Hey, folks. I've survived another round of poison oak. The moment I got home from Agua Blanca creek I dropped a pharmaceutical atom bomb on my system. I have refills of the prescribed meds on-call lest I blunder into a thicket of doom, as I did last week. Talk about better living through chemistry. Without the aggressive treatment I am certain that I would have had to miss work and would still be wallowing in a pruritic pit of pain. It could have been much worse.
So I had this grandiose, overly ambitious and generally stupid idea to do Topa Topa Peak and Hines Peak in a day, in a storm. I threw together a pretty good kit for that kind of venture and drove up to Sesar road in Upper Ojai. At the trailhead I sat in the truck listening to the rain pounding down. After a few minutes of this, and some second thoughts, I suited up and got going.
All it took for me to revise, edit, and abbreviate my plans was a few thunder claps somewhere up the mountain. That, and the persistent volume of rain was all that was needed to take some of the wind out of my sails. I decided to settle for getting as far as White Ledge camp. An eight mile rainy day loop was about all I could really muster the heart for.
Having been relieved of my self-imposed plan to flog myself through endless miles of sodden misery I was able to just settle back and stroll up to White Ledge. The whole dynamic of my day changed, for the better. By the time I reached the camp I was thinking completely differently about the day. I was out in the hills, enjoying a nice walk in the weather, and in the mood to take a few pictures.
I explored down-stream from White Ledge, saw the falls, had some food while sitting under a big stone overhang. Just so you know, the falls at White Ledge aren't really anything special except in the early spring, which is why I haven't included a picture here. After lunch I just strolled back to the truck, taking pictures the whole way.
Above: a dead yucca
Below: clouds in Sesar Canyon
Below: macro shot of fern & moss
Below: bear food
Below: heart of manzanita
Below: Topa Topa obscured by clouds
Below: poor dead lizard, would appreciate help with identification
Below: ancient oaks
Hi David, I always look forward to new posts on your blog. You have given me a lot of inspiration to keep hiking & backpacking. The lizard in this post is your regular Aligator Lizard. 95% sure. Feel free to look at my blog as well. Take care and happy thanksgiving.
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