Moments in Dirt and Ink

Carrizo Plain National Monument Click for map. I have been thinking I might return to Caliente Mountain for a climb of it rather than a walk over from the side of it . I am not too keen on the traditional really hot day for it, though. I signed up for another Hundred Peaks Section hike, this time lead by the Doggetts and Jin Oak. At least one Simpson did it the week before, but I did not get signed up to that one. The weather promises to be stunning: a little cloudy and cool although with just a touch of a possibility of a chance of rain. Well, maybe a little more than that. It might rain. The early morning drive started into a stunning sunrise full of clouds and the spaces needed to let the light hit those clouds. We parked a little further from the mountain than expected at a new locked gate that sprang up a few years back, not quite using the parking area designated by some pipes on the opposite side of the dirt road. The gate across the fading road at our start. Caliente...

Montaña de Oro State Park The highway is dotted with state parks like this one tucked away a bit south of it. Many hit it for the beach, we hit it for the peak. There are actually three other peaks as well, and while they are all a bit small, they do start from near sea level, so there is a reasonable climb. We find some parking and, well, get to hiking on the well traveled path. Some rocky shores to the east. The beach goers have only a patch of sand between rocky sections, although a large one.

Hearst San Simeon State Park There are getting to be lots of places to see elephant seals on the beaches in the right season, but many are closed except to pass through with a surf board. The official viewing site is atop a short bluff with a fence to keep the people rounded up. It allows surprisingly close up views all the same. We stopped on the way up the road to see them. They have thinned out from the peak, but there are still many females and juveniles relaxing under the sun. A small bay full of elephant seals beside highway 1. Lots of happy faces. They can still be fairly thick on the beach. The females do not have quite the same schnoz as the males.

Carrizo Plain National Monument Map link. The morning was clouded over and looking a bit too much like the weatherman might have been right, but that first round of clouds started to burn off as the sun got higher. I headed up the road to the top of the ridge where the Caliente Ridge trail, an old road, starts. This is the only trail listed on the monument's web site that is over one mile in length. This one is 8.5 extremely easy miles to Caliente Mountain where there are views and the remains of an old aircraft lookout from WWII. Some also start at Selby Campground, continuing on the road out the back of the campground. This road quickly becomes a trail which climbs up to the public road near where it reaches the ridge. For an even greater challenge, there is an access trail that starts down on 166 although it is unclear what it connects to from the monument map. The road continues down the ridge on the other side to 166, but does not allow public access that whole w...

Carrizo Plain National Monument Locate the trail head. This is one of the generally short established hikes in the monument. The attraction of Wallace Creek is not in its picturesque nature but in what it shows about our environment. The creek crosses the San Andreas Fault and when the fault slips, the upper and lower sections of the creek move apart. The hike starts at a small lot beside the road where brochures discussing the fault movement and how this creek shows it are available. A short walk brings one to the upper section of the creek and the fault. The short trail from the parking area to where Wallace Creek crosses the San Andreas Fault. At the creek, spurs head out to various points of interest. One goes up the hill for an overview of how the fault changes the creek. Another heads northwest along the fault to the lower section of the creek for another view of it. A third heads southeast along the fault to other creek beds that are also being changed by the ...

Carrizo Plain National Monument The generally dry lake bed of Soda Lake is at the north end of the Carrizo Plain. There are six established hiking routes in the area, although all but one of them are less than a mile long. Two of them are devoted to having a look at Soda Lake. Roads also go all the way around the lake, so there are many more vantage points. Overlook Hill Locate the site. There are a couple hills that seem to rise suddenly out of the flat plane. This one near the road has a parking lot around the back and a short path up to the top past two informative signs. At the top, the expanse of the lake is easy to see. I got to the top to see that it was very clearly dry. Not even a little puddle of liquid out there anywhere. It really ought to be getting to its soggiest by now, but there is only salt resting in frozen waves. The southeasterly view of the very dry salt flat in the middle of the plane. The boardwalk is directly below the hill. The Temblo...

Los Padres National Forest Locate the site. There wasn't really much planned for the third day of work. Really just breakfast and a general dispersal finishing with the changing of the combination. My plan was to head over to the Carrizo Plain National Monument to poke around for the day and eventually stop at Selby Campground to hike the Caliente Ridge the following day. First I had to get there. I headed out along Pozo in what should be a shortcut to east 58. It is very nice unpaved road up a lovely canyon and down and around. At some point I went north where perhaps I could have gone east and got onto the Red Hill Road, which didn't look so good. It had deep erosion cuts down it leaving perhaps enough room for a car to the right, but if not would happily swallow up my wheel. I chickened out of it and headed west instead. This road also has some annoying spots, particularly in the short stretch that it shares with an OHV route, then came to a paved road. Suspec...

Los Padres National Forest Map of the route. The Backcountry Horsemen of California Los Padres Unit put together a three day event of trail work on the ridge down from Caldwell Mesa and adding a sign along the route and invited the unaffiliated along to participate. It would allow me to check out a new area and do a little trail work, so I signed up. Apparently there were a few other hikers who signed up, but I ended up the only one who turned up. Saturday was only arrival at the old Avenales Guard Station and a bit of reconnaissance for the work with a bit of dinner and dutch oven cobbler (mostly blueberry and all delicious). The station has had a lot of work put into it and is now a residence of one of the BCHC members who serves as caretaker. With lock code in hand to get through the gate (permission is needed to come here), I arrived in the afternoon and met a few of the crew as people filtered back in from riding. Sunday was the main work day and I started it trying to...