09-09-2012 Piedra Blanca

Or you could call this a day filled with questionable judgement. A lot of the hikes on this blog would have never been done if I used “good” judgment.  Sometimes you think yourself, “this is going to be miserable with a chance of downright awful.”  But you go out there anyway and you give it go.

The Wild and Scenic Sespe River

I knew it was going to be hot this weekend. I knew it would be really hot up in Ojai. But my buddy from Australia was back in the US for a visit. He had asked if I was up for a hike. I couldn’t let an opportunity to rub New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup victory in the face of an Aussie.  If you know an Aussie go ahead and remind them right now, I’ll wait.

Okay, so I had to think of a hike that wouldn’t be total madness. That means there needed to be water. Hmm, not too many places left with water right now. There’s Matilija, but it takes two hours to get to the waterfalls, and that first hour before you get to the creek is pretty miserable. And there's that silly access issue. I thought Piedra Blanca might be nice. Australia would get to see the Piedra Blanca rock formation. It’s no Uluru, but we try.  Then we could head up to PB Camp and check out the rock art on the boulder there. I had a pretty good feeling that PB Creek would be flowing and that we could cool off there and refill our water bottles. 

Looking towards the Piedra Blanca rock formation with Pine Mountain in the background

That sounded like a good idea to me. The forecast predicted 92F degree’s for the day’s high temperature. That didn’t sound good, but like I said before, I don’t always make the best decisions. 

It was already warm when we arrived at the trailhead. There were a few clouds in the distance. I was hoping those would move in and give us some relief from the sun. When we got down to the Sespe Creek crossings it was bone dry. I was really hoping that PB Creek would have water. When we got through the rock formation I still couldn’t hear the creek. Luckily those clouds had blown over and were blocking the sun as we made our way through the exposed section of the trail. Somewhere about half way to PB Camp I heard the sweet sound of cascading water coming from the creek. This was a big relief to me. 

Piedra Blanca Camp

When we pulled into camp it was empty. We went down to creek and filled up. I know of a nice swimming hole that’s near the camp so I proposed we go find it and take a dip. Australia was doing just fine and agreed. So we set off for the pool. This part required some rock hopping and bushwhacking. We ran into two guys who were coming back from the pool. It’s kinda weird when you run into someone off trail. Are they there just to hike like us, or are they checking on their pot farm? If the latter are they gonna  try to kill me? You never know out there. So I see these guys coming down and they don’t look like they are in the Mexican Mafia so I take the friendly approach and say, “Howdy."  They seemed a little surprised to see me, but I was surprised to see them too. What struck me as odd was that the only thing these guys were carrying was a giant knife. They didn’t have any water bottles or backpacks or shirts for that matter, just that big knife. They greeted me and asked if I was from Ojai. I said no, but was reluctant to tell them where I was from. I got a weird vibe from these guys, but that was it. They went their way and I continued up towards the pool.

This guy was about 8 inches long

We got to the pool just in time. I was starting to feel overheated from the effort. I couldn’t get into that water fast enough. The creek was cold and rejuvenating. Little trout swam around us as we cooled off.  Drying off was a quick process. The sun was back out and baring down on us. I wanted to get out there before peak heat set in.  Back down the creek we went. I’d dip my hat in the water to keep my head from cooking, but it would dry out after a few minutes.  When we got back to PB Camp I was overheating. I went down to the creek to fill my bottle again.  I didn’t feel that good, in fact I felt like puking. And that is what I did. I’ve never vomited while hiking before. I sprayed the ground with Fruit Punch Gatorade a few times. Then I felt better. I noticed a big front of dark clouds rolling in over Pine Mountain. Sweet, those should block out the sun right around the time we get to the exposed section. We headed out. I felt good for the rest of the hike.

When we got to the trailhead I saw four people and a dog looking at the map the FS has posted there. I walked over and asked them where they were headed. Bear Camp they told me. Then they asked me where the trail started. I could tell these folks didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They were wearing designer blue jeans and tennis shoes. Three of them had backpacks and one was just carrying a large camera. None of their bags seemed big enough to carry overnight gear. The Sespe is dry right now I told them. That didn’t seem to make them pause at all. Then I noticed camera girl had a handgun strapped to her belt. I'd rather have a bottle of water, but to each their own. I felt bad for this poor dog that these people were about to make walk five miles to Bear, but I didn’t stop them. Like I said, my decision making wasn’t exactly great today either.

It was cool to hike with Australia again. He didn't talk much shit about New Zealand this time, so I didn't give him to much guff over NZ's Championship. Hopefully someday I can visit him and post a trip report from Australia.

06-10-2011 Gene Marshall Trail

Justin is going to be a father soon. Frank, Zach, Taylor, and I decided we should all go on a nice camping trip together before the baby gobbles up all of Justin's free time.

We eventually decided to try the Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca National Recreation Trail. That's a long name for a long hike. Gene Marshall was Barbie-like doll back in the 1950's. The doll was so popular that in 1983 Congress named a backcountry trail after it. I swear, look it up. No, I'm kidding. From what I could gather (which wasn't much) Gene Marshall helped create the Condor Sanctuary. I have no idea when the trail was named.

The prolific author Louis L'amour wrote about this trail in his book, The Califorinos. The handsome hero, Sean Mulkerin, is led up Pine Mountain by a mystical indian to a magical cave. The nefarious bad guys pursue him with the intent to murder him. He loses them by taking the same route we do, but in the opposite direction, and then descending the Matilija Upper North Fork.

We thought it would be best to get dropped off on top of Pine Mountain and then make our way down to Piedra Blanca where we would get picked up. All the reports I've read about this trail have started at PB and then gone up the trail. We thought that that kind of uphill climbing might be a bit much for some in our group.

When we got dropped off at the Reyes Peak trailhead there was just one car (rapist van) in the parking lot. Technically the first part of this hike is on the Reyes Peak Trail, but let's not get into semantics. Almost immediately we found ourselves in an environment that we sea-level dwellers aren't used to seeing in our backyard. Gigantic Pine and Ceder trees towered over us. The air was cool, clean, and a little bit thinner then we were used to.

The Cuyama Badlands, looks rough

The trail skirted by the beginnings of Portero John and Derrydale Canyons respectively. The Jacinto Reyes National Scenic Byway (AKA: Hwy 33) was still viewable. We all made the mistake of thinking the first section of the hike was going to be "all downhill." there was a lot of up and down hiking the first couple of hours. Then the trail turns north at Derrydale Canyon and starts to descend towards Haddock Camp.

The start of Portero John Canyon

Haddock Mountain, Los Padres National Forest

I can't tell if this a Chumash mortar or just a natural phenomenon. Does anybody know? I found a few of these in the boulders up there.

I had brought only a liter of water and I ran out as we were still making our way down to Haddock. I wasn't to worried about the water situation. The ground was moist, so there had to water nearby, I thought. And I was right, soon we came upon a nice little stream and we filled our bottles. There were a lot of ladybugs acting in a very unlady-like manner. It was a ladybug orgy. The sight of thousands of bugs crawling all over each other and yourself is the stuff of nightmares. Somehow ladybugs are an exception. They seem so cute. Then just past the stream, there it was, Haddock Camp.

This is a really nice campsite. I guess it used to be a hunting lodge like Pine Mountain Lodge and I assume Topatopa Lodge. There's a ton of space for tents. There are four grills, three of which are still functional. And the creek runs right past the site, making water gathering a breeze. The trail keeps going east towards Piedra Blanca, and the sign says Beartrap Camp is three miles to the west.

This sign is made of plastic. I've never seen one like that before.

But I couldn't find the trail to Beartrap. There was a dried up creek-bed and the before mentioned creek, but I saw no trail. I'm not saying it's not there, it must be, I just couldn't find it with the little effort I put in. We decided that we were done hiking for the day, and pitched camp. Justin got the fire going, so we could grill our dinner. The wood there wasn't great. It was either punky and rotten or slightly damp. But we got it to work, and soon we were grilling Bristol Farms porterhouses. Zach brought out some Rye to get the party started. Frank made some chocolate pudding for dessert. When dinner was ready you could not find five happier fellas.

Mmm...Steak

In the morning Frank made us delicious bacon. We were eating far better then we do at home. The plan was to hike to Twin Forks or Piedra Blanca camp. Hopefully we would be able to find a spot. Those are pretty popular sites on the weekend. We packed up and started towards Three Mile Camp. We were now on the Gene Marshall Trail officially. The trail hugged the creek for the most part. It didn't take very long to get to Three Mile. This is another really nice campsite.

It has a picnic table! How is that still there? It must be the remoteness of this site that keeps away lazy goofballs that would burn this table up for firewood. Like Haddock this site has working grills. The site isn't as big as Haddock, but it is quite charming. This is a site I would like to return to someday.

We took a look at the map. I guessed it would take about an hour to get to Pine Mountain Lodge. 58 minutes later I pulled up to the Lodge. I was sort of excited to see this site. That excitement was quickly replaced with mild disappointment. Pine Mountain Lodge is kind of dumpy.

I think that little green glass thing in the tree stump is a insulator from a telegraph line that ran from PML to Reyes Peak when there were ranger stations at both sites.

There's horseshit everywhere, including the creek. I dunno, maybe I had hyped it up too much in my mind, but I just didn't think too much of this site. I looked everywhere, twice, but couldn't find the icecan stove that I read was there. We ate lunch and got ready for our last push of the day. There's a sign at the Lodge that points out the Fishbowls trail but nothing indicating the trail down to Twin Forks and PB. Just start heading down creek and you'll find the trail soon enough.

Frank took off to try a get us a spot before they were all filled. The rest of us stuck together and took our time getting down the hill. This stretch of the trail drops about 2600ft in about two or three miles. Taylor rolled his ankle about half way down. He was hurting so we stopped and made him a duct tape ankle brace and gave him my trekking poles. Taylor protested, but Justin stole his pack and carried it for him. Slowly we continued on. I was in the lead position. It was warm, but I wouldn't call it hot. The trail was easy and I was enjoying the walk, daydreaming a bit when, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" is all could think to say when a big ol black rattlesnake dropped down from an embankment right in front of me. One more step and I would have stomped on his tail. He slithered up the side of the trail, coiled up under a bush, and started rattling. He was a handsome fellow, I'll give him that. He was too close to the trail for us to pass safely. I kept my eyes on him while Zach got me a rock. I threw it at him, not trying to hit or hurt him, but to encourage him to move along. He got the hint and slinked away. After that I was keenly focused on the trail.

We had descended enough that the pine trees were gone and poison oak was starting to show up on the trail. We had been blissfully free of the dreaded plant up to this point. I started to hear the happy yelling of kids playing in water. We must be close to Twin Forks I thought. Yup, there was the fork of the Piedra Blanca Creeks, and there was Frank sitting on a log waiting for us. He told me some Boy Scouts had taken the upper campsite, but he managed to get us the lower site. Sweet, it was 4:00 and I was stoked we were going to have a spot. The lower site is pretty cramped for five dudes. There's poison oak all over the place. But there was plenty of nice dry firewood piled up on the side of the creek. The only shade was down by the creek, so that's where we hung out for the last few hours of daylight. We made up a bunch of freeze dried dinners and passed them around. I little more Rye, and we were telling old stories.

On the second day Zach had asked me what this flower was called and I didn't remember. That night I awoke from a dream and all could remember from it were two words, "Mariposa Lily."

In the morning we got up early. We were fed and packed by 8:30. When we got to Piedra Blanca Camp there was like 15 Boy Scout leaders having a meeting. A little further down at the overflow camp there were more Scouts.

Our ride was scheduled to pick us up at noon, so we still had some time to kill. We explored the Piedra Blanca rock formation for awhile. Then we made our way to the trailhead. And that was it. We got picked up. Frank, Heidi, Zach and I made a beeline for the Ojai Beverage Company where enjoyed some good beers and some tasty sandwiches.