Author Topic: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!  (Read 10496 times)

Brad Young

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After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« on: April 25, 2015, 12:43:48 PM »
Since the Masters of Mud brought us way out toward the coast anyway, we thought we'd take a trip into the Ventana Wilderness afterward. We originally planned to hike six days south-to-north through the heart of the wilderness.

However, the Ventana has always had a reputation for poorly maintained trails. On this trip I was disappointed to see that some trails I'd hiked in the 1980s and early 1990s were in bad to very bad shape and that one such trail had literally disappeared (as in gone - no detectable sign of it left from either end).

Fortunately I did some last minute internet research on recent trail conditions before we left. What I learned caused us to scale back the distance we intended to travel (bad trails equal much slower and harder hiking; Vicki isn't so much into harder hiking these days). The scaled back plan, in turn, allowed me to stay happy and married through the trip and up to the present.

In this case, "scaled back" was a nice, 24.2 mile, four day loop trip from China Camp trailhead (approached by an hour and a half drive from Santa Cruz).

First though, at the trailhead, we had to repack. Car camping stuff sorted from backpacking stuff, and packs packed:




By the way, Tricia is now tall enough to carry Vicki's old backpack. We keep it light for Vicki on these trips, so Tricia used the bigger pack to carry Vic's sleeping bag for her (Tricia also carried all the other stuff that she normally carries, including some of our water and stove fuel):




We started just after noon. The first day's hike was a short, but pretty 5.2 miles along the Pine Ridge Trail to Church Creek Divide and then down to lovely Pine Valley:










This part of the trail is well used and fairly well maintained. In a few places only, the trail is a little brushy. In a few others the trail tread needs some repair. But this was definitely the best and easiest hiking of the trip:













The first three quarters of this trail stays up high, with views in all directions:







Parts of the hike were through fields of lupine. The smell was instant, very strong and quite wonderful:




We got our first view of Pine Valley, our intended destination for the night:




From Church Creek Divide the trail continues gently downhill to Pine Valley. Although Pine Valley is a popular backpacking destination, we were there on a weekday and we saw no-one (in fact, car to car, we didn't see another soul on the whole trip). This camping location would make an absolutely perfect, easy weekend destination for, say, a Santa Cruz resident who, maybe for example, wanted to hike the whole John Muir Trail next summer, and was looking for a relatively nearby trip for training and to get "systems" in order:




The Carmel River flows through this valley, and six or seven established backpacking camps are spaced along the river every several hundred feet. We had first (and only) pick; we chose the one closest to the most water (two out of five votes were very very strong on this issue):







We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing (I hiked around and explored a little):







Our youngest dog, Halifax, went particularly nuts. She was just so thrilled to be loose, free and unrestrained. Vicki couldn't stop laughing at her antics:




Tricia took this photo of a pine tree riddled with woodpecker holes:




We enjoyed a very quite night that night, except that is for the owls who began hooting back and forth an hour or so before dawn (that was about when we'd slept a full night anyway, since we went to bed at about dark). Really cool.





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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2015, 01:46:04 PM »
I see rocks :)
Nice subtle hint too :)
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Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2015, 08:28:59 PM »

I see rocks :)


They're pretty tall too. But what I inspected was pretty poor quality sandstone (no thanks).

Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2015, 08:33:33 PM »
On day two we enjoyed a leisurely morning:




After everyone was up and running I decided to hike up the Bear Basin Trail to Pine Ridge before we started the day's hike with packs. I'd been on top of Pine Ridge on more than one occasion before. I recall being able to see the whole ocean (the Pacific) from on top. Both forks of the Big Sur river were visible too. Given a choice between joining me on what I thought would be a five mile round trip hike, or staying in camp and relaxing, Tricia decided - well, what did you expect - she joined me on the hike:




This trail was very steep (they used to make them that way) and somewhat brushy. What surprised me was that the old trail to Bear Basin camp was gone. It's shown on maps, I've hiked it twice, and yet I could find no sign of it whatsoever on the way up to the ridge (and there was no sign of it at the trail junction on top of the ridge either - sad).

Here's the trail up:







The views from the top were great however, although instead of the ocean and the river, we saw a deep marine layer:




Back in Pine Valley by late morning, we packed up for the 4.5 mile hike to Hiding Camp (it's also on the Carmel River, but the trail follows Hiding Canyon to get there since the Carmel River canyon is very steep and rocky).

The first mile was easy and viewful hiking:










But then we hit Hiding Canyon and the trail turned to crap. Working down the canyon was two to three times as much work as if we'd been hiking on a decent trail. The tread was almost all there, but downed trees and heavy brush made the walking difficult (the trees are burned out from the periodic fires that sweep the area - a few more rot through and fall over every year). The brush varied from thick chaparral to poison oak hanging over the trail (not yet the "P.O. jungles" we'd see on the fourth day though). And ticks; any time one moves through thick brush there are bound to be ticks:










I wouldn't particularly recommend this part of this loop trail. It required hard hiking, hard brush-crashing and careful trail finding. It needs maintenance. Of course it's also a necessary hike in order to do the China Camp to China Camp loop.

Thankfully we eventually came back to the Carmel River (now considerably larger). This was too big to boulder-hop:




On the edge of the river we saw this, a seemingly naturally carved hole in a rock? But how such a perfect hole? Maybe J.C. could help explain?







And finally, after what seemed like a lot longer hike than it was, we came to Hiding Camp, a pretty and cool place right next to the river (I'd like to go back again some day):




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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2015, 07:28:44 AM »
Great pics and descriptions. Cool hike.


Quote
a seemingly naturally carved hole in a rock? But how such a perfect hole? Maybe J.C. could help explain?

I don't know if JC was responsible for that hole or not.
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Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2015, 07:42:43 AM »

I don't know if JC was responsible for that hole or not.
 

You never know with him - maybe he snuck out in the middle of the night to practice drilling (and messed up the hole royally)?

Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2015, 08:25:31 AM »

The hike down the Carmel River was very nice. It's a beautiful place with a wild feel to it. But naturally, as we worked our way along, we found fallen logs to work around, and at times heavy brush:










Also, since the trail stays in the canyon for the most part, it crosses the river as the river rushes from bend to bend. We made 25 crossing by the time we reached Miller Canyon and started up that:










But several portions of this trail are very nice. I would recommend this to a hiker or backpacker, although I'd suggest getting to the trail by way of the Los Padres dam and not (unless - as will be seen - one is looking for some serious adventure - by way of Miller Canyon).

Here's a nicer part of the trail, approaching Sulfur Springs Camp:




And one nearing Buckskin Flat Camp (although even here, notice the fallen tree):




Here's Buckskin Flat:




After a little over four miles along the river, we passed Carmel River Camp and then reached Miller Canyon. Our destination for the night, Miller Canyon Camp, was just under three miles up this canyon.

This part of the trail was brushier (less traveled), but the creek crossings were easy:










This whole section of trail, however, had no fallen logs. I learned after we got home that a Ventana Wilderness Alliance crew had been in on this trail about 18 months ago. They'd cleared all fallen logs up to Miller Canyon Camp. They also did some brushing, although they didn't have the time or crew size for much of that (I joined this group after I got home and hope to do a two day trail work trip with them over the second weekend of June).

On the way up Miller Canyon I was twice able to find and photograph a coastal wilderness hiker's worst nightmare:







(For some reason I particularly thought of J.C. and Munge when I took these photos; and really they represent only two thirds of that coastal wilderness hiker's "worst nightmare" - they would have been totally complete photos If I'd had a rattlesnake behind the leaves.)

We passed Clover Basin Camp:







And reached Miller Canyon Camp with plenty of afternoon sunlight to enjoy:




We actually had a fire in the fire pit at this camp that night. And spent another good night (although the marine layer crept up during the night and we woke up to fog the next morning).

Finally, to wrap up this day's report, and mindful of Mudworm's admonition at the start of this very "Mud Puddle," Mudn'Crud Forum section ("...try to keep it clean"), I have decided to reveal here, to you my friends, my method of washing backpacking dishes (U.S. patent pending):










(For the squeamish among you readers, the next step in the washing process is to swish boiling water around in the cleaned dish.)



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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2015, 09:48:00 AM »
I have this idea to make JC a PO stuffed pillow out of a MoM t-shirt. Sleep on it and you may become immune.  >:D
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Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2015, 11:37:54 AM »
As I said above, we woke up to morning fog:







But we just carried on with jackets on.

One of my favorite things to do on a camping morning of any type is to make sure that Vicki gets great quality coffee right when she wakes up (she reeeaaly likes her morning coffee, and with good coffee, I think she's happier to be along with us):







We then started a harder hike than I had expected. Lots of uphill. Lots of brush, including today, veritable jungles of poison oak (no way around 'em; the best one can do is to bend, duck and go sideways to try to avoid direct contact on the face and hands). The trail tread was, in places, hard to even find. And, finally, in the middle four miles of an eight mile hike, someone had ridden horses on and near the trail when it was very muddy; as a result, for these miles, the tread was both deeply, deeply holed, and even harder to find (since the horses had ridden all over the area, presumably also looking for the hard to find tread!).

Switchbacks:




Most of this typical and unavoidable passage was fresh, green poison oak:




Contrast the near invisibility of this trail tread with the photos from our first day:




Still, Miller Canyon is a beautiful place, we saw wild roses:




We had expansive views:










But this is another section of trail that I wouldn't recommend lightly to other backpackers (at least until it sees some serious working over).

We did finally finish this Miller Canyon trail. We were all a little tired and we still had 1.8 miles of dirt road still to hike to the car:







Tired as we were, we really enjoyed the nice, clear view we gained of the start of the Pine Ridge trail (our first mile and a half on our first day):




Overall this was a fun trip. We had great solitude, wonderful views, nice campsites, lots of laughs and some good hiking. On the down side though, I spent too much time worrying that it was too tough a hike for Vicki. I was also sad to see the deterioration of trail conditions from when I spent lots of time there (mid 1980s to mid 1990s).

But this organization, Ventana Wilderness Alliance, seems to be making a difference on that last point. I hear nothing but good about them, and I intend my next several trips into this wilderness to be as part of a VWA trail crew or two (if I'm going to complain, I gotta then do my part to fix it).




F4?

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2015, 05:50:29 PM »
Nice to see Ventana. Some parts look like they were burned. Bummer the tails are in such condition.

I'm not worthy.

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2015, 07:29:32 PM »
I'm cringing at the site of ticks on PO and especially the weaving in and around to avoid direct contact with face and hands - hope you guys are okay. I was denied yet another route at Pinns today due to that insidious plague.

On a more positive note - Tricia's top knot is fun and the doggie dishwasher shots were tops. As for the pothole - swirling pebbles in currents/eddies drill those suckers - the most amazing examples I've seen and the biggest are at Fossil Falls on the east side.
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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2015, 07:34:13 PM »
Mungie don't tick.


As usual, nice full and complete trip reports!

Dig seeing Vicki enjoy backcountry coffee.

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2015, 07:39:44 PM »
Quote
One of my favorite things to do on a camping morning of any type is to make sure that Vicki gets great quality coffee right when she wakes up (she reeeaaly likes her morning coffee, and with good coffee, I think she's happier to be along with us):

Martha feels likewise about that good coffee first thing in the morning.
Causing trouble when not climbing.

Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2015, 07:41:13 PM »
If J.C. were to go on that hike, he'd have to be on prednizone for a week before he left (and then for two weeks after).

Munge? We'd have to put you on Frontline (it's working great for the dogs, although I hate having that poison on them).

As for Vicki Tricia and I? We got all the ticks off of us before they could dig in. And Neither Tricia nor Vic has any P.O. If I think hard about it, I can convince myself I've got a patch or two, maybe. We're all pretty resistant to it (thank God).

Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #14 on: April 26, 2015, 07:42:07 PM »

Martha feels likewise about that good coffee first thing in the morning.


She'll certainly have it over Memorial weekend!

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #15 on: April 26, 2015, 07:54:07 PM »
If J.C. were to go on that hike, he'd have to be on prednizone for a week before he left (and then for two weeks after).

Munge? We'd have to put you on Frontline (it's working great for the dogs, although I hate having that poison on them).



Munge ha I like the idea, Frontline
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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #16 on: April 26, 2015, 07:55:05 PM »
Y'all doing CR?
On Aid at Pinns... It's all A1 til it crumbles. - Munge

Brad Young

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2015, 06:40:10 AM »
Well I definitely have poison oak now. A three inch by three inch patch inside the left elbow. It hasn't itched all that much, but it's red and inflamed, and so I know it's there.

Oh well, just rebuilding my resistance....

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #18 on: April 28, 2015, 07:41:48 AM »
Zanfel


Resistance? Lol


Think Borg.
On Aid at Pinns... It's all A1 til it crumbles. - Munge

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Re: After the Masters of Mud: Oh the Ventana!
« Reply #19 on: April 28, 2015, 12:07:16 PM »
I was already planning before I got to your hint.   ;)

Looks like your girls didja proud as usual.  So glad you had a good time. 
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