Trail time!

Two days before my birthday on my every other Friday off (isn't working for the government great!) young daughter and I traveled north of Santa Barbara for some communing with nature via a hike in the coastal mountains. After a nice drive through the hills and over the "5th longest span arch bridge" (in the state, world, universe?) called the Cold Spring Canyon Arch bridge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring_Canyon_Arch_Bridge (The old stage coach road travels under it and we did that drive on the way back) we reached the Forest Service day use area that leads to the Santa Cruz trail. Unfortunately rain earlier that week caused the creek to rise and the ford was closed to traffic. The Jeep could have easily made it across but there was no one around to plead our case to so we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and waded across.

The water came up to just below my knees and it was cold but not uncomfortable. Another 1.5 miles got us to the end of the paved road to the start of a closed dirt road. Being my father's son and that it was noon I decided we could not go on without eating lunch, so we did.

The trail is mostly in a canyon with a running stream and waterfalls along the way. This is the Grouch in full White Knight mode (as in Alice in Wonderland - read the story to understand the reference). The rocks behind me are very picturesque but unfortunately did not photograph as anything more than rocks.

This is young daughter with two of her well behaved dogs along the trail. She looks so fresh and happy because she is not carrying the water and other gear. She is smarter than the Grouch who ended up carrying everything.

We climbed out of the canyon where it was starting to feel pretty darn hot with no breeze penetrating into it and emerged to this beautiful wildflower covered meadow. We hiked a bit further just to say we did so and then turned back. All together we walked about 9 miles. It was a great hike and left me hoping to return again and go even further next time. Being with my young and lovely daughter made the experience even better!


Here is some information on the trail:

http://www.santabarbaratrailguide.com/santacruztrail/santacruzwaypoints.shtml