Moments in Dirt and Ink

Leo Carrillo State Park It rained (ever so slightly), so maybe the pond in Nicholas Flat previously thought to be permanent has a little water in it. Or at least some mud. There could be something, but I am likely engaging in some very wishful thinking. More importantly, the light rain has brought a day of cooler weather which will be nice for hiking. Starting by the increasingly warm ocean will help a little, too. I grab a parking spot and start to climb as the clouds give way to the sun. Above, there is still shade from the clouds, but it seems to be keeping just out of reach as I climb. The campground below is a little noisy from those orange spots.

Leo Carrillo State Park Map link. I decided to finish off the day with a drive down the Mulholland Highway and a short benchmark search in Leo Carrillo. The trails make a loop around a small peak by the ocean and a spur climbs it from the north. The benchmark is on the top of this same peak, so it should not be hard to find. Leo Carrillo also requires a $12 day use fee to park in the lot, but a single payment covers all the state parks for the same day. Free parking can be had on the far side of the Pacific Coast Highway. I decided to start along the Willow Creek Trail, since I have not hiked that one before. It follows along above the highway which has quite a bit more traffic than Mulholland before turning up a canyon and starting to lose the traffic noise. It is still quite warm even by the ocean and with the wind blowing nicely. Both windsurfers and kite boarders are out today and even windsurfers are kicking up big wakes. Windsurfing seems to have been replaced ...

Leo Carrillo State Park Map link. I joined up for another stroll with Hike the Geek , this time heading up the other trail at Leo Carrillo, an old fire road called Yellow Hill. It boasts ocean views, yielding a few islands on a clear day, as it climbs up into the hills. I parked along Mulholland and we met in the state park parking lot. After waiting for no-shows, we crossed the highway and wiggled around the gate on the fire road to start up the route. We met two more a short way up. A lifeguard tower guards a particularly rough section along the coast below.

Leo Carrillo State Park Locate the trailhead. I headed down to celebrate Holi on the beach and while I was along PCH with a few more hours of daylight, I might stop by one of the many state parks in the area and see what it had to offer. I decided to stop at Leo Carrillo, named for the actor who played the Cisco Kid's sidekick (that's what the brochure says), at the very western edge of Malibu and Los Angeles County. It didn't look promising because there's a sign by a trail near the entrance that says it's only 0.6 miles long and otherwise very easy. That doesn't seem like a hike to me. The ranger at the entrance station said there were actually trails from that one that were quite a bit longer going to a pond high above. Parking is $12 in the state park lot or free along the side of the highway, but only legal on the ocean side. A sign indicating that beyond is a walk so easy you won't notice you went on it, but not mentioning that a few fee...