Pothole Trail

tagged:

Los Padres National Forest




It is time once again for another bout of trail work on Pothole and the day promises to be hot. Most of us meet at the fire station, then we pick up a few more who have their own keys at the trailhead. We climb again directly up the hill, ignoring signs pointing at the memory of a trail off to the left or the right. It is still green, but fading to yellow and brown already.

climbing up that hill
Climbing up that hill. Canton Canyon is in the background.


Piru Creek
Looking over Piru Creek where it would be Piru Lake if full. Things are just a bit less green.

It seems a little like Spring may already be past before it has even started, but there are flowers. They come in thick patches, coloring small sections.

puffs of purple with white flowers around the edges
One lovely and odd flower.

simple orange flowers and springs of rounded purple flowers
Poppies and lupine.

I am a lot slower up the hill this time, even comparatively. Switching my second one up for second to last turns out not detrimental to my chance at some just about usable shade before dropping down to today's work area.

a little more hill to climb
Just a little further before we cross into the wilderness and start to drop.

a depression in the land below
Down to the view of the pothole to start working on the trail.

It is easy travel to a little past where we were working before, then the brush suddenly starts grabbing at all who come past. We pick out spots and start lopping.

undercut cliffs in the distance
Just a little further than before, there are some undercut cliffs.

two furry black caterpillars
A pair of caterpillars enjoying a meal.

more brushy and rocky trail
What still lies ahead: a rocky and brushy bit of trail.

lopping brush
Finishing up the last of the trail work for the day. The little workers pulled their weight too.

We get to a saddle and are finished for the day. Beyond, the trail is undoubtedly still in need of a trim. I feel like I have only done about 30 feet of work. They were particularly brushy feet, but it still seems quite short. It is time to hike back up and out.

wide lizard covered in horns
A horny toad scurries quickly into the shade to hide.

row of red tubes
Scarlet buglers all in a row.

caterpillar on the scarlet bugler
The scarlet buglers have a difficulty with caterpillars too.

Coming down again is particularly unpleasant. As hot as we thought it was at the top (95°F reported under the chrome dome), it is steadily hotter as we drop down toward the lake. We make it, of course, and have a few drinks and snacks to revive us before we go off on our way again.




©2015 Valerie Norton
Posted 18 March 2015
location: Pothole Trailhead, Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County, CA, USA

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


Comments

EmSub said…
Can't wait to walk it after The C.R.E.W. does the tread work.
19 March, 2015 07:54
Jon said…
The "odd flower" is Owl's Clover!
19 March, 2015 10:12
Valerie Norton said…
It's a nice odd flower!
20 March, 2015 22:43
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 »