Forbush Flat return

tagged:

Los Padres National Forest



Map link.

(This is day 2. Day 1 is here.)

I watched far too much of the moon's arc across the sky but somehow woke up refreshed anyway. A little bit of breakfast and drying out the bivy that seems to have been able to breath sufficiently in the Sierras but not in the Santa Ynez and other Los Padres mountain ranges got me started on my day. The wispy clouds were replaced by puffy affairs as the chance of rain climbed from minute to tiny. I settled into some more painting.

the first light hits the large oak tree
The large oak tree seems to be the first thing to get the sun in this part of the meadow.


three large rocks and a couple trees in front of the rocky hillside
A group of large rocks hanging out with some peonies and large oaks caught my eye.

apple (or pear) blossoms
A few of the blossoms on one of the trees that has only just started.

After a bit of lunch, I finished packing up and started the short hike back up to the road above. It was probably the hottest part of the day, but wasn't all that hot.

clouds spilling over the mountains into Blue Canyon
It looks like there might be a bit of marine layer today and it is spilling over from Romero Saddle into Blue Canyon.

clouds over the distant mountains
A few more clouds decorate the landscape today.

black butterfly
A few sorts of butterflies fluttered about.

little cliffs at a sharp narrowing of the canyon
You notice different details when turned the other direction, like the cliffs that pop up near this narrow section of the canyon.

Nearing the top could have been quite warm, but a cool breeze was coming over the saddle and down the canyon.

section of trail
Trail lined with bush poppies very near the top.

At the top, I found no other cars anymore and no view but clouds down the south side of the mountain. I quickly got under these clouds for a grey view of the city on the way back down, though.

*photo album*




©2013 Valerie Norton
Posted 29 Mar 2013

Liked this? Interesting? Click the three bars at the top left for the menu to read more or subscribe!


Comments

Post a Comment

popular posts:

California Coastal Trail - Arcata to Crescent City - hiking guide

Image
Little River State Beach, Trinidad State Beach, Sue-meg State Park, Humboldt Lagoons State Park Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park Introduction The California Coastal Trail (CCT) is approximately 1200 miles of interconnected public trail following the coast from Mexico to Oregon. Or at least that's the dream. Currently, the trail is about 60% complete. In more populous areas, it often takes the form of boardwalks and multi-use paths marked by the swirl of blue wave crest. In rural areas, it may be pushed to the beach when that is usable, or to the nearest public route when that is not. The crest for the CCT marks a coastal access trail at the Lost Coast Headlands. There are thoughts of a route beside the ocean, but the primary route is substantially inland along Mattole Road for now. The beach becomes impassible in several places south of here and above the high tide mark is private property. The hiking trail rout...
read more »

Bluff Creek Historic Trail

Image
Six Rivers National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2 (map link) Bluff Creek Historic Trail gets my attention as I zoom by because it is clearly signed to be visible from the road and the trail is obviously used and in good shape. Also, why is "Historic" stuck in there? (Besides the obvious, the Forest Service simply says, "Gateway to Bigfoot Country" , which doesn't seem particularly unique along the Bigfoot Scenic Byway.) It doesn't get my attention when I'm looking at a map because it just offers about 1.5 miles of connecting the highway to Slate Creek Road, a paved road that leaves the highway a short distance northeast of the trail. However, further along in the same direction and connected by an unimproved road is "Wright Place (site)" which sits next to Bluff Creek. The trail is numbered, the road is not. While it is tempting to think that an old road is bigger and therefore more likely to be passable, it doesn't really work out that wa...
read more »

Jennie Lakes: Belle Canyon and Rowell Meadow

Image
Kings Canyon National Park Sequoia National Forest Giant Sequoia National Monument Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 It was another mild night, but the mosquitoes very nearly vanished early on into it. The sun comes quickly here and the morning golden hour is really quite something. I enjoy it with breakfast and happily the mosquitoes seem to be slow to wake up. Our northerly view from near camp: the morning sun as it hits Ball Dome. Morning over Ranger Lake. We head out to the trail again and wander gently downward, still high above the valley bottom. The air seems a lot clearer today and the snow on the far mountains is much more defined. The snowy distances.
read more »

Loleta Tunnel

Image
Loleta Community Park ( map link ) I've seen that this hike is detailed in a couple news articles and blog posts and YouTube videos and Hiking Humboldt volume 2 and that it even has a geocache along it. It was seeing that the last barrier to the Great Redwood Trail has fallen and the right-of-way is now property of the Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) that got me thinking more about it. It was seeing trucks marked "CCC" out on the rails clearing vegetation from the Humboldt Bay Trail , which is part of the Great Redwood Trail, that got me to come out and do it. On the drive here, I even spotted a sign claiming that the Humboldt Bay Trail - South was now under construction just south of the industrial park at Bracut. The north part of the trail currently ends at a missing bridge just north of Bracut. It all served to embolden me about this other little piece of the same right-of-way. The start of the trail in Loleta. In the newspaper articles, which are only a c...
read more »