Nordhoff Ridge

The Ventura River, Lake Casitas, and in the distance, the Channel Islands out at sea.

The East End of Ojai, and Upper Ojai, are clearly visible in the valley.

Looking west, showing the 33 carved into the side of a canyon.

This is as far west as we went on this ride. We probably went further than we were supposed to; there was no sign declaring the end of the road, but you can see that the road surface is much less travelled here. The fact that we made it this far makes me wonder whether it is actually possible to continue west and reach the 33; if so, I’ve no idea where the road comes out.

The Ojai Valley. My house is actually visible in this picture (more about that later).

This picture and the whole next batch are taken from Nordhoff Peak. There’s a large steel tower platform there, and we’re standing on the platform. In the pictures that follow, John effectively creates a 360-degree panorama, turning successively to the right each time (except that one picture in the sequence was corrupted and isn’t included here).

The whole panorama, as assembled by Photoshop. For a movie panorama we took at the base of the tower, see also www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWw2rO8Y6os.

“I can see my house from here!” Look at the near ridge; start at the highest point on that ridge. Just above it, down in the valley, you can plainly see a playing field. Continuing upwards, you see a horizontal row of trees, followed by a lightly wooded rise. My house is about halfway up that rise, slightly to the right.

As Bilbo said to Frodo, “The road goes ever on and on, dude!”

The tower. Any resemblance between John and the Buddha under the Bo tree is purely coincidental.

In this and subsequent pictures, we’re coming down off the north side of the ridge into Rose Valley. The pond in the middle of this picture, and the field at the right near the Rose Valley road, belong to a ranch.

Looking back at the road we’ve just come down. It’s hard to believe from this picture, but that road is really quite steep and challenging, especially given how dusty it is.