King's Crest (Peak 4864) and an attempt at White Ledge Peak 12/27/12

The moral of today's story is that it's sometimes a nice thing to have a Plan B. I started the day committed to taking an honest crack at getting to White Ledge Peak using Murietta Canyon as the approach. I didn't give myself very high odds of success in that endeavor which is why I had figured it'd be wise to have that Plan B. Good thing too.

My morning started at 0500. It was cold. And windy. As I marched through a darkened Matilija Ranch I was pelted with granules of snow that were being blown down-canyon by the arctic breeze. Overhead was a glittery sky ablaze with the silver glow of a full moon which shone with a cold palor, and a luminescent halo ringed her. I trudged along in the frigid pre-dawn, head down, eyes watering, crunching footsteps on the frozen soil.

I reached Murietta Divide, took a left and started up the steep climb to Divide Peak and the end of the East Camino Cielo motorcycle trail. This short piece of trail is a bit of a grind, and being on the steep north side of the ridge, it was extra cold and windy. Having reached the ridge I continued east on the MC trail, following that track until it stopped going east. At an unmarked junction where the MC trail takes a last turn to the south to it's terminus, I continued east toward White Ledge Peak. 

The ridge to White Ledge Peak, from the end of E Camino Cielo.

White Ledge Peak has been a no man's land for such a long time that I haven't even heard of anyone who has been there. I have gotten pretty accustomed to bad brush and that hard earned tolerance gave me a small hope that I could find a way through the manzanita planet that was once known as the Ocean View Trail. Leaving the MC trail I ascended a narrow and brushy track that was clearly the work of someone trying to reestablish that old trail. The route was good, though nearly overgrown, and it only lasted for about a third of a mile. Brush cuttings along the way indicated to me that no real trail work had been done in at least a couple of years. This "trail" continued east under the crest until the ridge descended to a saddle. Here the trail came to an abrupt halt. Several trails continued from there, the paths of wandering parties who were coming to the conclusion that their trail had concluded and the day was about to get much more difficult. I had hit a solid wall of brush. I continued eastward at an abysmally slow pace, twisting and shoving through acres of healthy manzanita, scarcely making progress. I kept at this for over an hour before reaching a rocky point. I dropped pack for a bit and really thought about what I was doing out here. I had maybe done a half mile of this cursed ridge and that yardage had cost too much in time and energy. I gazed at White Ledge and understood with sterling clarity that this was not the route that would get me there. It had been worth the try.

The ridge from hell. Lake Casitas to the right.

Admitting that I wasn't going to get to White Ledge on this day took all the pressure off me. Now I could have some fun. I quickly backtracked to the MC trail and headed south out to the stubby summit of at the end of E Camino Cielo. Standing atop the cluster of rocks that crown this nob I could clearly view Catalina, Santa Barbara. Anacapa, Santa Cruz, San Miguel and Santa Rosa islands. I lingered here for a while before returning toward Divide Peak to the west. Here's where I started implementing Plan B.

Backing up for a minute, if you were to climb through Murietta and ascend the Monte Arido trail to the motor cycle trail, and if you looked up and left (east) once you popped out on that ridge trail, you'd  see a steep, bouldery, brushy climb to the sky. The summit at the top of this brush-fest is called Peak 4864. It is considered to be the highest point in the Santa Ynez Range, that chain of ridges that make up the front range of the coastal mountains, the mountain chain visible from Hwy 101 all the way from  Sea Cliff to Goleta. I figured that I since I'd been shut out on White Ledge I owed it to myself to stand on top of something tall and pointy. Up I went.

The route up King's Crest ascends this rocky brush buffet from the Divide Peak MC trail (E. Camino Cielo).

Class 3 ridge climbing on the north side of Peak 4864. Murietta Canyon below.

Snow flurries over Matilija canyon.

There isn't any true trail up King's Crest. Climbing the thing is kind of fun and adventurous with lots of route finding and rock-scotching. The first step got me up onto the crest of this peak after which I had to traverse for some distance to reach the summit. This traverse was interesting and I found that the best route for me was to ditch the brush and scramble across the rocky northern side of the crest. If you aren't a rock climber you may find this approach to be sketchy and exposed (Class 3). A few minutes later I discovered (much to my surprise) a small summit cairn with a register. I took a few minutes to watch a line of clouds that were dropping snow all over the mountains (Reyes, Matilija and Dry Lakes Ridge) to the north. The view to the south and west were the same incredible vistas that I'd been seeing all morning, the Great Blue Pacific.

I finally turned my attention to the summit register (there is no benchmark). This Peak was named King's Crest in 1990 by Mark King when he claimed the summit as a first ascent. If you look at the original summit entry you can see where he wrestled with whether this point should be called "crest" or "peak". His party had attempted White Ledge Peak, also unsuccessfully. The register indicated that ascent parties (mostly the same few people again and again) had visited on an annual basis for the first few years before tapering to a trickle. The most recent visitor had signed the book in October 2010. Curiously, there isn't any mention in the register of Peak 4864 being a "high point" until the late 90's. This peak is unnamed on maps.

The view toward SB and Jameson from halfway down King's Crest.

After a bit of lunch I descended back to the MC trail and walked over to a 5 acre park I call the Divide Peak Boulders. I wandered around for a couple more hours, enjoying the day, staying out of the wind. I wandered all over the area before reluctantly turning back to the Monte Arido descent to Murietta Divide. 

Divide Peak Boulders.

Divide Peak Boulders.

Divide Peak Boulders.

Divide Peak Boulders.

Anacapa Island.

Santa Cruz Island from the Divide Peak Boulders.

Haddock Peak from atop Peak 4864.

Now, you may not believe this, and lord knows I was was surprised when I ran into three guys ascending the Monte Arido as I was going down (there was an Eric, and Tristan who works at the Trek store in Ventura, and another fella whose name I can't conjure up). Anyway, these guys were going after that peak too! What the hell? Nobody climbs the thing in over 2 years and all of a sudden 4 people go up it in a day?!? On a Thursday in the winter? Weird.

I had a good day on the ridge tops. And it was good to prove to myself that I need to find another way to get at White Ledge.

A peek into Murietta Creek.

Divide Peak via Murietta Canyon, 09/19/12

A beautiful view of Carpenteria and Santa Cruz Island from near the summit of Divide Peak.

Back at it in the SLP, with a peak that's new to the blog: Divide. I'd first visited this pretty peak while on a motorcycle ride that started on East Camino Cielo above Santa Barbara. That was some time ago and I'd always looked forward to one day hiking the thing. What makes this peak something special are the views from up top. Turn a 360 on the top and one sees the Channel Islands, Carpenteria and Ventura, Jameson Lake, Lake Casitas, and both the Matilija and Juncal Canyon backcountry. It's a "view" peak. Getting there and back from the Matilija trailhead makes for a strenuous 13 mile day.

Ruth and I started early to get a jump on the heat. We left the Matilija trailhead with the sun just brightening the eastern sky. Just past the ranch we took a left and proceeded up Murietta Canyon on the single-track trail which eventually (1.8 miles later) terminates on Murietta Canyon fire road. This opening stretch of trail was easy and pretty. Our path meandered up the canyon through tall forests of maple, alder, oak and cottonwood. The route is shady and the trail is pretty good for most of the way up to the road. We rolled through Murietta Camp which is a creek-side flat shaded by tall oaks. As we walked up we saw intermittent water in Murietta Creek, and just a seep of ground water at the camp. Above the camp the trail sees much less use and is a bit overgrown in places but easy to follow. As with it's near-by sister canyons, this stretch is poison oak city so keep that in the back of your mind if traveling this way. This is an easy stretch, and before long we popped up out of the canyon and met with the Murietta Canyon fire road.

Murietta Camp

Murietta Trail.

Murietta Cnyn is stocked with beautiful old trees.

Check out what this poison oak plant did to it's oak tree.

The fire road is easy street. It had recently been graded and this long, steady grade was just a nice walk.  Every once in a while we could see down into the canyon through a canopy of trees and at one point high above the canyon floor we could hear a nicely running stream. This early in the day we managed to get a fair amount of shade along this long stretch. The angle steepened considerably a short distance below Murietta Spring, and it just kept climbing from there. The reality of this hike is that even though the hiker only gains 3,200ft over the day, it all seems to come at once. Roughly half of the entire elevation gained on this hike happens in a single 1.5 miles of climbing. The 0.8 mile stretch between Murietta Divide and the Divide Peak motorcycle trail is particularly gruesome: 1,200 feet of brushy and loose climbing in under a mile. Steep.

Murietta Spring, just a mosquito clouded trickle now.

I would be remiss if I didn't do something to illuminate what could be a confusing junction at Murietta Divide. As implied, a "divide" does just that. In this case, we are talking about the saddle separating Murietta and Juncal Canyons, and the divide between the coastal front range and the interior. This junction is unmarked. There are no signs denoting the Divide or the trails that split from the junction, so don't expect signage cuz it ain't there. I figured there'd be a sign and since there wasn't one I figured I ought to share a photo of the Divide with it's attendant trails (see below). I walked right by the completely unmarked and un-obvious take-off for the summit ridge, so maybe this will spare somebody a few minutes of head scratching. 

Juncal Canyon and Jameson Lake.

Once I'd straightened out where to start climbing out of the Divide it was time to take on the gnarliest climb of the day. This 0.8 mile, 1,200ft grind is just un-fun. We just put our heads down and blasted up the damn thing. I am super impressed with my wife, she don't have any quit in her. I "love" big hill climbs and this one was no different, except that Ruth got in on the act. We made it a "Mmmm Good! Get Some!! Fuck Yeah!!" kind of climb, and she just blazed it. I love it. We just put that hill behind us and we were soon atop the coastal ridge. I instantly remembered the numerous rocky outcrops that decorate the ridge, sprinkled here and there across the small summits of this astounding crest (and if you ever get a chance to ride the motorcycle trail as its meant to be ridden, jump on that opportunity: link: A Ride in the Clouds.). As we continued west on the ridge trail we enjoyed a coastal breeze and endless views in all directions. This is one of those views that very few will enjoy, and if you live in this neighborhood I think this is one hike you should do.

I've got one more thing to add regarding that brutal climb from the Divide to the crest. The trail itself isn't difficult to follow, but the brush is most definitely trying to wipe the trail off the map. I wouldn't call the brush bad yet, but in a couple more years it will be. It is obvious that the trail gets little human use, as in, I saw zero people tracks on it. I did, however, see mountain lion, bobcat and bear prints on it. Bears doing trail maintenance.

Ruth high above Murietta canyon, which is the green valley low and right in this photo.

The view on the crest, looking west toward Divide Peak, in the distance.

Views! Looking toward Ventura and the Pacific.

The motorcycle trail heading west to the summit of Divide Peak.

Divide Peak, at least where they put the marker, from the actual high point of the ridge. The motorcycle trail continues west above Montecito and Santa Barbara.

Click Me!

One of two Divide Peak ironies: there is no USGS marker that actually says Divide Peak. The other irony is that the true apex that should be called Divide Peak is 1/10th of a mile back to the east.

Ruth and I continued west on the moto trail, ascending two minor, but steep hills. The second of the climbs put us on the actual high point on this 20 mile stretch of coastal ridge-top. This is the true summit of Divide Peak, however, 1/10th of a mile and 100 feet below and west is where the USGS marker can be found. It actually kind of makes sense because the angle of the ridge makes this lesser summit more amenable to the 360 views. This point is easy to spot and is capped by a pair of water tanks. In addition to playing with the "summit locale", the USGS marker that can be found atop the "peak" doesn't actually say "Divide Peak" but instead says simply "Juncal".

We enjoyed an hour's worth of recovery on top, taking in the endless views of the Channel and coastal towns and lakes. The ridge itself, looking west toward Santa Barbara, and the views into the San Rafael Wilderness are worth the walk.

Ruth atop Divide Pk.

We finally turned back the way we'd come, picking our way down the steeps until we reached the road and then it was just a long roll down into the 100 degree heat of the Matilija backcountry. This days' adventure was a good piece of work, surprisingly tough, and very satisfying. I'd like to see some more traffic on this route and I highly recommend taking a walk up to Divide Peak.

Hot, hot, 100 degrees hot all the way down those long miles back to the truck.