Cara Blanca (SVS) via "Cara Mia" [Class IV]

Loose ends. Not a fan. 

A couple weeks ago I took a stab at the south face of Cara Blanca and was rudely denied access frustratingly close to the summit (trip report). During my hellish descent from that climb I traversed east across the peak to a rocky point I'd labeled "Sub-Peak 1". From this vantage I was able to peer down aspects of the eastern side of the peak and immediately discerned that the long shale slides that decorate this side of of the peak might afford me a second chance for the summit.

I studied the topos and imagery and concluded that two of these chutes would provide access to the upper reaches of the peak. The first chute looked as if it was a little more direct, but it's entire length appeared to be 100% loose shale and rock, tilted at around 60 degrees. Furthermore, this route had a couple of short vertical sections which might or might not be worrisome. The second option, just a bit more upstream, was steeper (65 degrees), but the shale gully terminated just 700 feet above the creek and segued into a relatively brush-free 800ft climb to a point about even with Sub-Peak 1. The lower portion of this route looked pretty challenging. Regardless of which route I took, the remaining 500ft of elevation and 0.3miles to the summit would be in the brush. I eventually selected the second chute as the route I'd climb.

Car Mia=Green, Descent=Red

 I had a good, quick run up Matilija. The weather was cool and breezy which suited me fine. Reaching the North Falls I scrambled up the rope to the right of the lower falls and continued up to the upper ones. This is where almost everybody stops because a.) it's a nice place, b.) not many folks know of or have any interest in what lies upstream, and c.) getting above these falls is a bit dangerous and difficult. 100 feet downstream from these falls is a steep shale slide with a sketchy one-move-wonder out of that gully and into some brush on the left. I cruised through this obstacle and continued into the untrammeled wilderness upstream. (**In trying to replicate this ascent, if you or anyone in your party is freaked out by or unable to climb this slide then this day isn't going to work out. This slide is a 50 foot primer for what lies ahead and is actually easier and safer than the majority of this route up Cara Blanca.)

Lower North Falls

Upper North Falls. The bypass gully is immediately right of where this photo was taken.

 I charged upstream and after a short time encountered a pair of easily bypassed waterfalls (neither of these are the famed "Lost Falls"). A short time later the creek went underground and I continued up the creek bed for a bit longer before passing under the first of the two gullies I mentioned earlier. In a few more minutes I was standing next to an old and bifurcated sycamore, gearing up for the day's real work.

The first falls above the primary North Falls. Pass it on the left.

The second falls, scramble low and left to get past it.

This bifurcated sycamore marks the start of Cara Mia.

Without making a big deal about it I just started up. The first 700 feet of the route were loose and steep, completely composed of talus and shale, and climbed at a pretty consistent 65 degree angle. For the first time this morning I was glad I'd worn my stiff mountaineering boots, which allowed me to kick through the shale to the denser substrate. I sent a few good sized rock tumbling down and was grateful that I didn't have a partner down there. I encountered several short, but sketchy sections of Fourth Class climbing up unstable rock funnels but the overall nature of this climb always came back to duking it out with the shale. By the time the shale climb was over I'd had about enough of it.

One of the Class IV obstacles.

The slide I was in eventually tapered into a small and awkward two-move scramble into a resiliant manzanita after which the day really opened up. I'd broken out of the gully and into a steep, grassy slope I started calling "Easy Street". For the next 800 feet I zig-zaged back and forth in tight switchbacks, paused often to suck air and enjoy the view. Higher up I was hugging a left-hand outcropped ridge of rock that stuck out just a few feet overhead. I passed the first big break in this outcrop and continued almost to its top where a second break in the stone allowed me to scramble up on top. From this point I traversed up and left through thick brush and eventually found a chink in the rock which allowed me to get up on the  actual summit crest. 

Looking down the portion of Cara Mia I labeled above as "Easy Street".

This represents the brushy traverse over to the crest from Cara Mia.

 At first the brush was so dense I couldn't actually see where I was on the peak, but using the two sub-peaks and a gps for reference I concluded that I was less than 0.2 miles and a little over a hundred feet of elevation gain away from the summit. Sticking to the crest was at times a challenge because of the brush, but portions of the narrow ridge were less brushy and I quickly busted onto the summit. I love it when a good plan comes together (insert shit-eating grin).

The above landmarks are noted on the route diagram (above)

A view down Matilija Canyon from the summit.

 This is a neat and rocky little summit, and small, occupying maybe 20sq/ft. There was no USGS marker, nor was there a summit register. I started wondering if there possibly a chance I could actually be the first person up here? That balloon popped when I saw worn and faded names scratched on a flat  piece of sandstone. Now, what the hell? E.L. Moody 1935?!? There were other carved names in about the same state of erosive wear but without dates to verify that state. Holy cow! After really looking around I feel pretty safe in guessing that mine was the first ascent of this peak since before the advent of television. And that's not a bad feeling. I scratched my name in there with those other hard old dudes. I also left a summit register and have taken the liberty of dedicating this summit in honor of Mr Kim Coakley for his SVS series of lost, forgotten, and hard as hell to get to places in the Southern Los Padres. I regret not placing SVS registers on Devils Heart Peak and White Ledge Peak, but this time I just had to. 

E.L. Moody, 1935

Cara Blanca, seriously seldom visited.

There is now a summit register under a cairn. Courtesy of Wonder Bread (coffee cans are sooo passe).

Monte Arrido Peak (left).

The tippy-top of the South Face.

Descending back the way I'd come and down to the point where I'd traversed over to the crest, I decided to take a chance and shoot straight down the epic 1,000+ shale slide mentioned as a possible ascent route. This went pretty quickly but I do need to mention that there really are some severe and sketchy drops on this descent. These are possible to downclimb with a judicious use of caution and a very light touch. I would not recommend this route as an ascent line. 

Other advice I'd give would-be second ascent parties is that this isn't a hike. It's really a mountaineering route. Treat it like one and you should be fine. For parties of two or more I would strongly recommend helmets. Getting brained by the guy above you isn't a recipe for success. Trekking poles are mandatory, and I already mentioned the stiff boots being a plus. If anyone eventually repeats Cara Mia I'd sure like to hear about it. -DS 

Cara Blanca (attempted) 01/09/14

There is a big difference between quitting and being a quitter. It's about being able to say to yourself, with 100% honesty, that you gave it your best shot. Attempting something and failing is a part of life, and if you don't occasionally fail to meet your own goals, then you haven't set the bar high enough. I didn't get my summit this time out. That doesn't mean I didn't try my damnedest, nor does it mean that I've conceded defeat. It just means that my route didn't work out. But Cara Blanca and I aren't done with each other just yet.

Green=Up/Red=Down

After blazing through the standard Matilija trail I started up West Falls Canyon and the day really got underway. This was my second time up there in recent days, and though my first trip up this remote canyon had been interesting and entertaining, I had not neglected to closely scrutinize the south face of Cara Blanca while there. This 60 degree pyramid of gleaming white sandstone had always captured my attention and was a peak I felt deserved to be climbed. At home I studied my own photos, topo maps, and wildly out of date satellite imagery with an eye toward ascending her. I concluded that there might be a way to climb the peak from it's southeast flank. 

West Falls Canyon

The ravine on the eastern side of the south face. Ugly.

Bring on the brush. About a half mile up West Falls Canyon I departed the creek and started up a loose, steep, and alarmingly brushy slope. Progress was difficult pretty much from the get-go. Loose rock skittered away beneath me, forcing me to cling to the overhead brush. In the thicker brush I basically hand-over-handed myself upward from one bush to the next. At times I had to tunnel under the brush, or back-track when I hit a wall so tangled and interwoven that passage was essentially impossible. This stuff was as bad as any I had ever encountered. I found some daylight in a rocky patch of the slope and planned my next push, which would bring me into the primary ravine on the eastern side of the peak and from there the slope, while steeper, looked a bit less of a mess. 

It took me the next half hour to traverse into and out of that ravine, a distance of only about 500 feet. It was just brutal. I took a thorn to the ear and a gnarly scratch to my right eyelid. I got tangled up in brush, took a spill and ended up in yucca which penetrated my leather gloves and the US Army BDU pants I was wearing. My shirt was torn, and the exposed skin of my wrists between the shirt sleeves and my gloves was getting pretty shredded. On the west side of the ravine I took a break to dig out the yucca thorns. That done, I took a good long look up the peak from where I was and wasn't all that encouraged by the view. I had a loose scree slide, talus, and yucca in the immediate future but above that I could see only brush.

I found a rib of highly untrustworthy sandstone and ascended that for about 150 feet before I had another band of brush to deal with. Ever since clearing the ravine the grade had been a consistent 50 degrees and the going had gotten increasingly tough. I cleared the brush again and encountered a long stretch of Class IV sandstone which was so decayed as to have the solidity of a dirt clod. This was disappointing. I'd hoped to have better stone higher up but it wasn't meant to be. I exited the slabs to the right and got back into the totally horrendous brush. I managed to ascend another 200 feet by utilizing brush as hand and footholds on the steep slope, not the most reliable climbing medium. To make things even harder, I had to bludgeon my way higher through that brush. Before long I was really getting exhausted. By this time I was maybe a 100 feet below being even with the top of the white face of Cara Blanca. This wasn't working.

The top of the white slabs of the south face of Cara Blanca behind the yucca, and where I quit.

I used my heels to kick out a shelf of dirt that I could sit down on and rest for a bit while I took stock of where I was and what I was going to do. I finally conceded that the brush between me and the summit was too much for me. I recall thinking that if the peak was going to get ascended from this direction it would take a harder man than me. I made peace with the peak (for now) and set out to find a better way down than the one I ascended. This would prove impossible, and my descent route was, in fact, even more of a mess than the way up.

Monte Arrido Peak and Old Man Mountain from the steeps of Cara Blanca.

A look down the Matilija watershed. Divide Peak and Peak 4864 center right. SubPeak 2 in the immediate Left foreground.

Before descending I traversed east across the south side of the peak, passing under rotten slabs and ascending again until I was under what I've labeled "SubPeak 1", which is a point made of the same sandstone that decorates the pyramid of the South Face. The eastern edge of SubPeak 1 terminated in a sheer drop onto the sixty degree gullies of the east face of the peak and offered a view into the north branch of Matilija Creek. I descended this sheer edge until I'd reached the nob of SubPeak 2. From here I dropped into what is possibly the worst brush I've ever encountered, which is saying something. It was bad. On the way down that hellish slope I tried to think of various descriptors, cuss words, and adjectives I could link together to create an image for you. All of them fell short of the magnitude of the seething hell this descent was. Eventually I broke through the brush and crashed into the creek below. Pull all the sticks out of me and insert a fork instead. I'd had enough for one day. It was a good fight. You just gotta love the LPNF.

The steep slab face of SubPeak 1.

The South Face of Cara Blanca from the east.

Two weeks later I got the summit (Trip Report).