Hiking with Friends!

June 26^th/27^th

Last week we advertised via Facebook to all our friends about the “Hiking with Friends” group hike, and I think the word is out not to go hiking with us. Only one person joined us on the hike and she isn’t even on Facebook! Really people, it only seems like a 9 mile hike, even though it’s 13 miles! And towards the last part of the hike, there are no more hills, just a steady downhill for a good half a mile.

Well the one person who joined us was our friend AJ. She loves hiking almost as much as we do. Saturday started off cool but warmed up once we started up the grueling hill of Moro Ridge. However, this time it wasn’t as grueling since Patti and I both are using trekking poles, also known as “Dorky Poles” according to her daughter, thanks Katie! The poles might be considered dorky (which I thought as well) until I purchased mine to help me during the long downhill ascent of the Gaviota Peak hike. What I found out during that hike was the poles actually helped on the up hills too. It’s like you have four legs! I let Patti try them during the Gaviota hike and she commented on how they made her feel like she was flying. So we both used our new trekking poles on the El Moro hike and they really made the hike more enjoyable.

Once we got to the top we added more rocks to the Lucy memorial. It’s becoming a home to a bunch of rabbits now. I think they like the safety of the stone walls. Well, the weather warmed up and we started off towards Bommer Ridge…We mentioned that it was warming up and chances were we would be seeing some snakes. It wasn’t long after that we ran across a garter snake. I really don’t think I’ll ever be able to catch one of them out in the bush cuz they are just too fast. Once they see you, they’re gone! I’ve caught them before, but it was in water. No water up there. Now AJ’s a little worried since she hates snakes. I think Patti is starting to get use to them. After we hit No Name Ridge I was thinking our chances will be getting a lot better in seeing and maybe even catching a snake or two. This 3 miles stretch of trail is crawling with snakes. Just about a half mile into it we saw our first snake, a gopher snake. I set my bag down and went running after it. I picked it up by the tail and this snake was really aggressive! It tried to bite me several times coming close more then a few times. I just could not get my hand behind its neck. After trying for about 5 minutes I finally put him down and he went off into the bush. Then about a mile after that snake we saw another one, and again this snake was super aggressive and came so close to biting me I actually felt his teeth on my hand, but managed to pull it away before he got me. I was able to pick up this snake and hold it long enough for a picture.

The rest of the hike was uneventful, snake-wise, but it’s the favorite part of the hike. The ocean breeze is hitting you in the face and you’re overlooking the deep blues of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a very nice part of the hike.

After we made it down and back to our cars AJ followed us over to the bluffs in Corona del Mar. We sat on our favorite spot over looking the beach and had tasty sandwiches that Patti made that morning. The perfect way to end a hike.

The next day, Sunday, Patti and I got a late start but managed to get to El Moro by 9:30am. It was warm/humid and a bit overcast. We again went the same way and once we added more rocks to Lucy’s memorial the sun came out and it was hot! We drank a lot of water trying to stay hydrated, which we did, but it was so hot we were hiking at a snails pace. We didn’t see any snakes during our Sunday hike, but it was fun anyways. After the hike, Patti and I ended up on the bluffs again eating sandwiches which she made that morning. She was so hungry that she ate her whole sandwich. After that we headed home a little tired from the two days of hiking 23+ miles. Sunday night we felt okay but Monday we both could feel our weekend hikes. July 3rd and 4th we’ll be hiking El Moro again, but we’ll be getting there earlier to beat the afternoon heat. July 5th I think we’ll be heading up to Mt. Baldy for a 10 mile hike. Should be fun!

Gaviota Peak

June 19^th/20^th

About a month ago, Patti and I decided that we were going to pick one out of town hiking trip a month and that we would alternate picking the trips. Well the first trip was picked by Patti and she picked Gaviota Peak, about 20 minutes north of Santa Barbara. Our day was planned to hike to the top of the peak and finish off the day with hiking the Campbell trail. Unfortunately the California Parks system didn’t put up any signage for the trail heads. We kinda knew where to go from reading about the hike on the internet, so we thought we were going the right way. A few hours into our hike we finally ran into some hikers coming down the trail and got confirmation that we were headed in the right direction.

The hike started off nicely with the weather cool about 70° and warming up to a nice 77° in the afternoon with it never really getting too hot. It was a long ascend to the top which you really don’t notice until you looked down and noticed how high you were. Before you knew it we were overlooking the whole valley. Once we reached Gaviota Peak you could see 40 miles in every direction. There was a metal container at the top of the peak that contained journals, and everyone that reaches the peak has a chance to write a little note. In doing so, it’s like leaving your mark up on top of the peak which of course Patti did and left a note for the both of us.

So now we’ve completed one of our goals reaching the peak, but could not find the Campbell trail, again no signs at all up there! Patti saw another peak in the distance a few miles from where we stood atop Gaviota Peak so we started off for that peak. Along the way we kept on seeing these big lizards, which I identified on the net as California Whiptails. Some of these lizards were pretty large. Really didn’t see much wildlife up there except for bear scat (poo) we could tell what it was from all the berries in it. It would have been nice to have seen a bear or two out there.

Another part of our planned hike was to hit up the natural hot springs. I was a little worried after reading some blogs about this place. One of the posts mentioned that when they stopped by the springs there was a naked guy hanging out. I was hoping that we would find the springs without the naked guy. Well there wasn’t a naked guy in the springs….THERE WERE TWO OF THEM! After Patti and I made small talk with them and declining their offer to hop in and join them, we headed back to Carpinteria to rest and get ready for dinner. Patti has been to Carpinteria more then a few times and her favorite restaurant is Tonys, so that’s where we went for dinner. Great Italian food and wine! After dinner we took a walk down to the beach then headed back to the room to crash. We had no problem getting to sleep till we woke by a phone call around 3:00AM by a prostitute saying “hey baby, need a date?” I told her she had the wrong number and hung up while she was saying “no no no, hey baby…” too funny!

Sunday morning we woke up and got our Starbucks and headed down to the beach to get some miles in while we looked for seals and dolphins. We hiked up and down the beach for 4 miles and saw neither, oh well, it was still fun. We stopped by the Workers’ Bee Café for breakfast before leaving town. It was a huge and very tasty breakfast and we both cleaned our plates. One thing nice about hiking so much is that you can eat huge meals and not really worry about it.

On the way home after we passed Ventura we stopped by Camarillo Premium Outlets since there was a Nike Store and the soles of my Nike+ shoes are almost all the way worn down. I guess the lifespan on Nike+ shoes is about 900 miles. I needed a new pair pretty bad and picked up a really nice style for half of what they retail for. Now I just hope I don’t get any blisters breaking them in.

Our next trip will be in July, and it’s my pick. After watching the show “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” about the couple that got lost in the San Jacinto mountains I decided we should go there (just outside of Palm Springs and near another Nike outlet). Hopefully we’ll do better then the couple featured on that show.

4 snakes in one day!!!

June 5th & the 12th/13th hikes!

Haven’t updated for awhile, sorry! And now Patti and I are just getting ready for our trip to Santa Barbara to hike Gaviota Peak this coming weekend, so kinda wanted to catch up before our next hike.

Well, back on June 5th Patti and I were hiking at El Moro. It was our first time in about a month, hiking all the way around the park, about 11+ miles. We just finished filling up our water bottles and more then half way done with the hike. I was a little bummed we already hiked 6 miles and we have yet to see a snake. Right after I thought that, there was a nice fat rattlesnake sunning its self on the trail. I ran up to it and took some pixs, I guess I was too close, coz I never got a really good picture of him, but one of the ones I did take is attached. Then we continued on, and we saw what looked like a stick coming out of the brush onto the trail, it was in fact another snake, this time a gopher snake. I was able to catch this guy, and of course Patti was screaming about keeping my distance from her, while I was holding the snake. She did snap a few good pixs. And about a mile after that snake... in the distance I saw a snake on the trail, it was moving back into the bush, so I ran and was able to catch him, and he was hissing, and even opened up his mouth. Took a few more photos and sat him back on the trail, and he took off so quickly that he kicked up a lot of dirt with his tail. So now I am excited that we went from seeing no snakes to seeing three in one day, I was wishing for a 4th, but knew that the part of the trail to the ranger’s station that we were on, wasn’t really snake friendly and in the past, we've never seen a snake on this part of the trail. As we’re making one of the final turns down hill towards the ranger's station there was another snake! This one was a garter snake, by the time we saw him, he was moving so fast and was out of sight before I could try and catch him or even take his picture, but it was fun just seeing a different type of snake up there. Four snakes in one day! It was a great hike!

Now the next weekend (June 12/13)…it was a little overcast on Saturday, we did the full hike around the park again. Didn’t really see anything, but quail and their baby chicks, and some bunnies, and that was about it, we did see some falcons flying in a group which was different. On Sunday the weather turned really nice, and again we did the full hike, Patti and I saw quail, a roadrunner and some hawks, no snakes! But we had fun. We love hiking near the beach, coz you get that ocean breeze which is so nice on a hot day.

In the morning we’re off to Santa Barbara! Here’s the trail we’re going on;http://www.santabarbarahikes.com/hikes/frontcountry/gaviotahotspring.shtml

Look for our SB update next week!

Memorial Weekend! Great Hiking and Great Food!

May 29-31, 2010 – So we kinda got a head start on the weekend by Patti making spaghetti sauce Thursday night. Patti makes the best spaghetti sauce! The sauce simmered over 14 hours. And you could really tell that, when you bit into one of the Italian Sausages. It was grrrreat! So we loaded up on pasta Friday and then early Saturday morning, we packed up the car and headed off to Holy Jim Canyon to hike to the well know Holy Jim waterfalls. Well Jim wasn’t a man of God at all, he was a foul-mouthed beekeeper who was referred to as “Cussin’ Jim”. His claim to fame was being known for killing the last known California Grizzly Bear for going after his honey.

The actual trail to the waterfalls is just short of 3 miles. The hike to get to the trailhead is 4.5 miles, down a rocky dirt road. If you have 4 wheeler that can handle such a road, good for you, but we didn’t so we walked it. We saw a few people drive by in some family cars, looking like they were getting beat up pretty bad. It was a long walk to just get to the trail, but it was worth it. Once we hit the Holy Jim trail, the hike was really nice, complete with lots of foliage and creeks, which at times were tricky to make your way across.

I caught a nice gopher snake, and Patti almost stepped on another snake. I didn’t see that snake, but Patti saw it right as she was about to put her foot on it, yeap, she jumped. That was on our way back to our car. I think we crossed 10 creeks, only getting our feet slightly wet. The whole hike was 13 miles in about 4 hours. It was nice to get out and hike another spot. The Holy Jim trail is picturesque, but the amount of people and the long hike just to get to the trail made it a hike that I don’t think we’ll do again. We’re happy we made the hike, and Patti made some great sandwiches, that we shared under a tree with some ice tea, that is until the big red ants started attacking us.

So that night we decided on homemade, big greasy cheeseburgers, they tasted really good. We also went out to purchase two Nike Plus Sportsbands. We normally don’t listen to music when we hike together, and to bring our iTouches with us just to record miles when we could wear a wristband that does the same thing, it was only natural that we would pick up the Nike Plus Sportsbands, plus Katie just got one and hers looked so cool, we decided we needed one too.

Sunday morning we decided to go hike El Moro, this time with Nancy and John. Nancy was a fitness instructor and John loves backpacking and does so all over California. Patti and I always think it’s no big deal hiking at El Moro, and for those who are reading this, and want to join us, please think twice. The first part of the hike is almost straight up the hill for two miles and then there are small hills for the next 10 miles. Nancy and John did great, but they both wished they started off with a 5 mile hike instead. It was nice to have them along and the weather was prefect.

Sunday night and we downed another big greasy cheeseburger and decided to hit El Moro early, about 7:00 AM Monday, coz it’s starts warming up earlier now. It was a nice hike early, and we did see dolphins playing in the surf while we were making our way up Moro Ridge. Once we got up to the top, I thought for sure we were going to see a rattlesnake or two, but we didn’t see any snakes, but we did see a few snake trails. For the first time in about a month, Patti and I did our full hike, all the way around El Moro State Park. It took us 3.5 hours but the time went by so fast, it seemed like it was only two hours. We made it back home around noon. Patti made us a huge breakfast and we sipped on mimosa…very nice and tasty!

One thing I forgot, on Sunday, hiking with Nancy and John we hike a small portion of, Elevators, which is a trail, and the last trail we needed to complete our goal of hiking every trail at El Moro! We celebrated with a marinated pork loin, which was so “melt in your mouth” good!

It was a great weekend. We wish every weekend was a 3-day weekend!