Moments in Dirt and Ink

Santa Fe National Forest Click for map. Since I'm waiting for a window for my trailer, I've got time to try something else out. (Oh, I broke a window on my trailer while leaving Quemado Lake. Somehow in the last little mile of dirt road for a bit, I managed to throw a rock hard enough to smash it. I don't even have power on my back wheels! No one else was around, so there is only me to blame.) The something I'm going to try is the bus for a point to point trek on Windsor Trail. The bus is $5 to ride up the mountain, but free to ride down. It doesn't start down until 10:15AM, so that sort of necessitates a late start. It only runs twice on weekdays and three times on weekends, but that first one is even later on weekends. The bus only has seats on one side as the other is given over to bike rack space. At least a few bicyclists have figured out that it's a rather cheap ride to the top and easy to arrange. I was the only one on the bus although he says h...

Coronado National Forest Click for map. Start with the FIRST DAY  << (Day 2 of 2) I have pudding with chia seeds and pecans requiring no cooking to eat, but I want some hot cider so I have to pack up camp first. There just isn't a single bit of flat area not already occupied. The rock wall I am below is interesting. At first it looks like a bit of old river bed, but it is actually volcanic with minerals leeching through. I'm not sure what the structures I took for rounded river stones at first are. The "impact crater" is where the water lands as it rushes over the top of the rocks in the rain. The spout is dark from water stains. Back along the crest are many patches of snow including some in among the bigger tuft of trees near where I first thought about stopping for the night. Plenty of little snow patches for emergency water. The first possible camp was the saddle two humps back. The trail travels on the other side of the humps. My first go...

Coronado National Forest Click for map. (Day 1 of 2) By my estimate, it would be 20 miles to go up to Chiricahua Peak and also go for the Chiricahua benchmark on Flys Peak in a tidy little loop going up Basin Trail to Snowshed and down Greenhouse Trail. This could be done, but I'm not quite feeling like a 20 mile day and there are some more things along the way that might be fun to hit. Of course, just hitting the peak via the shorter of the routes (probably Greenhouse) would bring it down, but then there is even more I am missing out on. But then I found an overnight kitty sitter, which opened up some options. In fact, if I could get a ride over to South Fork, that would let me go up Sentinel and Finnicum Peaks, estimated 18 mile round trip on a loop, as well. Then I noticed at 4AM that I better get going today because the kitty sitting offer wouldn't last forever and Wednesday has a 10% chance of rain to make it a bit dreary as a hiking day. So, finally packed a few...

Los Padres National Forest Click for map. I actually took the time to ask if someone else wanted to hike and when the dust settled, we were three strong and had a shuttle hike going up Sisar Canyon (which Matt wanted to do) and down Horn Canyon (which I was more keen about) doing maintenance on all the geocaches along the way. The hike up is via road which makes for a very gentle climb, at least by our standards, nearly up to the top of the hills (AKA mountains) behind Ojai. Parking has changed at Sisar since I was last there . Previously, there was a nice lot after a not particularly nice bit of dirt road, but now the road has a gate because people wouldn't quit treating the adjacent private property like it was public property, and in rather abusive ways at that. Now they have ruined it for us all and there is much less parking further back. We left a car at the bottom of Horn, which has not changed much , then got around to Sisar in time to claim one of the few spots....

Rocky Peak Park Indian Springs Open Space Click for map. I am not entirely sure how it happened, but we finished planning the outing for yesterday with plans for today as well even though there was never any question as to where or when the other would be. It is a much smaller group today with just Scott, who was generally the instigator of plans, and Linda, who decided to hike just today. Linda brought along Milo, who should be good for sniffing out geocaches and better be a good hiker because we should come out around 10 miles again today. She says that he is. I joined up because this hike swings past Rocky Peak, which is on the Lower Peaks Committee list and has a county line marker up on top. It should be a little harder to get to than the one I nearly tripped over by Random No. 2 , but a bit easier than the one up on top of Dome Mountain . Scott has been before, Linda seems so disinterested that she forgets a peak was mentioned within seconds. Milo seems ready to get to w...

Los Padres National Forest Click for map. I have never hiked with the Ventura Sierra Club and thought I might when I noticed they were planning a hike including Howard Creek, a trail that has so far escaped my stomping. They arrived punctually in another part of the parking lot for the carpool, but eventually the two of us who were misplaced got found and everyone was piled comfortably into three cars. Upon arrival at Howard Creek Trailhead, we dropped off one car and continued a little less comfortably to Rose Valley Campground. Hiker parking is just outside the campground gate. Even down in the valley bottom, views already look good in all directions. But it is cold. All these campgrounds tucked into the north side of Nordhoff Ridge seem to be good cold sinks. The day looks good as we start up the road through the campground and out of Rose Valley. The waterfall looks like it might be a little wet or maybe just a little shadowy. We keep right as we walk through the camp ...

Redwood National Park Click for map. The California Coastal Trail is a long trail in the making. Unlike the "Pacific Crest", it goes through areas where people crowd in, so it might forever be in the making. It also has an awful lot of road hiking, but maybe less so in the north. This part is a mostly abandoned piece of the Coastal Drive that is about 3 miles from gate to gate. It seems likely to be a lovely bluff top excursion through the trees above the roaring surf. Also quite easy. The start of the restricted section of road. Hikers and bicycles only, no dogs or horses. It is foggy and it is paved, although the paving is inconsistent. It does look like someone gets to use this road. Coming to a turnout, it is clear that this road was built for public use. On the left edge, there is an interpretive sign. The surface has nearly become a uniform yellow from age, but it can still be read. I stop for a moment to learn about the beach below and how gold has been ...

Malheur National Forest Click for map. DAY 1  |  eclipse  |  DAY 2 Around about noon and finally getting underway, it does not take long to tuck away everything into my pack back at camp and then keep on going down the mountain. One turn and we are dropping down into new areas. The map shows many springs in this area, but the first few are not visible to me. Just past an old cabin, there is a little water and it grows a bit as it pours downward through flower filled meadows. The old cabin on the way is a bit of a surprise and nothing seems to give any explanation about it. We found water where one spring is marked, but it is thin puddles. Looking back at Strawberry Mountain. The actual peak is slightly behind the trees. Heading down through the meadows. Plenty were camped down here last night, too. The land starts to drop away and we get a view of Strawberry Lake below. There is no view of Little Strawberry Lake that I notice. We will ...