Hines Peak/Topatopa Bluff, 04/09/11

How about a long hike in decidedly un-April like conditions? Cliff and I hiked the Sesar>Hines>Topa>Sesar 22 miler on a day that ranged in temperature from 25-55 degrees (depending on where the clouds & wind were), half of that time spent travelling on snow. We got going at 06:45 and rushed through the cold, early miles. The sunrise cast a silver haze on the frosted brush. The creek is high and we heard a chilly roar as we passed above White Ledge falls. We had reached the snow by the the time we passed the picnic bench on the ridge.
We trudged through the long miles, sometimes in shade, sometimes in sun, always on snow until we finally stood at the foot of Hines Peak's steep summit ridge. I sensed that Cliff was a bit apprehensive about the angle of the ridge in relation to the amount of snow. In other words, I think he was wondering how much risk this would entail. I remember having the same sort of feeling a long time ago when I was less familiar with climbing on snow. I threw on my Yaktrax and assured him that we'd make the top. After all, we weren't contending with black clouds, atomic lightning, or flesh eating wind, all of which conditions could have been present.
We quickly opened the Mountaineering 101 Handbook to the chapter on "cutting steps" with excerpts from "understanding your trekking poles" and "basic rockaneering". I cut the steps and Cliff did just fine following in my steps. He got through some of the rocky and exposed stuff without difficulty. He was wall to wall grins on the summit. It was a good summit and a good climb on a cold and breezy day. The down climb went smoothly and we headed back towards Topa Topa which was obscured by clouds.

*Hines is definitely Class III in real snow conditions. Class III can be described as "scrambling with the opportunity to really hurt yourself".






We rolled over to Topa, stopping for a good sit at the saddle junction before facing the last big "Up" of the day. As we approached the summit of Topa we beheld a strange phenomena: fins of ice clinging to manzanita. Clearly, the cloud bank roiling by just a hundred feet from us had receded just minutes ago. Very neat.

As for the summit of Topa, that weird occurrence with the clouds butting up against the bluffs that I've mentioned before was in full effect. It wasn't the kind of day to linger. Down we went and a couple hours later rambled back to the truck.

Let me take a moment to share with you a new found hope for an ambulatory and active future. The inspiration for this brain-bulb comes from hiking with these really great older guys. I ran into Rick Bartell, a friend in his early 60's, on the Arroyo Verde trail. He was charging up some sick hill right beside me. And how about a tip of the hat to Mr. Cliff Griffiths, electrician of the first order, 59 years old, and can hike 22 miles, climb up an icy summit, etc... and be able to do again next weekend. How's that for tough.

Rainy Day Hike. White Ledge Falls, 11/20/10

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

Hines Peak & Topatopa Bluffs... I hurt.

After a couple of stressful weeks I needed to get outside, and I decided to do something hard. You know, one of those really desperate goals that you never seriously consider doing. By the end of it all I had hiked 22 miles and gained around 6,000ft. This is the only time of year that one can really push on the peak trails of the Los Padres. In another month all those long trails will be very exposed to the sun and the temperatures will soar. At that point I will most likely be found in the Matilija and other local watersheds.
Yesterday was perfect for a masochistic trek with cool breezes and mild temps. A couple of weeks ago I summited Santa Paula Peak, and a couple weeks before that, Topa Topa with the Geezers. Hines is a whole other animal. I have come to the realization that, by peak-bagging standards, Topa Topa is actually a nice, moderate hike. I started at 07:30 from Sesar Road and ground out the miles through White Ledge and up to the Red Reef. Up on the ridge, instead of finishing the Topa Topa summit stretch I kept to the road heading east past the tank trap. This trail was nearly overgrown prior to the Day Fire but is now wide open.
At the saddle behind Topa Topa, Hines Peak isn't quite visible and I was a bit dismayed by how far the final two miles to the Lady Bug/Sespe junction seemed. Basically this was new territory for me and being solo, I immediately realized the potential for serious problems if I were immobilized. This is something that always concerns me when I'm on unfamiliar ground by myself. I think of it as a healthy paranoia. I mentally hunkered down, put one foot in front of another, and started up the steep summit ridge to the top of Hines. At times this ridge pushes a 40 degree scramble and I spent much of it kicking steps in snow. Finally, the summit, and not a very interesting one. There is no USGS marker, no register, no comfortable place to collapse, just some brush and loose rock. The views of the back-country are far superior to those from Topa. Looking north and east is like staring at a topo map of the Sespe, though the distances and the severity of the terrain are amplified. I know that sounds dumb, but you weren't there.
After carefully picking my way down Hines I backtracked toward Topa Topa. Arriving at the summit I dropped into the lounger and just kinda let my brain go for a bit. I just sat there for a while before I was able to pull myself together enough to change my socks, eat something, and give serious thought to the next 7 miles of knee banging downhill. I nearly forgot to sign the register, my 17th entry. As I stepped off the summit I devoted all of my attention making the most of my trekking poles and putting my feet down carefully. When I am worn out my joints get a little loose and it's far easier for me to turn an ankle or make dumb mistakes. Nothing makes for a bad day like a sprained ankle.
After a long break at White Ledge I continued down, down, down. Somewhere along the way I drifted into a zone of semi-awareness. A state where I wasn't paying particular attention any one thing except putting one foot down, then the next...repeat process. I wasn't quite out of gas but I was on reserve. Back on the fire road I ran into Lenore (lattelenore.blogspot.com/) and Cheryl and a friend. They've been banging away at the local trails in preparation for a run up Mt Whitney in July. I don't really recall much of the conversation because I was running on fumes but they're nice people, I'm sure they'll understand. Soon I was back at the truck.

Stats for the day: 8.5 hours Sesar>Hines>Topa Topa>Sesar; greater than 6,00 feet of elevation gained, and 22 honest miles.