HWK 111

Hiking With Kevin, January, 2011

Kevin and I took advantage of neither of us having anything to do and a beautiful winter day and took to the trails in our beautiful foothills.  We headed to Tunnel Trail, one that we've been wanting to visit.

We soon encountered man's futile attempt to hold Mother Nature at bay. This thing will hold back a mountain?

We enjoyed the geology, of course.

An interesting piece of shale

The uplift is nearly vertical across the canyon....

....and indeed, on this side of the canyon, too.  Cool uplifted sandstone with the shale layer eroded.

 And we enjoyed the sights.

A nice view of Santa Cruz Island

Evidence of the Jesusita Fire

And of course, I love them wild flowers!

I think this is Cliff Aster (close up below)

My favey: Canyon Sunflower

See the ladybug hiding in the leaves?

Chinese Houses?

♥ 23 ♥

We celebrated our 23rd anniversary last weekend. It was a nice day!

Saturday we went out to Rattlesnake Trail. It opened a couple months ago, after the Jesusita Fire shut it down. The weather felt like spring, and we had flora and fauna to trick us into thinking it was spring, as well!

The trails were in good shape but there was still evidence of the fire.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch, and then we drove down the hill to the Santa Barbara Inn, where it all began 23 years ago. A little champagne at sunset sweetened the evening.

View from our balcony at sunset.

Guess what? There was a phone in the bathroom!

We had a wonderful dinner later. We were treated very fine at Opal Restaurant.

View from our balcony in the morning.

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Sambo's, on the patio. The weather was so perfect! Sitting outside was perfectly delightful for breakfast.





♥ ♥ ♥ All-in-all, a terrific anniversary celebration! ♥ ♥ ♥

San Roque Canyon

As you know, I was unable to hike San Roque Canyon for the final installment of the Creek Watch because the trail is closed due to fire damage from the Jesusita Fire last month.

The bridge over the canyon and park was a turning point in the firefighting effort. According to news reports, several fire engines parked on the bridge and poured water over into the canyon. This stopped the fire from progressing into the San Roque neighborhood and threatening the whole city.

Here is a map of the area. The pointer is on the bridge.

View San Roque Canyon Bridge in a larger map

Here is a shot of the bridge from just to the north of it.



Here are a few photos from my attempt at hiking it last week. I walked just a few hundred feet beyond the bridge. I decided to honor the closed signs.

This is a shot from the top of the bridge looking north.

And here is a view of the other side, looking toward Santa Barbara on the south.

Whew! We are so thankful for the efforts of all the firefighters!

San Antonio Creek

Today I hiked San Antonio Creek. The media said that it was the one trail that is open. There was still a barrier across the parking lot entrance, as the park was (is?) being used as a staging area for firefighters. I drove around the barrier. Scofflaw! There were no firetrucks around. There were a couple cars at the Tuckers Grove park area, but I was the only one at the far parking lot near the trailhead.

The trail was fine until about 2/3 the way, when it was quite singed.

Come along with me, again! I've visited this trail many times in this blog, plus visiting as part of my Creek Watch.


This silly wabbit crossed the trail early on.





I saw Mrs. Lizard fly out of a round hole in the middle of the trail. "Someone's coming! I must leave!"

Peeking in, I saw a lizard tail.


Did Mrs. Lizard lose her tail to a snake occupant? I took a look, and suddenly Mr. Lizard appeared, giving me a stern stare. How dare I interrupt him and the missus? "Mind your own business! Go away!"

The first part of the trail is green. The whole mountain in the background is burnt.

The burned areas were hit and miss along the trail. Suddenly, there were singed trees and blackened ground, then a few yards later there was no evidence, or very little, of fire, and a few yards after that, more leafless trees and shrubs.

All the cobwebs were ashy.

Look at this house! It must be at the end of Via Gennita. Now, that's a close call!

Here's another house visible from the top of the trail at the 154. Great defensible space, huh?


There weren't a lot of wildflowers left. A few canyon sunflowers, some thistles, a few wild roses.

Wild Rose


MonkeyFlower

Oooh! And there were wild raspberries! I sampled some and they were tart!

Since RetroMag likes lizards, here is another one. There were a lot of them scurrying around!


And here is one I meant to share last week. I took it on the day the fire started. It was the only subject I recorded on that hike!