Tehachapi, CA Windmills and Serious Brush Fire

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Nice slide show and photos, Bob.  Those big guys are really amazing.  I didn't know they were designed to bend, but it makes sense.  Thanks for taking the time to set it up and share it with us.

ArdraF
 
I second Jerry's comments.

One of these days I need to re-visit Patterson Pass, north of Livermore and not far from here, but not in a direction we travel much nowadays. There was an article in the local newspaper recently explaining the massive upgrade program underway; Much fewer of the new style wind generators to produce the same power as the old ones. Part of the rationale was the reduced threat to raptors, and the reduced maintenance of fewer generators.

Prior estimates of the number of wind turbines in this area range from 5,000 - 10,000, with 7,000 being the number most frequently mentioned when we lived in Livermore, south of the wind farm(s). Having driven over and around the hills numerous times over the last 30 years, I don't doubt any of the numbers, although I've never stopped to count them.
 
I watched a Dangerous Drives segment about them being transported from Texas for installation in North Dakota.
Those things are huge. :eek: Driving past the farm at Palm Springs, I found them interesting to watch. Facing in different directions turning at various speeds yet some in close proximity were not moving at all.
 
We drove through/stayed at Mojave (Spaceport RV) a couple of weeks ago, reading and looking at your photos gave us some really good background info. It is a strangly interesting place.
 
ArdraF said:
Nice slide show and photos, Bob.  Those big guys are really amazing.  I didn't know they were designed to bend, but it makes sense.  Thanks for taking the time to set it up and share it with us.
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You are welcome, Ardra!! Thank you for commenting on my photography. Not much going on in Mojave other than a place to break of the trip from NCal to AZ - but on this trip, the Wind Turbines kept me here for a couple of weeks. I really enjoyed this as it got my photo juices going again.
 
Tom said:
I second Jerry's comments.

One of these days I need to re-visit Patterson Pass, north of Livermore and not far from here, but not in a direction we travel much nowadays. There was an article in the local newspaper recently explaining the massive upgrade program underway; Much fewer of the new style wind generators to produce the same power as the old ones. Part of the rationale was the reduced threat to raptors, and the reduced maintenance of fewer generators.

Prior estimates of the number of wind turbines in this area range from 5,000 - 10,000, with 7,000 being the number most frequently mentioned when we lived in Livermore, south of the wind farm(s). Having driven over and around the hills numerous times over the last 30 years, I don't doubt any of the numbers, although I've never stopped to count them.
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I guess Patterson Pass and Altamont Pass are the same?? I didn't realize that. From what I read, it is currently the largest wind farm - but that may change.

Are any of the turbines on level ground there or are they all on the sides of the moutains of the pass. Have never driven off the freeway between Tracy and Livermore. As you know, driving down the East side of Tehachapi summit lands the traveler in the high desert at a much higher elevation that the valley floor of Bakersfield. Most of what I saw and photgraphed were on fairly level desert space - with miles of open desert ready to grow more turbines.

Thanks for your comments . . .  :)
 
Patterson Pass is about 5 miles south of Altamont Pass.  Patterson Pass Rd., which has an exit on I-580 goes through it.  But the wind farm is large enough to encompass both of them.
 
RoyM said:
Those things are huge. :eek: Driving past the farm at Palm Springs, I found them interesting to watch. Facing in different directions turning at various speeds yet some in close proximity were not moving at all.
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Yep, the ones that are not turning are part of the negative here in CA -- along with the number of rapters killed each year. There are currently no regulations governing the removal of the ones that don't work anymore.  :(
 
fastrak100 said:
We drove through/stayed at Mojave (Spaceport RV) a couple of weeks ago, reading and looking at your photos gave us some really good background info. It is a strangly interesting place.
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Ah -- you stayed the best RV park in Mojave. Actually, the only park in Mojave. For me, those cheap parks with full hookups are just what I'm looking for when traveling through and needing a safe stop for the night.

It's another example of what happens when the freeway that once routed the traveler though down town now completely bypasses the entire town. It really hit Mojave hard. Spaceport RV Park's business was cut more than in half. Fortunately, the green jobs are there now so that helps a bit. Did you notice the KFC had closed. Bummer for someone like me that grew up in Kentucky . . .  :(

But again, good price for an overnight ($20) plus a McDonald's with free Wi-Fi within walking distance.
 
[quote author=Bob Buchanan]Are any of the turbines on level ground there or are they all on the sides of the mountains of the pass.[/quote]

Bob, most of the ones I've seen have been on the sides or tops of hills. As I drive for miles on the back roads from the Delta, there are some small plateaus where the windmills are at the same elevation as the road, but they're small in number and still in the hills. I don't see any in the valleys on either side, although I'd think those Delta breezes would be conducive to a wind farm.

Lou is correct about there being two separate passes and one (apparently) big contiguous wind farm.
 
Bob, most of the ones I've seen have been on the sides or tops of hills. As I drive for miles on the back roads from the Delta, there are some small plateaus where the windmills are at the same elevation as the road, but they're small in number and still in the hills.
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There's a huge flatland wind farm along Highway 12 between Rio Vista and Fairfield, adjacent to the Western Railway Museum.  750 towers producing 700 megawatts so far and permits for at least 200 more.  They're in the Montezuma Hills, rolling terrain where zephyrs blow constantly from the Bay into the Valley through the Carquinez gap.

The wind farm is west of Rio Vista but you get a great overview on CA 12 driving west across the delta between I-5 and Rio Vista.  There are are flashing red obstruction lights on about every 5th tower and if you make that drive at night the lights stretch almost the length of the horizon.  And they all flash synchronously, not in random patterns.

Amateur video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TobEX32ogSY and an article from the Solano Reporter is at http://fromthereporter.com/specials/made/pages/made53.html.
 
Thanks Lou. I'd forgotten about that wind farm. We don't travel Hwy 12 very often.
 
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