Moments in Dirt and Ink

Besides the five sketches that accompany the previous entry visiting Paradise Falls in Wildwood Park , there was only one other hiking sketch for this month. The island of Coulter  Pines that make up The Pines in Horn Canyon .

Thousand Oaks Map link. I needed an excuse to head south for some shopping for materials to practice on for the making of a backpacking quilt, a craziness I have decided to undertake. I've found the perfect trail for the group of geeks in Thousand Oaks, but can never seem to get them to go. I decided to try it out on my own. I arrived at the main parking area at the end of Avenida de los Arboles and grabbed my supplies. There was a great electronics failure for this hike and here I discovered the first one. The camera pocket was empty. I'd left the camera on the coffee table. This wasn't so bad since I was wondering what to do with the rest of the day if I was going on such a short hike. Paper maps are available for the visitor to borrow in a box by a sign decorated with a larger map on one side and common animals on the other. I already had one printed out so attempted to head out along the Moonridge Trail only to find my route looping back to the Mesa Trail...

Los Padres National Forest Locate the trail head. I've been pondering some areas up north for hiking because I really haven't tested those rocks quite enough. I saw a report that Colson was open, at least to one perfectly suitable trail head, and in shape for travel by the average car, so I headed out to it. On the way, I did check out the Paradise area for roads heading northward (none), see a great blue heron, plenty of deer, and a rafter of turkey, all without any fear of cars, and get caught waiting for some construction while there. Once getting on to the purpose of heading up Colson and finding a trail to hike. A sign near the beginning reaffirmed that the forest gate was open. I found that the road fords the creek many times, especially near the start before getting into the forest, but they are not difficult to navigate. Eventually I came to a spot that looked a bit like a trail head, although no road signs to say so, then a road to the left which seemed like...

Topanga State Park Map link. The Santa Monica Mountains are dotted with little tiny parks that tend to feed into the trail systems of the Santa Monica National Recreation Area and Topanga State Park. The HIKEtheGEEK crew decided to take a loop trail out of Temescal Gateway Park which promises ocean views and a little waterfall and to make it an animal themed thing. I quite like the Rustic Canyon hike that starts just a little way down the road, separated only by Rivas Canyon Park from this one, so decided to join up. There is a $7 fee for the lot at the trail, but there is a lot of parking on Temescal and Sunset as well as a number of entry points from other, smaller streets in the area. Running stop signs in the area comes with a $50 ticket from photo enforcement, which seems to be a common problem because someone took the time to mention it to me as I took a paper map from a kiosk. We gathered and started up along the paths next to the roadway, then turned left at the fi...

Ojai front country Map link. Heading down to Ojai again, but this time keeping to 150 a little longer where a number of well used, but unfamiliar to me, trail heads make their start to climb up to Nordhoff above. I hoped to see Horn Canyon Road heading off to the right as I proceeded to The Thatcher School, but had no such luck and had to enter the school grounds just as every listing for how to get there says. Keeping right, I found myself on a dirt road that soon opened into a parking area next to a gate. A sign with the name and trail number beside the gate made it clear I was in the right place, so I parked. I'd asked a fellow on the way, since I get uncomfortable driving around school campuses when not a student there, but found someone who lived by Pratt Trail so hadn't looked around the trails here. Now, the part of Pratt I've been on is nice enough, but really you've got to have at least 3 or 4 trails in your repertoire. Since blundering on while kee...

 Horn Canyon , Ojai front country: Jan 3  Temescal Canyon , Topanga State Park: Jan 13  Alejandro Trail , Los Padres National Forest: Jan 18  Wildwood Park , Thousand Oaks: Jan 28