camp. Along the way, Dave launched the drone which followed us back along the meadow, through a heard of cows.
Friday night at camp, Dave and I had a Chili cook off, Brad and Mike were the testers. Both delicious and different in their own way was the verdict.
Dave had refilled his propane at Kennedy Meadows General Store and that evening we were able to sit around the gas fire pit again. Dave played us a few songs on his guitar, and we enjoyed some gummy bears, Scandinavian Swimmers, popcorn and cookies. Oh yeah, and we finished off the Old Fashioned and Woodford Reserve.
Saturday 8/23, departure day. We packed up camp and left around 8am as we had a long day ahead of us and wanted to visit the Bald Mountain Lookout Tower, and Kern River Brewery for lunch.
One more time across Monache Meadows and up Monache Jeep Trail. On the way up the trail, Mike’s battery came loose with all the bouncing around and started arcing to the Blazer’s metal frame. Smoke came from under the hood and started filling the cabin area, and fortunately there was no lasting damage and Mike was able to secure the battery and complete the rest of the trail.
We aired up at Blackrock Information Center and made our way to Bald Mountain Lookout Tower, a manned lookout tower at 9,400ft elevation in the Domeland Wilderness on the Sequoia National Forest. By now the clouds were moving in and were pretty dark. When we got to the trail, we need to hike up about half mile or so and we could hear the rumbles of thunder and see a couple of flashes of lightning. We go to the tower just in time as the heavens opened. We could clearly see lighting strikes as we climbed the metal steps of the metal tower on top of a mountain. We were ushered in by Glenn, the ranger who lives up in the tower with his cattle dog until October. It can’t be more than 15ft square, but he has everything he needs. We watched the lightning get nearer and eventually pass. Although the tower is grounded, I wasn’t completely comfortable, particularly as Glenn was stood on a glass insulating mat that he’d been advised to stand on during a storm. We couldn’t all get on the mat.
Anyway, we live to tell the tale and it was an incredible experience. The timing of our visit couldn’t have been any better. Glenn showed us the tool he uses for guiding responders to any fires in the area, an Osborne Fire Finder which is a circular map with sighting crosshairs enabling him to pinpoint the exact geographic location of a smoke column. We also learned that an ember from a lightning strike could be dormant in a tree for several weeks, or even months, before erupting into a wildfire.
Once the storm had more or less passed, we made a hasty retreat down the metal steps and to the relative safety of our vehicles. Next stop Kernville.
The Sherman Pass Road to Kernville was a beautiful scenic windy road down the mountain to the North Fork of the Kern River. There was one last surprise, a man with a mule walking the road. Dave asked where he was going and he said “Nowhere”. I took a picture of the mule and later noticed a url printed on his cargo, 3mules.com. The man, Mule or Monk, is 77 years old and has been living outdoors full time since 2001 moving between San Diego and Sacramento. There’s even a Mule Tracker on the website!
We arrived at Kern River Brewery, and this is where the group split and went our separate ways. Brad and Dave had lunch at the brewery, Mike and Freya headed back to Santa Barbara via Bakersfield and I headed back via Mojave and Antelope Valley. Dave stayed out for an extra night in Carizzo Plains on his way home.
Early on Saturday morning August 16th, ten members SB4WDC rallied up at the Santa Barbara carriage Muesium to preform our annual restacking of the fiesta floats.
This completed our volunteer commitment to the 101st fiesta parade organizers & committee membership
There were sweet treats to get us roll’en and good attitudes coupled with some hard work, we had all the floats stacked and stowed away until next year’s event.
Many thanks to all our members who came and pitched in.
The Santa Barbara 4 wheel Drive Club once again volunteered to pull the eight major floats in this year’s 101st Fiesta Parade.
The parade is the largest equestrian event of its kind in the nation with over 400 horses in it this year. It is the main fiesta event attended by thousands of locals, families and visitors that line the Cabrillo parade route along the beachfront.
There were also numerous vintage horse-drawn carriages carrying this years’ Grand Marshalls Marta Holsman Babson and Henrietta Holsman Fore as well as local dignitaries from our Mayor Randy Rowse to local business leaders, mounted law enforcement officers and longtime fiesta supporters.
Our club had a mixture of experienced and first-timer volunteer float pullers.
This year’s volunteers were:
Dick,
Darrell,
Kirk,
Brent,
LIz,
Oliver,
Kristina,
Jason.
Special thanks goes to Tim who again was the club’s liaison to the city officials and the Old Spanish Days Committees to make sure all went smoothly and that we were on the same page.
Additionally, this year we were fortunate to have a substantial police escort early Saturday morning when we also had the responsibility of returning the 8 floats to the Carriage Museum parking lot. The officers stalled traffic, blocked intersections and kept us moving all the way back.
The weather was beautiful with temps in the mid 70’s . All in all it was a well run, smooth experience that was enjoyed by everyone.
In the midst of the Dog-Days of Summer on Sunday July 27th, our members again enjoyed our annual summer BBQ.
This relaxing summer social event was again graciously hosted by Jerry and Tami Macala .
They opened up their home and patio to approximately 30 or so members who all supplied wonderful side dishes, appetizers and desserts for our pot-luck gathering.
Grilling duties were again provided by Brent who grilled up tri-tip and chicken. Jerry and Tami also provided ingredients for shredded pork tacos with all the fixings. Everything was so good and eagerly enjoyed by everyone over the course of the afternoon.
Temperatures were just right and there was even a slight breeze.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this annual fun club social event.
