100 Peaks

Hot Springs Canyon Area

I am just settling into Santa Barbara and am already feeling the urge to stand up and fight for the open spaces here. I’ve had a few minutes here and there to pore over some maps and scan the area and start to build a long-term plan on exploring the mountains just to the north of me. I am so excited.

However, it turns out that the peak I decided was going to be my first is being threatened by development. Even in Santa Barbara, where I’ve heard the zoning is pretty strict when it comes to new development and urban sprawl, there is the potential of losing open spaces.

One of the challenges I’ve been having here is determining where the trail heads are and whether a peak is on public lands or accessible without crossing private property. My first peak is likely going to be Montecito Peak. It looms above where I live and it is a fairly close drive. I had planned on driving to Camino Cielo and approaching the peak from the north until I read an article in the local newspaper, detailing the fight to save Hot Springs Canyon from development.

Evidently, Montecito Peak is currently on private property and can be accessed via Hot Springs Canyon, which is currently zoned for 6 houses and a day spa and is privately owned. The 462 acres was being offered to the public for $11 million, but now there has been an agreement with the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County for $8.5 million. The good news is that local benefactors have stepped up to the plate and donated over $6 million so far towards the preservation of Hot Springs Canyon. The bad news is that time is running out. The sale needs to be completed by December 15^th, 2011.

For more information on how you can help visit the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County web page for Hot Springs Canyon.

The Mountains from Stearns Wharf

Like I said in an earlier post. It’s been quiet here. ‘Here’ as in this blog, but not ‘here’ as in my life. 100 Peaks is once again evolving. I am writing from a hotel room.

I accepted a position with an incredible company in Santa Barbara. Today was my second day at work and I can already tell that I am going to be enjoying this group of people immensely.

I find myself looking south towards all the peaks I haven’t climbed yet in San Diego County. And then I look north and see all the peaks nearby, none of which I have climbed yet.

I made a promise to hike 100 peaks in San Diego and I will complete them. Likely slightly over 100, since I want to make sure I complete the Sierra Club’s San Diego Peaks list. It will definitely take me longer than anticipated, but I still have family in the area and I plan on scheduling some weekend trips to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for overnight peakbagging excursions.

I also see incredible opportunities to explore the Santa Barbara area, namely the Los Padres National Forest, which is pretty vast and guidebooks seem to be scarce. I don’t even know yet how many peaks there are out there.

I intend to find out.

Like I’ve said in earlier posts, researching maps, trails, trailheads, and topography are all part of the fun. Exploring new territory is the other part of the fun. For most of the forest, it doesn’t appear I need to drive very far to get there. But for some peaks, such as those on the Channel Islands, a boat is needed.

I am sad to leave San Diego, and perhaps I will return to live there some day. But, hey, I am living with my family in Santa Barbara, working at a great company, and a stone’s throw away from some amazing mountains.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

Thank you all for reading and hanging in there while I go through this transition. Feel free to reach out to me about all things San Diego, but expect some Santa Barbara hiking information to start coming through, as well. I will also continue to update the completed San Diego Peaks trip reports with trailhead and map information, for those that lack it.

San Diego will always be in my heart. I’ve spent more time outside in San Diego than anywhere else. I feel I know almost every nook and cranny, but I know that I don’t. Maybe after about 40 more San Diego peaks.

I have a feeling this new area will grow on me, though.

I invite you to come along.

The Coast to Crest Trail goes through the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve

As you likely know, legendary hiker and professor Jerry Schad passed away recently. Many people have expressed how he had touched their lives.

Once I was an adult, I started my hiking history in Orange County, using his book as my sole reference to the surrounding trails. My girlfriend at the time, (she’s my wife, now), spent many of our first dates with Afoot and Afield in Orange County as our guide. When we moved to San Diego we bought the current edition of Afoot and Afield in San Diego. I bought a new version when that came out and then gave away my older version to a hiker new to the area.

Jerry Schad spent tireless hours exploring the area and took the time to share his knowledge with us. It’s hard to calculate the inspiration he’s given us to get outside. I feel he needs to be honored.

Madison River Valley

Before arriving at Yellowstone National Park, from what I had seen before, and most recently in the Ken Burns’ documentary America’s Best Idea, I had an impression that Yellowstone was going to be a vast, chalky landscape that smelled like sulfur with steam hissing all over the place. And bison, tons of bison. Well, it was that, but it was so much more, as well.

This was a family trip, and as on many family trip, there really wouldn’t be a chance for me to range far and wide, hiking on remote trails to spectacular peaks. Therefore, as on other trips, I was making mental notes on where I would explore if I ever had the chance to backpack in Yellowstone.

Myself, taking a photo on a windy peak

Last week, a day after I hiked Boucher Hill, I passed the two year mark. It’s been two years since I saw the San Diego Sierra Club’s List and decided I wanted to hike them all and write a guidebook about it. It’s been two years since I hiked Iron Mountain for the first time, excited at my newly-found fitness, running the entire way down.

I had hoped to be farther along that I am. But in other ways, I am exactly where I want to be. I’ve been asked by many what I plan to do after I complete all 100 peaks. Most of the time my answer is, “There are a lot more than 100 peaks in San Diego.” But in other ways, I have loftier goals.

This site nets me no money. I hope to change that somehow, not by endless advertising, but offering my readers something of value. Something useful. I am not sure in what shape, besides my book, that it will be, but it’s bound to be something.

If you hike in San Diego, you've either read or should read a version of this book

I have heard from several sources that Jerry Schad, the author of the Afoot and Afield books, which have guided many of my hikes around Orange County and San Diego since my youth, hasn’t been feeling well lately.

I won’t go into any details, since I have no firsthand knowledge, but I would ask everyone to save some positive energy for him and send it his way so that he gets well soon.

His bio from his website:

Jerry Schad, a full-time community college professor of physical science and astronomy, has been photographing the sky since 1965. Jerry’s astronomical photographs have been published nearly 1000 times in national (US) and overseas publications, starting with a planetary-conjunction sequence appearing in Sky and Telescope magazine in 1966. His recent photo credits include U.S. News and World Report (cover of April 7, 1997 issue), Newsweek, Time, Reader’s Digest, Scientific American, Discover, Sky and Telescope, Astronomy, and ABC News (Discovery Channel).

Schad has authored 12 books on subjects as diverse as physical science, natural history, running, hiking, and bicycling, and he has written more than 500 articles and columns on the same subjects for regional and national publications.

Update August 10, 2011: There was a very touching article in the Union-Tribune today, offering more insight into Jerry’s condition and state of mind. Jerry has terminal Stage 4 kidney cancer and has found the love of his life. Well-photographed and well-written, it’s a must-read.

Update September 22, 2011: I just heard the news that Jerry has passed away early today. I hope that it was peaceful and he was dreaming of hiking with his wife. He will be missed, but truly his spirit lives with many people hiking the trails of Southern California and beyond.

This Saturday, I went to the Hawkwatch at the Wildlife Research Institute in the Ramona Grasslands. It was a great experience and Sophie really enjoyed it. We saw plenty of wildlife, including a lone coyote loping across the next field over to the north. It is held every Saturday in January and February from 9am-12pm.

Their Mission Statement:

The Wildlife Research Institute was established to create a public, non-profit organization to conduct research, and provide data and education for the wise use and management of wildlife and wildlife habitat. Further, to promote timely conservation biology through cooperative programs with agencies, industry and academia.  WRI is a land trust and manager of mitigation for sensitive habitats.

Again, the people are great and we had barbecued bratwurst. Yum.

Gut Check's King of the Hill Series

Since the start of the New Year, I started up my exercise routine. Rather than a weekly hike (ideally), and an occasional 3-mile jog from my house, I started working out again with the incredible people at Gut Check Fitness.

This has required me to get up early (5:15AM) to the point that I can no longer sleep in on weekends. While my body has been feeling stronger, and often sore, I realized this weekend that there’s a lot left to do.

I participated in Gut Check Fitness’ King of the Hill Series race, the first of which ran up and down Woodson Mountain from Lake Poway. I had an arbitrary goal of two hours, which I met, but along the way, I didn’t feel as strong as I should have. Also, I bonked in the last half mile of the race. It didn’t help that the last stretch was a steep uphill to the finish line, coupled with 10 burpee pushups before the final climb. I felt dizzy and nauseous, something I don’t often feel when being active.

I am happy that I finished the race and I wasn’t dead last. Understandably, I just re-started my new fitness regimen, but my performance really let me know that I could be doing a lot more. And I was doing a lot more before I hurt my back a year and a half ago. The pain still nags me and it really flared up while ascending Woodson Mountain this weekend. The downhill was easier, but I still ran out of steam near the end.

Manza Benchmark from the ridge

This topic has been coming up a lot lately in my conversations: Have you ever met an unfriendly hiker?

In all sorts of other recreational activities, it seems like there are hotheads and inconsiderate people. But hikers, in my experience, reach some sort of meditative state where they are at some sort of peace with themselves. Hiking to them is not a race or athletic endeavor; it’s a journey or break from an otherwise chaotic life. The act of hiking is a calming process that balances the focus inward with the focus outward.

I bring this up because I met some especially nice hikers on my trip today.

I got another early start. I love driving in the dark on the way to a trail. It might be cold when I get there, but I love to feel nature wake up in the morning. The quiet sounds of birds waking up and the wind blowing gently through the trees are typically what I find once I set foot on the trail. I didn’t get that today.

View from the Trail in Santa Ysabel

There is a group of people that I come in contact with. They pour over maps and make note of every little high point, some that are named and some aren’t.

They sit at home and close their eyes, imagining what it would be like to look at the surrounding landscape from that vantage point. They look at contours and imagine routes up to the top when there are no trails. They wake up long before the sun rises and look forward to the time on the trail, many times alone with their breath and the animals crunching through the scrub. They look at the trail and see tracks of other visitors, mostly of the four-legged kind.

They enjoy getting to the top of something and a few scratches or bruises from yucca or boulders won’t get in their way.

I am one of these people.

There is a subset of people within this group. They will summit a peak at any cost, including climbing fences clearly marked with No Trespassing. I am not one of this group.

Although I’ve occasionally crossed barbed wire fencing, it is because the map clearly indicates that I am on public lands and there is no sign indicating that it would be trespassing. My intent is different than most. It’s not only bagging a peak, it’s also sharing what I’ve learned with others and encouraging others to go the same way as me. I will not encourage anyone to break a law, much less put it in writing and charge people for it.