The Aliso Loop trail has been closed for some years, and now that it has been reopened we went to check it out, pre-riding for a group who will be camping in the area in 2 weeks. Visible on the map are the several false-trails we went up and then turned back, finally deciding to start our trail by going up Oso Canyon on the right, and then crossing over to come down the Aliso Loop ridge.
A journey of 2.5 hours and traveling 6 miles, gaining 800 feet in altitude, much of it on single-track trails that test the fortitude of both equine and rider.
We started in the parking lot at the end of Paradise Road at First Crossing.
I was remiss in thinking that it had an attendant at the kiosk, and so our rigs would be safer from vandalism. Nope. A $10 fee is required and our 3 rigs were the only vehicles present, on a beautiful sunny Saturday in the heart of nature.
Tobe was more snorty and anxious than I've seen him in ages.
He kept looking up at that escarpment and trying to let me know something was up there he did not approve of.
As much as we humans squinted we could see nothing.
We knew, of course, that we were going to be on that very ridge later on during our ride.
This is the Santa Ynez River, completely dry, choked with reeds and willows. After trying to find a pathway along it to start our ride by going over to Sage Hill Campground and then UP the Aliso Loop ridge, we turned to the old faithful trail and went up the Oso Canyon.
We opted to take the access road into the canyon instead of the usual trail, just because I hadn't done that before.
But of course that wasn't nearly as interesting as being on a trail.
It is a multi-use area but today we saw only two women on horses, four hikers and one guy walking a bicycle.
On wide open trails like this it is easy to share the trail, you can see them coming!
And Tobe Mule's ears hear them long before a human perceives any presence.
He also never forgets any trail detail, so if we come to a spot where we have previously seen a deer he looks over there intently, remembering it quite as much as I do.
At Upper Oso Campground we obeyed the speed limit, and were pleased to see quite a few rigs parked throughout the camping spots.
At the top of the campground a sharp left turn puts us on the Aliso. Directly forward used to be the trail to 19 Oaks, still closed as too dangerous.
And looking up the Aliso it is a daunting height,
Which would be OK except for sections like this wash-out. The sketchy wooden bracing is tenuous at best, and in order to continue on the trail it is necessary to walk up onto the extremely steep hillside, using some young Yucca whipplei for support. Of course I am riding an all-terrain Mule, but even so we did it quickly lest it give way beneath us.
But it leads to views like this, where the dramatic play of light and shadow from clouds overhead make the landscape an ever-changing display of colors.
This panoramic was taken from the same spot as the previous photo.
Tobe mule was tired, he stood very still!
I decided it would be a good place to take souvenir portraits of my companions.
Jamie Buse and Mosca the Thoroughbred horse fly
Paul Jacques and Pancho the Quarterhorse
And there's me on Tobe the Rocky Mountain Mule
And then it was back traveling up again.
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes.
Simply amazing that this dramatic landscape is 45 minutes above Santa Barbara and unknown to most.
A typical example of government foresight.
This sign is supposed to mark the divergence of the trail, above is the Aliso Loop, to the right the Aliso Canyon. Since no one thought about how it would be mounted on a pipe, it now says ALISO OOP and ALISO YN.
Worse yet, there is no notice that the canyon has a long section of shale that is extremely difficult, dangerous, and is preceded on both ends by a single track trail no more than 3' wide, quite difficult to turn an equine around on should you see that shale ahead and wisely decide to retreat.
Finally we reached a point where we were at the top of the ridge, and could look down at the next stretch, the descent back to the river level.
One last look back through the chaparral bramble at the terrain we have covered, then it is time to start our descent.
Looking down we can see the rigs in the parking lot. Now WE are up where Tobe thought he saw something dangerous earlier in the day.
This next section of the narrow trail was steep switchbacks, with a vertical drop-off on the side. NOT a place I was going to take many photos. And while I know that holding my breath doesn't help at all it is very hard not to. It is a bit like the ride into the Grand Canyon, you just gotta trust the mule.
And finally we were down to the place where the canyon and loop trails diverge at the bottom. Once again, no warning posted, even though the locals know not to ride it. Riders we met said they'd gone up as far as the shale and turned back.
The pucker factor on a trail that narrow with a drop off is memorable.
Then it was time to turn left at the bridge to nowhere and head over to where the rigs were parked. Since nothing else exists of this monumental cement structure except for this one support, and no credible legend explains it, we might as well consider it Modern Art.
And here we are, Pat Fish modern Artist, and Tobe Mule, modern Mule, caught while in the midst of recording in photographs via iPhone these FrontCountry Adventures.
"Don't listen to anyone else
Focus on your passion
Burn it with your glance
Become the Dinosaur."
- Ray Bradbury
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