Hiking 100 Peaks in San Diego and Santa Barbara County
Recently, my daughter indicated that she wanted to climb Montecito Peak. I let her know that a good way would be to start from the top of the ridge and climb down to it, since the climb from the bottom is ~7 miles and can be pretty steep. Disappointed, she insisted that we try it from the bottom. … [Read more...]
Anyone who follows me on Flikr, instagram, or Twitter knows that I like to take pictures. There are a lot in these posts, too. I've decided to pour over my captures for the year and share the ones that I like the most for one reason or another. Many are from my phone using (overused) filters, others … [Read more...]
Dry Lakes Ridge (No Peak) Miles: ~5 Trailhead Agency: Los Padres National Forest After seeing the Dry Lakes Ridge from my hike with Craig Carey to Nordhoff and Chief Peaks, I decided to see what this hike was all about. --- It was cold. My car's thermometer indicated that it was 38F … [Read more...]
Chief Peak Elevation: 5,560′+ Nordhoff Peak Elevation: 4,485' Miles: >1 (We cheated a little) Agency: Los Padres National Forest Over the last few months, I've been communicating with Craig Carey, the author of Hiking and Backpacking Santa Barbara & Ventura. He gave me some … [Read more...]
Montecito Peak Elevation: 3,214′ Miles: 7 Trail head Agency: Los Padres National Forest Over the past few months, I've been getting up early and hiking the Cold Spring Trail, with the aim to summit Montecito Peak from the bottom. Previously, I climbed Montecito Peak from Camino Cielo, but … [Read more...]
Mount Pinos Elevation: 8,847′ Sawmill Mountain Elevation: 8,818′ Grouse Mountain Elevation: 8,582′ Total Mileage: 14.22 miles Trailhead I was more than excited. It was going to be my first time camping locally. I was going to be taking my 11-year-old niece (XN, the PD's … [Read more...]
Reyes Peak Elevation: 7,510′ Haddock Mountain Elevation: 7,416 Miles: ~9 Miles Trail head Agency: Los Padres National Forest The quail was a blur as it flew into the road. I heard it thump against my bumper and knew it was a goner. It happened too fast for me to even react. I … [Read more...]
Lockwood Peak Elevation: 6,261′ Miles: ~6 Miles Trail head Agency: Los Padres National Forest "A few years back, a bear surprised me in the canyon there, on the other side of that ridge. That was before I carried this," he said, patting his hip. It was at this point that I noticed he … [Read more...]
Nojoqui Falls Park 3200 South Alisal Road Solvang, California 93463 805-934-6211 Contact@sbparks.org Agency: The County of Santa Barbara Parks Distance to the falls: .6 miles round trip I was looking for a good hike to take my daughter, who, as you may know, is pretty young. I asked around and … [Read more...]
Santa Ynez Peak Elevation: 2,458′ Boundary Peak Elevation: 2,458′ Miles: ~5.2 Miles Trail head Agency: Los Padres National Forest I was pretty excited about hiking this weekend. But then the rains came. And it wasn't just a little bit of sprinkles. It came down hard. As I lay in my bed the … [Read more...]
