Haddock Peak and Environs 11/14/13

The other day I had a darn good bouldering session at the Picnic Area and Happy Hunting Grounds on Pine Mountain. Pulling down on 80 grit sandstone is always good for what ails me and I enjoyed the cool and crisp aura of fall while shredding my tips. Enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I resolved to come back again for a little 12 mile stretch of the legs a couple days later. Mountain therapy is good for the soul. I consider it my version of going to church. 

It has dawned on me while scrolling back through recent posts that I haven't done a helluvalot in our beloved forest for a while, and though I've kept busy at the rock gym and powering around on my shiny new Santa Cruz (which is now quite dirty and has a warped back wheel), nothing is better for me than sole power, pun intended. Me and miles, miles and me. We go together like fleas and hounds. Time to get back to it. I already knew exactly where I was supposed to go, the high and piney regions of the Reyes Wonderland. 

I started from the Reyes trailhead (as opposed to Chorro Grande) and headed over to the summit. This part of the day has two brief but steep climbs through forested slopes. In between these little steps are open areas of ridge-top with classic views of the coast, and looking toward the interior of the Cuyama Badlands. This ridge also hosts some interesting wind-twisted trees, some of which are quite amusing. The climbers out there might be interested in the Astroid Belt and the Mothership, which are just off the trail if one knows where to look. I topped out on the familiar summit of Reyes in what seemed like mere moments. 

Frazier Mountain in the distance.

After a short time I headed downhill and east, picking up the main trail toward Haddock a short time later. There isn't really a use trail coming off Reyes in that direction but unless there's snow on the ground that trail is hard to miss. Down on the cool and shadowy north side of Reyes I settled into the rhythms of the path and let my mind wander. There's been a lot going on up there lately. I kept my head up and paid attention to my surroundings with a bit more awareness than usual. I didn't want to miss a thing and concentrated on taking in my surroundings, focusing on every aspect of this beautiful forest. I have a newfound appreciation for these moments of solitude. I've spent too much of my energy over the years concentrating on the destination and not the journey. I was stuck by a weird concept, that I've just blazed through so many places and taken them for granted that from here forward I can continue my explorations with a rekindled awareness of the beauty and mystery of such places. I was also hit on the head by the notion that I was truly grateful to live so near to such a pretty place. It was much like the sensation rediscovery.

Looking down the Potrero John drainage. Been there, is muy dangeroso!

Reyes Peak from the east.

Haddock Peak from the west.

I reached Haddock and spent a few minutes there before turning back the way I'd come. I headed back to Reyes at an uncharacteristically mellow pace. I took time to appreciate the views one at a time. From one place I could look over to Frazier Mountain, another stop afforded views of Cerro Noroeste and Grouse and Sawmill and Pinos. At times I could view the summit of Cuyama Peak with it's flanks shrouded in a gauzy haze. I pulled out numerous times along the ridge to gaze out toward the islands or peer down the Potrero John drainage. I peeled off the trail and checked out various buttes and rock formations. I found where several deer had bedded down under the overhang of a huge calico formation. I paused to watch a squirrel be a squirrel. At last I found a pile of boulders hanging off the north side of the ridge which allowed views down into Beartrap Canyon. Here I sat for a while feeling the cool fall air moving around through the pines. I observed several small birds and was content to just sit and watch the world.

Haddock Peak Summit.

It was on this day that I came to the conclusion that I had to write the post which precedes this one. I felt very calm and unusually comfortable in my own skin. I compiled the history and the ideas that I wanted to convey in that writing and spent a good bit of time contemplating whether I should write it and what motivation was compelling me to do so. In time I had fleshed out the details of that essay and I concluded that it was something I had to do. The response to that post has been a bit overwhelming and I have written numerous emails in reply to people who have had similar life experiences and troubles with emotional disorders and substance abuse. It was heartening to not feel as alone, but those letters also highlighted just how common abuse and molestation is, and the lifelong impact left on its survivors. I've come to the conclusion that we live in a sick society, one that largely sweeps these distressingly frequent traumas under a rug, leaving the survivor to carry this burden around like a ball and chain, and that those people are pre-programmed by experience to seek comfort in a bottle or some other self-harming behavior. I was also surprised by the number of people that felt that I'd rattled something in their tree which provoked the hard questions of addiction. Not only does our society not want to hear of these issues, it does not really want to have a serious conversation about abuse and its effects, addiction in general, and especially not mental health. There are some seriously misplaced priorities in this nation and the media and marketing machine we're hooked on doesn't want people to give it any serious thought, and consequently the stigmas of the above disorders remain largely ignored in the national conversation. Abuse, addiction, and mental disorders just aren't sexy enough for primetime. It's shameful. And the cycle continues, worsens by the day in fact.

...from the pines to Anacapa...

Another peek at Haddock, from the east.

I just want to encourage everybody to take their time out there. Maximize the experience and be in the moment. And be good to one another.

Pine Mountain Road has re-opened as of 08/30

Pine Mountain Road finally reopened two days ago. A nice new ribbon of asphalt weaves upward where car eating sink holes and tooth rattling washboard once reigned. Of course the flip side of paving a road is the increased traffic it will soon see. Getting the Prius up the mountain is now not only possible but easily accomplished. No new camp sites, facilities or other amenities have been added and the camping situation there still seems pretty lezes faire as long as you post the Adventure Pass on your vehicle.

So boulderers rejoice, better late than winter for the reopening of our local high country. Somebody needs to bring a new spiral pad up to the Reyes register FWI.

Enjoy some pics from 09/01/13. I went with the Ansel Adams hi-contrast B&W today.

Two easy, but breezy evenings on Pine Mountain, 10/20&21/12

Ruth and I wanted a quiet weekend away from home so we threw a bunch of stuff in the truck and bolted up to Pine Mountain as soon as I got out of work. We had all the appropriate equipage: puffy down jackets, firewood, a big tent with a queen-sized air mattress, lawn chairs, dutch oven etc... Camping at Pine was just the right call for the weekend. We woke up late both days, hiked around on Reyes a bit, enjoyed good food and enjoyed the company of the millions of birds that inhabit the ridge. It was a relaxed weekend, breezy and cool, with the promise of colder days to come. Anyway, it was just camping so there's not a lot to write about except that I just came up with a pretty sick idea for my next free day which ought to be right around Halloween. I have the feeling that this will be "One of Those Days", and some of you might recognize what I mean by that. Anyway, please enjoy a few shots from a nice weekend.

Moon and Sun, together in the same frame.

Sunset off Goleta, from Pine Mountain.

Fire Flowers (pine cones, actually).

Looking south from atop The Mothership (climbing area). 

The view southeast toward Rose Valley, Ojai and Ventura. Socked in.

What I hope would be my "final meal": filet mignon cooked on a wood fire, by me, with a sparky horseradish creme and shared with Ruth.

A sea of clouds.

Panorama south from Reyes Ridge.

Middle Lion, Rose Valley.

There were actually three of these ladies near the Piedra Blaca TH. 

Stone & Sun, Pine Mountain 10/07/12

 Ruth and I ran up to Pine Mountain at the tail-end of a busy work week on my end. I needed the clean air and sunlight of PM. I also needed some time on the rocks (good for head). We couldn't have asked for a nicer day up there, sunny, clear, 70's. Some of you might think that since Ruth and I have been married for 10 years, it would seem reasonable to assume that she's been climbing all this time. That assumption would be wrong. Ruth has been undergoing a spiritual re-birth of sorts and has been exploring new things. As far as the climbing thing goes, today was the first time she's ever been on a rope outdoors. A big deal. I was able to throw a top-rope (TR) on the biggest rock (25') that the Picnic Rocks has to offer. This TR offered three different aspects of the rock, a corner and face routes on each side of the corner.

Ruth says she had a great time and I believe her. It was obvious. She ended up climbing the boulder six times by the time we took the rope down. I admit that she seems to have an unusually good knack, much more than beginners' luck, if there is such a thing in climbing. Maybe I should simply say that she has "intrinsic natural ability". After playing on the TR we spent some time bouldering, after which we took a little stroll around Enlightenment Ridge. Later this week we'll have Darren Ogden start putting her through a belay course down at Vertical Heaven in Ventura. I'm starting to envision a November JTree trip. I'm a pretty happy guy right now.

The sound of one hand slapping.

 

Chorro Grande to Reyes Creek, by way of Reyes Peak and Haddock Peak, in one day. Nuts. 03/22/12.

Okay, I've got one that you trail hounds ought to love. A dirty three-way. Three trails that is. Chorro Grande Trail, Reyes Peak Trail, and Gene Marshall Trail. And it was really more snowy and muddy than dirty. Right. Moving on...

This day's effort is the offspring of an evil seed which has been germinating in my mind for some time. It started with my having done Chorro Grande trail to Reyes Peak as a day hike. Then Cliff Griffiths and I hiked the Gene Marshall trail in a day. I began to think that putting the best of those trips together as a one day thru hike, while admittedly ambitious, would create one of the gnarliest trail link-ups in the SLP (Southern Los Padres NF). 22 miles of high lonesome starting off highway 33 at 4,000ft. And hey, why not throw in a pair of 7,000 foot peaks? It had the potential for a very burly day. It was a very burly day.

The Nuts & Bolts

I was pretty pleased that I could wrangle in a partner for this craziness. This hike travels over some really remote and seldom visited country, and having another person around can be good for morale, and can in fact be a lifesaver. There's only three guys I know who I'd consider having along on something like this, and fellow blogger of local backcountry stuff, Jack Elliot, who proved his mettle on our recent trip to Indian Cave, is one of them. We met at 04:00 and drove up the 33 in two vehicles. One vehicle was left at the Reyes Creek trailhead at Camp Scheideck, the other was parked at the start of Chorro Grande on the 33. We saddled up and got moving at 05:50 under a starry sky just hinting at dawn.

These first miles were cool but not cold, the skies scudded with pastel pink cirrus. After the usual warm-up nonsense I settled into Chorro's steep grade and we made good time. Chorro is kind of a beast. This trail gains 2600 or so feet in just five miles and I was glad that we'd be getting that elevation jump out of the way right up front. A wise guy once said, in reference to the Chorro trail, "It goes up from here.". Our first snow of the day came at Chorro Grande springs and things just got better and wetter the higher we got.

Reyes Peak summit. This was an incredibly beautiful day.

By the time we'd blown past the Reyes Peak trailhead, snow became a central theme of the day. Before the route to Reyes kicked up I strapped into my yaktrax, those handy cable chains for light boots and trail runners. These things work well on every terrain but stone, and they made breaking trail significantly easier than it would have been if I'd been slipping and tripping without them. We motored up the short but steep tiers of Reyes and made the summit just 4.5 hours into the day. Things were going pretty good thus far, but ahead of us was a half mile of off trail through snow until we found the trail over to Haddock Peak. 

Route checking. Staying on-route became a constant concern.

I'd be full of shit if I didn't admit to you all that I was starting to get a nagging nervousness about being off trail in foot deep snow. I started to wonder about this trail that ran the ridge between the Reyes and Haddock Peaks. With all this snow, and us descending from Reyes, would I recognize the trail or just go right over it and keep steering us down to some f'd up canyon? And just how obvious is the trail anyway? It's not like it gets a lot of traffic! 

So, yeah. These thoughts pinged around in my head until we got on route. We had indeed overshot the trail, but only by about 75 feet. This was not the last time the GPS saved our ass that day, or maybe that's a little dramatic but it did save us some time and energy. 

Nordoff Ridge, the Oxnard plain, and The Santa Monicas.

The trail to Haddock traverses a stretch of the prettiest, most expansive views in our SLP. The trail stays mainly on the north side of the ridge, the shadier and snowier side. We crunched through forests of ponderosa, blue spruce, and jeffry pine. The trail frequently passed through random rock formations of rusty sandstone. It rolled through pleasant, sunny meadows and frequently took us to the southern side of the ridge, which is mostly sheer drops and endless views to the coast. On and on we trudged, often stopping for a moment to find the trail, until we finally mounted the final steps to Haddock Peak.  This summit has no USGS marker, but it does have a completely soaked summit register. We had been enjoying the view all morning, so hanging out on the breezy summit wasn't a priority. Next stop: Haddock Camp on Piedra Blanca Creek, where we would leave the Reyes Peak Trail for the Gene Marshall.

Trail? You see a trail, man?

The Cliffs of Haddock Peak.

The summit register on Haddock Peak.

Bear markings. 

Haddock Peak summit, You can see Hwy 33 below.

Reyes Ridge is peppered with impressive rock formations.

Jack and I descending into Beartrap.

We were greeted to an interesting sight as we rolled into Haddock camp. Two new but cheap tents had been abandoned, and a pair of sleeping bags lay in the mud. A pee bottle and various sundries had been cast aside in the snow. Clearly, one party had ignored the weather report and paid for it. As I say, the gear was cheap, of the Big 5 variety, and all of it was new. Just a few folks goin' campin'! The scene had all the markings of a night spent huddling in these inferior tents, being blown about in the black night, snow piling up outside. It was not hard to envision a desperate night followed by a miserable descent to Piedra Blanca. Forget the shiny new gear, just tuck tail and run. And never go camping again.

Upper Reyes Creek.

After a brief lunch at Haddock, Jack and I strapped in and set forth on the next 8.5 miles going northeast on the Gene Marshall trail. We had a nasty but brief climb out of Haddock before dropping into the Beartrap drainage. This stretch, like all of this hike, is very pretty. The trail slips through miles of cottonwoods, oak, and cedar, always on the creek. Another burly climb out of Beartrap Creek put us over a ridge and into the home stretch, Reyes Creek. Just a long roll down to the truck.

We saw hundreds of prints, thanks to the snow. These are bobcat.

This hike was something special. We had been blessed with the weather, perfect in the 60's with robin's egg skies and gentle breezes. This would have been a tough enough walk without the snow, but traveling through that snow for 60% of the day upped the ante considerably, not just in the route finding sense but also in that busting trail through all that snow added a 25% labor tax to the effort. As to the route finding, I carried a map, compass and GPS, but staying on route was primarily puzzle solving. I looked for unnatural features, the sawn log, a dip in the silhouette of a hillside and a corresponding one in the logical distance, the tracks of animals who follow the same general paths in their daily wanderings often use trails. All in all, it was as tough and satisfying a day as I'd ever experienced in the SLP.  This is a five star route.

I have to tip the hat to friend Jack. I know that this hike went above and beyond what we'd both anticipated, and that the snow and elevation just added to effort. I gotta hand it to the guy, he earned his stripes that day. He's got a new appreciation for what can be accomplished in a day. Never complaining, Jack is a self-contained guy and a capable trail hand. I look forward to future endeavors.
For Jack's trip report visit: Jack still can't believe he just did that.