The Punchbowls: May 26, 2002
Look at the pictures!
This is no mere hiking story. This is an outdoor adventure with a lesson: never, ever hike with a hangover. Never. Not even if you
think you'll feel better. You won't. Especially not in the hot Ojai Valley in late May.
Now, on with our cautionary tale.
Tone and I set out for an Ojai hike at 10:30 a.m. on a sunny Sunday morning.
It was the day after my birthday, which I had celebrated with three margaritas
and more shots of tequila than I care to remember.
But after a bit of breakfast, some
aspirin and lots of water, I was feeling slightly better and figured I could hack it, no pun intended.
The drive from Santa Barbara to Ojai, including stopping at a ranger station for a trail map, took about an hour and a half. It was
a scenic drive along Highway 150, with twists, turns and beautiful views. The hike, up to a series of pools called the
punchbowls, began inside the campus of St. Thomas Aquinas College.
We had to park about a quarter mile from the trailhead because there were so many cars along the road, so the hike started out
pretty uneventfully. There was a strong sulphur odor in the air, coming from an algae-filled creek along the road. But there was
little else in the way of nature at first, because even after we got
to the campus we had to walk quite a while on a paved road,
past the college and two sets of oil derricks, until we reached anything resembling a trail.
The walk up to the stream, and the first of several "punchbowls" that give the trail its name, was hot and nearly devoid of shade.
We did see several lizards, including one specifically mugging for photos; Indian paintbrush; and a whole bunch of
tiny butterflies. We also passed a campground with a very cool rock that was shaped exactly like a chair. By the time we
reached the water, a mere 2.5 miles into the hike, I was feeling a bit queasy. Thinking I just needed some food in my stomach, I
ate an energy bar while dangling my feet in the stream.
We decided that was about as far as we were going to get, so after a little rest, we started back down. Twenty minutes later, that
energy bar, and probably most of my breakfast, came right back up. Right there on the side of the trail. I immediately felt better,
but had to pray to the Earth goddess to forgive me for leaving behind a tissue I just didn't want to put back in my pack, if you
know what I mean. I later made up for the transgression by picking up other people's trash, but maybe it just wasn't enough.
Because a short time later, I felt sick all over again. Tone very patiently waited while I sat down, feeling dizzy; got up; walked a
few more paces, thinking I would be OK; then threw up again.
This cycle continued -- three times in all -- until I simply laid down in the dirt and told Tone, "I'm going to die. Just leave me here.
I've lived a good life, and I'm ready to die." Luckily, Tone didn't listen, and even acted as pack mule, carrying both my pack and
his the rest of the way down. The rest of the hike is a bit hazy for me, but I see Tone did use my puke-breaks as opportunities to
get some cool photos, so all was not lost.
When we finally got back to my car, I sat down in the seat and fell asleep. Tone drove us home. An approximately five-mile hike
had taken us nearly four hours. When Tone dropped me off at my apartment, around 6 p.m., I went straight to bed and stayed there, not truly
recovering until Monday night. (Thank goodness it was Memorial Day weekend.)
Luckily, I've learned my lesson, and Tone has yet to abandon me as a hiking partner despite having to go through that ordeal
without even getting action photos of me puking.
GPS Waypoints
Here are some of the GPS waypoints I recorded on this trip. These points are in Degree.MinuteSeconds, not Decimal Degrees.
Click the GPS image for the Waypoint+ (Waypoint Plus) file for a Garmin eTrex.
| Select GPS Waypoints | |||
| PNCHBL | The Punchbowl | 34.265430400 | -119.0319997000 |
| TOMAQS | Thomas Aquinas School | 34.253934400 | -119.0520432000 |
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