View North Down Fishbowl Creek Canyon

A Nice Weekend - Piru and Cedar Creeks

Hi. I hope your well and happy; certainly I am. Why?
Take a *wild* guess!

This past weekend Java and I spent more time in new to
us, section of the Sespe Wilderness - if you don't
already have a sense for the size of the wilderness
area, its pretty big.

On Saturday we departed from the Grade valley and
followed the Piru Creek West, then South along one of
its main tributaries, until arriving at the Fishbowls
campsite. The spot is named for some freakishly deep
pools found along the creek in the bottom of canyon
just south of the campsite.

The hike into camp was incredibly tranquil, scenic,
and deeply peaceful. The creek meandered here and
there, making alternatively sharp then gently bends as
it widen and then narrowed over shallow sandstone
beds. Like with the Piedra Blanca (Gene Marshall)
trail we found numerous large clusters of Ladybugs in
the heavy foliage of the creek.

After exploring the campsites namesake, the fishbowls,
we setup camp, fixed dinner, read from by book and
then settled in for a slow freeze. Immediately after
sunset the temperature dropped, and they dipped
further throughout the night to below freezing.

Waking up at first light revealed what the Moonset had
concealed - A white blanket of frost and ice that
covered the forest floor and the mountain sides. Java
too was deeply affected by the frost - when he woke up
and stretched he looked like a puffy pin-cushion, with
most of his hair frozen stiff. I myself struggled to
stay warm, and my thin gloves retained too little
warmth, and it wasn't until several hours later that
my hands (painfully) thawed out.

it's no secret that I love the challenge of conquering
high peaks, and I had my sight set on the pass between
my overnight camp and the Cedar Creek Trail and
Campsite. As it turns out I accomplished that feat,
but not before getting off-trail and scaling a
completely different ridge and peak to the West of my
destination.

For reasons understandable only to me, I was stuck on
a stubborn streak that caused me to bushwhack my way
up 1500 vertical ft. of steep canyon walls and ridge
lines, only to turn around and descended to the base
of the mountain. I had convinced myself that I could
create a route that would connect the peak I was on to
the pass leading to the Cedar Creek Trail - I was
wrong.

When I did find our way back to the trail and crested
the pass between the Piru Creek valley to the Cedar
Creek valley we enjoyed some outstanding sights of the
Eastern Sespe Wilderness including Thorn Peak to the
South - In fact, the visibility was good enough to
clearly see the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains far
in the distance to the south-east.

Trip Summary: 2 Days, 1 night. ~ 16.5 mile Hike.
Total ascent 3400 ft.. Max elevation 6241 ft.

If you have not been out for a long walk - What are
you waiting for? Do it! You'll be glad you did.

I'm loving life, and I hope you are too.

-Manny

Topa Topa Bluffs at Sunset

 

Sisar Canyon to Topa Topa Bluffs

Hello. I hope you have been well.

Last weekend, and this weekend; like many others, Java
and I were fortunate to experience some quality time
in the great outdoors. As with many of our recent
hikes we stayed close to home, wandering about, and in
the Los Padres National Forest.

last Sunday, we explored Sisar Creek and Canyon. We
had set out with modest ambitions of a simple short
day-hike, but the allure of the Topa Topa Bluffs far
above was overwhelming, and only briefly into our hike
Java and I resolved to summit the top of the bluffs.
An hour before sunset we had achieved our goal.

The trail to the summit was initially easy but as the
miles added up and the elevation increased, the trail
turned steep and strenuous. As with every other
summit though, in the end, the views and their
inspiration was worth the effort.

From the summit we had unrivaled views and could
easily see 60 - 70 miles in every direction. The best
sight being the Channel Islands floating offshore on
an ocean glittering with the light of sunset.

Our hike coincided with the change in Daylight savings
time, and much to my dismay I had not correctly
adjusted for time which meant Java and I got to finish
our hike in the dark. That may sound disconcerting,
but in fact it was very nice - Walking in the dark
under the stars, on a clear, cool night was very
pleasant. Summary: Hike ~ 18 miles; Ascent 4900 ft.;
Max Elevation 6410 ft.

Today, our ambitions were very much more modest - We
did a quick hike to visit a portion of Wildwood Park,
in Thousand Oaks, CA. Our hike was along the
southeast boundary of the park, that we had not
previously visited. The trail was very pleasant, it
meandered on top of various ridges and through several
small canyons, and then finally along Willow creek - A
very nice easy hike.

Also included in our activities the past two weekends
were several walks along the beach - If you haven't
been to beach lately and walked barefoot in the
breaking waves - Go Do It! You'll be happy you did.

I'm loving life, and hope you are too.

-Manny