Rose Valley Falls

Saturday was a lazy day but still nice enough for a quick trip up to Rose Valley to see the falls.  With a healthy snow pack and all the rain we've had over the last month or so, the water was sure to be flowing. 

After the normal morning walk in the neighborhood, we loading Train (our black lab) into the car along with some towels and a few snacks and headed out.  Rose Valley is off Highway 33, about 13 miles north of Ojai.  Its a scenic drive and the hills are alive with California Lilac, Spanish Broom (I think?) which rumor has it, is an invasive plant, as well as a variety of colorful wildflowers.

Arriving at the Rose Valley turn off, a quick drive to the lower lake and a right turn up to the Rose Valley camp put us as the trail head.  This hike is beautiful but very short, so don't think you're going to get a workout.  Unless of course you come prepared with technical climbing gear and plan to ascend to the top of the cliff where the upper fall originates.  Either way, its always best to exercise caution when hiking around water, moss, large rocks and lots of talus.

Chorro Grande Shake Down

Wow!  Its been over a month since my last post and I don't have a good excuse for the lack of reporting.  Its not that things have not been happening, however.  My first piece of good news is we got our permit to climb Mt Whitney!  Although we lost one of our Quest 4 Higher team and are now 3, our excitement is as high as ever!

With a long Easter weekend stretching in front of us, we decided to do a quick shake down trip up Chorro Grande Canyon.  It was the perfect chance to load our packs with 40+ pounds of gear and see just how tough a sample climb would be.  To add to the Whitney flavor, I rented a bear canister to hold our food and, along with a few hidden dive weights, Cheryl had the honor of carrying this precious cargo up to our camp. 

The hike starts at mile marker 36.6 on highway 33, about 10 miles past Rose Valley.  The trail is narrow and quickly climbs over scrabbly rock, opening up a bit in a wide meadow before reaching Oak Camp, the first primitive campground on this route. 

This is a remarkably beautiful camp, with several sites nestled under large oak trees, each with a well developed fire ring and plenty of open space to pitch a tent.  We were very pleased with the set up and had high hopes that our destination camp at Chorro Springs would be as nice.

After a quick snack we left Oak Camp and continued on up the canyon.  The terrain was constantly changing, from low chaparral, to fields of manzanita, to rock strewn moonscapes.  Each switchback opened up to stunning views of the surrounding mountains and as the day wore on the winds came up keeping us cool.

Just before mile 5  and after a few nice patches of snow, we came into Chorro Camp.  A quick tour of the area to check out the sites and we knew where we wanted to spend the night.  Quiet and secluded we pitched our tent inside a ring of very large rocks and just next to the fire pit.  Chorro Spring bubbled up from the ground just below our camp but we elected to melt some pretty clean snow for dinner cooking.  My new Jet Boil Flash was a rock star when it came to boiling snow!  In only a few minutes we were cooking up our respective dinners and looking forward to some adult beverages too!  We were having so much fun that we pretty much missed the sunset as the skies quickly turned dark exposing the amazing star scape. 

The winds howled all night long, but our camp was low in the canyon and shielded by rock so we sailed through the night with only a few gusts sneaking under our fly.  Until the moon came up, shining like a flash light into the tent, the night was remarkably dark with none of the ambient light we are so used to living in the city. 

Come morning we were ready for a quick breakfast after which we broke camp, loaded our packs and started our climb back down the trail.  As is typical on our hikes, we were much faster on the down than we were on the way up!  In no time we were in sight of our car and the end of our first backpacking trip.  We gave ourselves high marks for this journey... happy to know we could successfully hike with 40+ pounds, pitch our tent in minutes flat, and build a rip roaring fire! 

We are definitely ready for Mt Whitney!

St David's Day in the UK

is otherwise known here in the USA as, March 1st!   Since the weather forecast is calling for another round of rain this week, I figured I'd better sneak in a quick hike.  Who knew, but right now in Southern California its a 50/50 chance that the sun is going to shine or the rain is going to fall!  No complaints.. I love the rain and we need the water.

This morning was spent at the gym in a killer spin class (thanks Lara O!) and Train (our black lab) was anxious to get out of the house when I got home.  What better way to let him work off some energy then a hike up Sisar Canyon!  We got a late start, and the trail is head is a good 30 minutes from our house, so the plan was to go just to the gate at about mile 4 where the fire road jogs off to the left and the main trail continues straight on.

Unfortunately, some nasty looking clouds came out of nowhere and started to envelope the upper elevations so exercising my better judgment, we turned around about a mile short of our goal.  Not to worry though, the hike was beautiful!  The rain we had 2 days ago on Saturday kept the temperature under control and the dust down.  The trail was moist but not muddy, with only a few puddles to walk around and the creek crossings were easily navigable with my trusty trekking poles!  Train of course plowed straight through, using each crossing as a chance to cool off and hydrate.  This is the same dog that gives you a mortified look and shakes like a leaf if you try to give him bath!  Go figure...

I logged this trip on EveryTrail, a GPS app I downloaded for my iPhone.  So far, I love this app!  I am fairly ignorant when it comes to reading a map or navigating my way around a large shopping mall so having a utility that automatically tracks my route and lets me add pictures along the way is absolute nirvana!  It summarizes the distance, average speed, time and a handful of other useful stats as well so I can easily update my training journal when I get home.  If you have an iPhone, like the outdoors and have been looking at GPS devices, I strongly recommend this app.  Why purchase another piece of technology when with a little care, you can make double duty of your phone?

Check it out!

Sisar Canyon Short Hike

Map your trip with EveryTrail

So THIS is what its like

to climb a really tough peak!  Up to this point our Quest 4 Higher training hikes have been moderate adventures crammed in between days (read weeks) of rain and business trips out of town.  But given the 3 day weekend and an extra day to recover, Cheryl decided we needed to tackle the real deal... the Topa Topa Bluffs via Sisar Canyon.  Peaking at 6368' in elevation, the Topa Topa's are an ever present force watching over the western part of Ventura County and blessing us periodically with the famous 'pink moment'; those stunning sunsets where the lavender and pink hues bounce off the bluff and illuminate the alternating sandstone layers.

We knew snow would be one of the rewards of this hike, but neither one of us was prepared for just how much snow!  Our first sighting was met with glee and a few snow angels, but the wonder wore off as we approached the summit slogging through a fairly pristine layer a good 12 inches deep.  Glad we had our trekking poles!

On the way up we met David Stillman a local adventurer and blogger who christened this climb the Suffer Machine... not an ounce of exaggeration!  Both Cheryl and I had read his blog on the Topa Topa's and were really excited to meet the author.  Small world!  Dave gave us a few tips navigating the correct trail as well as some words of encouragement and then took off to tackle his demons leaving us to ponder our own.

Our hike started at the bottom of Sisar Canyon, a popular mountain bike and hiking route.  Sisar Canyon starts as a wide fire road with several creek crossings and after reaching the gate at about mile 4 we veered to the right heading on a single track path that leads though loamy forest up to White Ledge Camp.  At this point, after planning a future overnight camping trip, we again crossed the creek and started a more exposed part of the hike, climbing through deep ruts and over loose rock on our way to another fire road which splits off to the right and on up to the summit.  It was on this last mile and a half to the summit that we encountered our first patch of snow.  But what was at first a small dusting, quickly turned into some respectable drifts!  You can't beat living in Southern California... where else can you set out on a February hike in 70 degree weather, enjoy snow along the way and still do it all in shorts and t-shirts?!

The trail widened up bit and we enjoyed a few high-fives, celebrating our accomplishment so far thinking we surely must be just about to the top!  But alas, nature had a few cruel tricks in store.  This is where the Suffer Machine comes in!  Just when you think the last mile was the worst, you are treated to the next half mile.  Maybe it was the snow or maybe it was just a lack of fitness, but there were a few times when I seriously considered turning back.  After all, how great could the views really be?  Did I really want to tackle the return trip in all this snow?  Would discretion really be the better part of valor?  Thankfully, those thoughts did not linger long and with encouragement from my partner in this quest, the summit was soon in sight... right foot, left foot; right foot, left foot.  And then... eureka! 

Our efforts were rewarded with stunning panoramic views!  The pictures don't do it justice but imagine seeing Catalina Island not to mention Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and all the other Channel Islands with Lake Casitas in the foreground.  On a really clear day you can probably see boats tied up at Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz!  After soaking in our victory and the scenery we each recorded our entry in the Topa Topa log book stored inside the summit geocache (and also signed the geocache log) and then stowed our gear for the return trek.

Most hikes, the back seems shorter than the out.  Not so on this one.  For some reason, maybe the excitement or the exhaustion, I thought we would never get back to the car.  We lingered a bit too long at the summit and as a result lost daylight sooner than we would have liked but we did make it back to the gate at the top of Sisar Canyon before having to don our head lamps.  Only the last 4 miles were in the dark... and I mean dark, not dusk. 

All in all, I could not have asked for a better day.  My partner in climb, Cheryl, made the trip so much fun; encouraging me every step of the way and sharing in the exhilaration of achieving our goal... thanks to the best co-leader ever!  We may not have been the fastest hikers (ok, we definitely were not) but we were certainly having the most fun and at the end of the day that's what we do this for.

Our stats...
Total miles: 16
Total hiking time: 8:34
Total time on the trail: 13:02
Total elevation: 6368'
Total elevation gain: 3700' (approx)
Total fun: LOADS!

Time to stop and smell the roses...

And if not the roses, then maybe the early wildflowers!  Not every hike needs to be training exercise.  Every so often a simple stroll through the canyon is in order and in this case,  La Jolla Canyon at Pt Magu State Park is the destination.

Strolling with my brother was a nice change of pace from the normal routine, giving me a chance to learn about some of the trail flora and take some pictures of the colorful show.  Its only February but some flowers are already on display. 

While we expected to see more water especially given the heavy rains we've had in the last couple weeks, there was really nothing to speak of other than a quietly weeping mossy rock face where the falls should have been. 

We knew this would be a short stroll so after a few more pictures and some fun conversation we turned around and headed back down the trail to inventory our geocaching finds and plan our next excursion!

A change of scenery...

Hiking in southern California means no shortage of trails most with stunning vistas, and all with flora abound.  Facing another hike with such repetitive scenery (we should all be so lucky!), its off to Scottsdale, AZ for some desert trekking! 

A business trip to the Phoenix area provided an opportunity to hike in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, 14,000 acres of prime Sonoran desert placed in the public trust by the city of Scottsdale.  I suppose I love the desert as much as the next guy but hiking in a hot, arid environment IS actually like everything its cracked up to be.... a change of scenery!

Host to a wide range of cacti, many of which can only be found in Arizona, my entrance to this amazing acreage was the Gateway, an eco-sensitive portal strategically placed to welcome visitors with detailed trail maps, shade ramada's for people, dogs and horses, as well as water features and restrooms.  Everything is well planned and beautifully executed so as to have little to no impact on the delicate environment.  My only regret is not taking a picture or two of the structure and surrounding detail.

After picking up a map, chatting with the friendly docents and checking water levels, we were off for the Windgate Pass.  Along the way are sign posts for a myriad of alternate trails, making it easy to stay on course, but hard to avoid distraction... think kid in a candy shop!

One of the first impressions regardless of which trail you choose, is the soaring Saguaro cacti, guarding the landscape like organic sentinels everywhere you look.

Some stand alone, others in pairs, many alive and growing while others are simple skeletons exposing their fibrous rails.

This is a harsh environment, the trails are dry, rocky and lined with small cactus, but the preserve was crowded with people enjoying the views nonetheless.  Not everyone was on foot however, as this is a popular mountain bike location too.  It pays to be alert when hiking here!

I imagine the summer months would be unbearable, but in February when the weather is crisp and the skies clear, this is a stunning location.  If you live in the area and have not taken a few hours to explore, you're missing out! 

A break in the rain at last!

While rain in Southern California is more welcome than a Brett Favre interception to a Saints fan, after 4 straight days of downpour it was nice to see blue sky again.

Not wanting to play safe and hike the concrete jungle of downtown Ventura, I packed the dog in the car and took off for Sulfur Mountain. Normally a well traveled trail for mountain bikers as well as hikers and equestrian lovers, rain and dirt make a muddy mess that's not for the faint of heart!  80% of the trail was easy walking but that 20% was like slogging through, well... mud!

The views were well worth the extra work however, with snow covered mountains to the north the Channel Islands to the south and lush green hillsides all around. This was my first hike on Sulfur Mtn and while I knew parts of the trail were on private cattle ranch land, I was surprised as just how many bovine were parked on the path. Train (our black lab) was taken aback by the size of the beasts but once they started trotting down the trail in front of us, false bravado kicked in and the chase was on. Fortunately, he was on a long leash so the story has a happy ending!

Just about out of 2 liters of water 2 hours in, we decided to head back to the car, but not before the dog decided on a short bath in some really dirty water. Never hike without lots of towels for the ride home! A little less than 4 hours after we started, we were back in the car heading home having hiked about 6.5 miles and having made a few new 4 legged friends.