Moments in Dirt and Ink

Santa Barbara front country Locate the trailhead. Somewhere along the windy bit that is Las Canoas Road off of Mission Canyon Road is Skofield Park and Rattlesnake Canyon, which is apparently part of Skofield Park. Start of the trail up Rattlesnake Canyon. Well, the one one the west side of the creek, anyway. This trail is an old standby from childhood. That is, we must have been on the start of this thing at least a dozen times. As is typical of front country trails, continuing on the trail can be a challenge at times. A little ways up, the trail goes straight while a bulldozer width trail turns right up the hillside. It goes a short way up to a road and fencing and, believe it or not, a bulldozer. There's an okay view from it too. A short offshoot of trail leads to a view of some of the city below and St. Mary's Seminary.

 Rattlesnake Canyon , Santa Barbara front country: Jan 2  Trail Canyon Trail , Angeles National Forest: Feb 2  Condor Peak and some Mt. Gleason , Angeles National Forest: Feb 10

Los Padres National Forest Locate the trailhead. There's been some fires in the backcountry for a month or two and their effects could be seen near Paradise Road on the way to Red Rock, even a little bit on the river side of the road. There was also a bit of construction on the last river ford forcing us to park a bit before the parking lot and navigate bulldozed areas and pumping equipment to get to the trail. Thanks to the fires and it being just about along the fire road, the trail also required navigating bulldozed areas if a little less extreme in the bulldozing. A nice wide trail thanks to the fire road being reestablished, but no actual burn around here. The river is just a series of puddles, though many of them are quite deep. A deep pool along the generally dry Santa Ynez River.

Los Padres National Forest Decided to have an overnight on the mountain. Haven't been there for quite a few years now and the little car should have plenty of clearance for the fairly well maintained roads up there. So up I-5 to Smokey Bear Parkway and just sort of go strait to get to the entrance to Hungry Valley. Then watch out for kids on dirt bikes that are worse than jackrabbits since they'll come back around to jump out in front of you again. I went up to the top of Alamo mountain some three times when I was a camp councilor near Fraizer Park and had been up there twice since, but not since the 4x4 died. The road used to be a bit of a sand trap but it had gotten paved the last time I went so I figured they were probably taking care of the road and it would be fine to take the car up it. It's now mostly gravel, but still a very nice road. Especially considering it's going through an off road vehicular park. I guess it's nice they're taking care ...

Angeles National Forest Locate the trailhead. There was a very large moon scheduled for the 0:48UT on the 30th, according to the calendar. This made it seem quite reasonable to head out late on the 29th for a bit of moon watching. Perhaps some star gazing too. We chose to try for De Vore campground but the guidebook (1994) noted that the road on the map (1995 and still the one sold) was closed and this would probably be permanent. A little investigation confirmed this. Also there would be toilets and no water. We weren't really looking for much of a hike, though. Just a stroll in and out with stars and the moon in the middle. So, even though De Vore is supposed to be one of the 10 best campgrounds in LA (according to some Gorp listing) and the next one up, West Fork, not quite as good but still very nice, we decided to stay at Valley Forge, the first campground along the long closed road. It's got a nice historic ring to it, anyway. We drove up to Red Box la...

Santa Barbara Front Country Locate the trailhead. My mother and I decided to hike up Jesusita to Inspiration Point. There is no actual Jesusita trailhead, it connects Arroyo Burro to Tunnel at points very close to the trailhead of each of those. I think that's how it works, anyway. It might share Arroyo Burro for a bit instead. We decided to go up from the west side at Arroyo Burro where parking is generally easier and the route is longer. Also, my mother seemed to be worried about dive bombing mountain bikers that are apparently more common on the other side of the trail which has some very fun steep sections. A bit of shade at the start of the trail. Looking out over the ridges and trail and power lines.

Angeles National Forest Locate the trailhead. Today's grand escapade was found about 27 miles up highway 2 just the other side of Upper Chilao Campground. Well signed and even with a bathroom, we came to... Here be Devils Canyon. Well, on down the trail a while, actually. Devils Canyon! Um, trail. The actual canyon is at the end of the trail as most of it is going down a tributary. And so we headed out into the San Gabriel Wilderness. Also we met our first set of backpackers. The San Gabriel Wilderness starts just the other side of the road from the parking.

The Long Trail Camel's Hump State Forest Part 2, continuing from the first half . A little more view from further along. A little reminder of what I am not prepared for and should be when hiking in the east. I hadn't even occurred to me to bring rain gear for the trip, must less for a hike that started with such a clear sky. These never did get to be threatening that particular day.