Moments in Dirt and Ink

Found the waterfall up Potrero John , and easy hike except at the very end. Looking toward Reyes Peak from Haddock Peak . Looking out to sea from Reyes Peak . The sea grass topped rocks at low tide. A moment of canyon views, and creek views, in the upper north fork of Matilija . Even more views of canyon and a little ocean from the upper north fork of Matilija . A moment's rest at Knapp's Castle . A glance across the meadow named for the tin can cabin that once occupied it in Rattlesnake Canyon .

Santa Barbara Front Country Locate the trail head. The quest to see Mission Falls flowing continued today, with success in the strictest sense that water was spilling over the rocks. I made another lazy start for the trail, which I really should stop doing. I found the road in is covered in steel plates, but the machinery that was parked near the trail before is now gone. There was plenty of parking even though this was a weekend day. Even so, I followed another car into the parking. Arriving at Skofield Park to hike through the Rattlesnake Canyon Wilderness Area and Los Padres National Forest behind it. I tried to figure out if there was more water flowing now than before. Maybe a little. It was at least flowing under the bridge last time which it wasn't the time before, and that wasn't enough to have flow over Mission Falls. I passed the sign pointing out that, for my safety, various things including bikes were prohibited. I crossed the creek and passed m...

Los Padres National Forest Locate the trail head. After Knapp's Castle, we continued down Camino Cielo to the east. Besides hiking up on Tunnel Trail, I think I've managed to miss this section between Knapp's Castle and Gibraltar Road. I realized that La Cumbre Peak and its fire lookout is along here. This is another place with a little extra history . I had to stop and since I was operating the wheel and pedals, so did everyone else. This is another very brief hike and while Knapp set himself in a spot with primarily back country views, the vegetation on the peak tends to make it good for primarily front country views, making a nice complement. We parked below the paved road that loops up to the lookout and started up past the locked gate and a foolishly parked SUV blocking it. Arrows on the pavement indicate we should keep left, so we did, walking up under the young pines along the north side of the peak. The La Cumbre Peak lookout seems to be missing a bit...

Los Padres National Forest Locate the trail head. The family wanted a little walk and with bright blue, freshly washed skies and the last of the lingering grey clouds puffing out of existence in the sun, it didn't seem like the time to wander some ocean bluffs, but to head to some high place. Knapp's Castle was among the suggestions, so we went there. George Knapp was a driving force in first laying down the roads we still use to access the backcountry , so it is no wonder that he knew a good spot to build his house. Somewhere below, there is a waterfall, but it is not along the maintained route and the tales of getting there describe a fair bit of work, especially considering that the route was once a road. I couldn't get anyone interested and hadn't dug out the bit of map that would be necessary, so we stuck to the very short stroll to the ruins. Every road that isn't open to driving by the public has to have a gate, and this is the one at Knapp's ...

Los Padres National Forest Map link. DAY 1  |  DAY 2 The morning was chilly and the sun wouldn't come soon enough. A bit of noodles and a packet free of MSG but also too free of dried veggies with a handful of TVP does make for a yummy breakfast, but didn't seem especially energizing over the early part of the hike. I packed up everything useful for day hiking and started up the last bit of trail. This part of trail wiggles a bit excessively like the growing vegetation has pushed it around a bit. I expect it is the least traveled section, but except for sections of a few feet, the trail is distinct. The fall leaves do try to shroud it a bit. The campsite was ice free, but I quickly found a lot of ice along the trail. Some fine, feathery ice sparkling in the sunlight. With lots of creek crossings, often without any apparent landscape derived reason, the trail makes its way up the canyon. The new leaves in the creek stack up against the old leaves that ...

Los Padres National Forest Map link. DAY 1  |  DAY 2 I decided to head out on a simple little overnight and a revisit of Matilija's upper north fork looked like it would fit the bill quite handily. At just 9 miles for the whole trail, it can be done as a long day hike, especially considering that much of it is a gentle upward slope. Anyway, I'm feeling iffy about some of my equipment, specifically the decade old thinsulate sleeping bag. I also have a breakfast plan that doesn't involve choking down instant oatmeal and some new little neoprene gloves to try. It seemed like a solid test of what the backcountry is likely to send at me in winter, at least if I can pick a day without much weather. I stopped by the Ojai Vons for one last requirement (powdered cider) and found it to be surprisingly cold in the city, then made my way to the end of the road marked "Matilija". A forest service vehicle and a number of other cars were occupying all the obvious n...

Los Padres National Forest Map link. I awoke in Reyes Peak Campground to a morning that was not nearly as cold as I feared. I checked another rock with a shallow bit of water and found it wasn't frozen over from the night. The Whisperlite decided to conk out just before boiling water for breakfast and didn't respond to threats of being replaced with the Simmerlite, but did respond to a second match. I got everything packed up and drove the last few miles to the start of Reyes Peak Trail finding that the mud puddles in the road were frozen from the night before. A difference of opinion, I suppose. For some reason, the main sign at the end of the road had been removed. The information sign has been repaired and even shows the route up the peak now. My plan was to take the proper trail over to Haddock Peak and poke around until satisfied, then return coming up the east side of Reyes Peak by the fairly complete use trail for a glorious sunset, then down the more famili...

Los Padres National Forest Map link. With the remains of the day, I decided to do a quick jaunt up Chorro Grande to the waterfall to see if it had a bit of water, too. It isn't very far or much climbing. It can probably be seen from the road somewhere, but that would be cheating. Chorro Grande has its sign back!

Los Padres National Forest Map link. When headed along the 33 headed north, there's a big sign next to a little parking spot that is usually occupied. This sign points at a little break in the rocks and, although it looks nothing like a potrero, claims that Potrero John is that way. I've been told that behind this unassuming hole in the wall is a nice little waterfall. Actually, multiple waterfalls for the enthusiastic, but most only go to the first. An information sign at the start had a lot of out of date details about nearby areas and the important detail that this trail is only maintained to the camp almost two miles up. The start of the trail, as indicated by road signs. One steep walled entry into the backcountry. Starting up the trail, it quickly deposited me into the creek. On the other side, the wilderness starts with its special rules. The trail crosses over the creek a few more times as it makes its way. The canyon at first seems like a box w...

Once, when I was poking around the Arcadia REI's backpack selection, one clerk came over and showed off what was the pride and joy of her own collection of gear, the UL45. "And it collapses down to nearly nothing by just pulling the cord, then you can just use the pocket for a day hike" she said, demonstrating what continues to be a very unique compression system. I thought this might actually be a compression system that works for me, but what really caught my eye was that this neatly removes what I see as a design flaw that is repeated across the industry: the compression strap that crosses over the top of the bottom pocket. I don't even use these pockets except for picking up trash along the trail and once for a water bottle when I found I'd left the drinking tube at home, but this detail deeply irks me. A few months later, I decided I wanted a pack devoted to day hikes rather than dumping out my books and pens and using that one. I looked at a lot of day pac...

This month, I've been challenging myself to paint or sketch a tree a day, so the hiking sketches tend to feature a tree.  I think manzanita qualifies as tree, anyway. Some distant trees along the coast from near the Arroyo Hondo bridge . An oak next to the closed road down the north side of the ridge while driving a 4x4 road with inappropriate wheels . Some fall color along Piru Creek . A dry tributary with a waterfall that spills into Piru Creek . The tail end of fall color while exploring some more of Piru Creek . Mission Falls, nearly as dry as usual, hiked to by way of Rattlesnake Canyon .

Angeles National Forest Map link. Failing to get a group to come out for the moon on Sunday, I decided to take a hike up Whitaker Peak on Tuesday when the moon would be fullest. The mountain is tucked away in the Los Padres administered section of Angeles National Forest. I found rumors of a lookout at the end of the road, for instance it is labeled on the 1988 revision of the Whitaker Peak quad, but that has been completely removed now. The peak itself is off the road and does not have a good use trail. There was rain planned for Wednesday, so it would already be clouding up. I found a prediction that it would be 38% cloudy and deeply suspected it would be the wrong 38%, so was a bit slow to start off. The dithering cost an hour of hoped for hiking time, but there turned out to be plenty of time. I found a faded sign along the old Golden State Highway pointing to Whitaker Peak and turned up it to park by the gate. Starting up it, I found it to be paved and smooth, which wo...

Santa Barbara Front Country Locate the trail head. Every year after the first big rain, I seem to go out to some local waterfall hoping that it is somewhat more impressive than it was a few weeks ago. Invariably, it isn't. The first rain barely wets the soil, even if it is long and soaking eventually dropping about 1.5 inches as fell on the front side of the mountains on Saturday. I decided to hike up to Mission Fall by the nicer, or at least cozier with easier parking and fewer mountain bikes, Rattlesnake Canyon. The mountains did not drink up every drop that fell on them, the creek is a bit louder than it was in recent months, but it doesn't really look like more flow and there isn't any flow in the little tributaries. The mountains did manage to take in a lot of it. The day was fairly cloudy with a layer out on the water as well. It was a really good temperature for hiking, but the patchy sunlight sure makes photography difficult. There is construction in ...

Los Padres National Forest Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area Map link. I headed again to Hungry Valley, this time with multiple plans. The road is marked as open 1 May to 1 Nov, but was open for hunting season, but now that the deer are safe again, the road can't be expected to be open. At the entrance station to Hungry Valley, I found out that the forest doesn't keep the state informed about the local area or even supply them with the free OHV maps, so all I found out was that there was a bit of a rough spot at the start of the Piru Creek ford going up Alamo. I set off to try to get to the upper end of Snowy Creek trail, listed as closed but doesn't say if that's just to bikes or all or if that's the whole trail or just part. I found that the ford was easy enough to cross, but the road is looking a bit more like when I first drove it. I came to a ditch that I couldn't cross without plowing a lot of dirt with my front bumper and had to tur...

Los Padres National Forest Map link for when Google eats the embedded map again. There are threats that the various back country roads will generally be closed up on November 1 from now on, but for now they are open to allow access for deer hunters. I decided to take advantage of the open gates and cooler temperatures due to a coming storm to head up Gold Hill Road and stop just before the ford at Piru Creek where a trail follows the path of the creek upward. My map shows this route going out the back of a few dirt roads around Gold Hill Campground. I found it to be resplendent in autumn colors. I took a peek at the ford to be sure there was water in the creek since other reliable ribbons of wet seem to be drying out this year, then turned in and drove up the creek stopping near a bit of fence to discourage further motor vehicle traffic. I grabbed water and food and art supplies and headed out along the trail that snakes around the side of the fence to see what I could see. ...

Burbank, Verdugo Mountains Map location. I headed down to hike with the geeks who planned on another attack up the steep trail that climbs from Harvard up to the communications site toward the top of the mountain. It is a short, steep, trail with a bit of a crowd in the morning until the heat gets to be a bit much. We start climbing when it is quite warm enough up the first of three trails that leave the road and head up, quickly catching a bit of view out over Burbank. The trail quickly gains a view of the nearby golf course and city beyond.

After failing plan A and plan B and finished poking around the old bit of highway bridge, I returned to Refugio to put plan C into motion. I would head up to Camino Cielo along Refugio Road and then see what it was like on the way to San Marcos Pass. As I start to climb, I come to a sign saying there is a bridge out 10 miles ahead and the road is closed to through traffic in 7 miles. It doesn't look so good for plan C, and I was thinking that the plan would most likely fail because the road isn't good enough to travel in a little car with six inches of clearance. I continue up the road anyway. Refugio is a tight, shady canyon. In the lower section, it crosses back and forth over the stream. It makes one crossing warning of a narrow bridge, widens back up for about 10 feet, then narrows down even further and pretty much stays that way. I have a fair amount of traffic coming down the hill at me including a small FedEx truck, but there were plenty of wider spots to allow passing...