Blue Canyon Hike 2000
Hiking in the Santa Barbara Backcountry
Wedge and I went hiking on Monday, February 7th, 2000 to
the Santa Barbara Backcountry. It was a full day hike and was quite beautiful and interesting.
Quick Jump
The Participants |
Photos |
Getting There |
Lunch (the Pig) |
The Santa Ynez
| Name | |
| Wedge | Wedge runs his own business called Topographic Productions |
| Tone | I am an Internet Programmer/Consultant. |
Getting There
I met up with Wedge at 8:00am at his place. We drove out soon thereafter in his 4wd
toyota truck. It takes about 45 minutes to get there and isn't really too hard
to find. You pass a shot-up pickup truck on the right and next to the trailhead
is a smashed white car. I would post the directions on this webpage, but Wedge
said not to tell everyone about this place because they might spoil it.
 |
Wedge and I headed down the trailhead around 9:00am. We stayed pretty close to the creek that the path follows. That is because Wedge wished to do a bit of fly fishing along the way. He caught a few tiny ones that he threw back. Just not good eating. The sun was out and in places it was actually warm, but I left my sweats on the entire duration. |
Wedge wore white hightops and I wore hiking boots. Within 30 minutes of
hiking Wedge had wet foot. I tried pretty diligently to keep my feet
dry, but eventually I got wet foot also.
Along the path we saw a single sprout of Indian Paint Brush, a flower
that is a vibrant red. I guess spring is just around the corner here.
 |
After a few hours of fishing/hiking we came upon a campsite. We stopped for lunch. All day we had been hoping there would be a nice sized trout for lunch, but that was not meant to be. I was heartily ready to clean it and cook it up. Wedge, side-arm handy, was saying "we can always shoot a pig." Wedge says stuff like this all the time, so I didn't think anything of it at first. Later we started bantering: |
| Wedge | I'll shoot the pig. |
| Tone | I'll clean the pig. |
| Wedge | I'll cook the pig. |
| Tone | I'll eat the pig. |
|
Around 12:30pm we reach another campsite and decide to have lunch. Out of his backpack Wedge takes out a huge stream of ribs from the local Von's, already pre-cooked, just ready for warming. |
We gathered some wood and made a fire in the fire pit. I
also gathered some "plates" for eating. The plates were
rocks that were flat. It was sort of like Fred Flintstone
and Barney Rubble.
The ribs were awesome.
The Santa Ynez
We reached the Santa Ynez riverbed soon after lunch. It was really
cool. There was no water except in small pools scattered about. We
walked down the center of it for awhile. It was like being in a
barren wasteland. We followed the river a mile or so then decided it
was time to head back.
 |
Wedge said we had two options. One was to take the road back, the other was to go back the way we came. Well, as Yogi suggests when coming to a fork in the road: "Take it!" We headed towards the road. |
That was a bit trickier than it might seem. We needed to push through some pretty thick foilage to get there. I had one tick on me when I got out... I think Wedge had two. Eventually we made it to the road.
 |
The road was definitely the longer route. We walked past Pendola Guard Station and a few campsites before we got back. Wedge's feet were starting to hurt him, and I guess mine were too. I didn't get any blisters, but my second toe (the one who didn't get any roast beef) is bruised on the side near the nail. It hurts only when I laugh. When we got to a part of the road over which the stream ambled you could see Wedge standing ankle deep in the water for relief. That is, with his shoes on. Wedge later told me he got three blisters, one the size of a nickle. |
We collected aluminum cans along the way back. No reason not to profit
off of the filthy bastards who clutter our wilderness.
We stopped hiking around 5:00pm. Thus, with a 1/2 hour lunch, we
hiked for eight hours. Needless to say I was tired when I got home.
Still, it was worth it.
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